AI isn't going how we thought it would
In a Nutshell
AI accelerates creative output to unsustainable speeds, rapidly draining the "creative well" that relies on real-life experiences for inspiration, leading to burnout as seen in the speaker's Suno music experiments (four albums in weeks, then 1.5-year drought). Unlike traditional processes with natural friction, AI removes bottlenecks, satisfies curiosity and novelty instantly without true surprise (due to next-token predictability), and traps users in a low-entropy "walled garden" lacking external entropy. Humans crave unpredictable novelty from life and others, explaining declining AI usage trends and the need for structural limits to sustain creativity.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Sound treatment isn't fully installed yet, so audio may sound like it's in a concrete box or glass bottle; it will be fixed.
Many people requested views on creativity and artificial intelligence today. Questions include how to maintain creativity in the face of AI and how it impacts personal creativity.
Not creative burnout (e.g., writer's block, aversion to work). Instead, refilling the well: need to live first for real experiences and emotions to fuel creativity. Spark of creativity comes from life, not waiting for inspiration.
Heard concept on Writing Excuses podcast (Brandon Sanderson involved). Successful commercial writers discuss processes.
Hypothesis: Speed of AI drains the well quickly.
Example with Suno (started mid to late 2024): Made four albums (each 30-45 minutes, total 1.5-2 hours of music) in a couple weeks via ADHD hyperfocus. Then nothing for 1.5 years.
- Not a real musician: can't play instruments well (handpan, guitar), enjoys singing.
- Conventional musician process slower, deliberative: might take decade or two for same output (instruments, shows, feedback).
Recently resumed: had active subscription ($9/month annual plan, unused tokens accumulated). Wrote two half-albums (one album total), then ran out of steam.
- 1.5 years of life provided limited new inspiration: health improving, got two new dogs.
- Need life changes for creative expression.
Commercial writers/artists produce via skills without personal inspiration; different from personal expression. Doesn't consider self a true artist except novels (first pre-AI; later brainstormed but not AI-written, revisiting longhand on mechanical keyboard). Wife writes true longhand in journals, transcribes later.
AI speed leads to burnout. Studies/business posts: biggest AI users feel more burned out because AI never tires, matches your speed.
- White-collar jobs have gating functions (approvals, budgets, others); brain hits natural stops.
- Creative processes have friction: buy/tune instruments, band practice.
With agentic IDE, agents, Claude code, codecs, you are the limiting factor.
- Last year video: he was the bottleneck (6-12 months ahead of curve; now others realizing).
- Infinite possibility without structural limits feels bad; brain accepts external bottlenecks (e.g., waiting on Joe for server parts, band on Saturdays).
Toxic culture: Protestant work ethic, Calvinism, hustle/grind. Programmed to maximize productivity. Centuries of industrialism fetishizing labor (paid less than worth to enrich others).
Example: Staring at Suno, can generate any song/genre (e.g., Scandroid-like, desert rock; 89-hour playlists). Sits there: "I don't want anymore."
Curiosity and novelty cravings get satisfied instantly.
AI Storytelling Examples (using large context windows, creativity):
- Post-Avatar: Fire and Ash: Choose-your-own-adventure mythic coming-of-age story.
- Cyberpunk story.
- Vampire: The Masquerade game with wife, Claude as real-time storyteller.
- Post-Star Trek: Voyager rewatch: Star Trek fanfic. Purpose: roleplay, not novels.
Even bespoke exact stories wear off. Insight: Wears off because it's exactly what you want. Thrill of fiction is unpredictability/surprise.
- Telling AI "surprise me, add twists" still regresses to mean (next-token prediction; post-training navigates latent space better).
Project Hail Mary movie: Hilarious, makes you care about a pet rock. Unexpected plot elements he wouldn't think of. Predicted one beat as writer (darkest hour needs stakes), satisfying. Rest unpredictable, even from trailers (went in cold).
AI won't provide constant novelty drip soon (you're steering, no surprise).
Personal caveat: High novelty need (ADHD, neurospicy, pattern-matching bores quickly).
- Stopped anime ~2005-2006 (after high school girlfriend intro: Vampire Hunter D, Ghost in the Shell, Evangelion, Mobile Suit Gundam OVAs golden age).
- Noticed tropes; anime trope-heavy, iterates/refines them. Can't watch Pantheon (derivative), barely Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
- Japanese culture: fine with derivative iteration/purification.
- He's outlier weirdo needing extreme novelty; ahead of curve (e.g., bottleneck video salient).
News: People using AI at work less (novelty worn off); chatbots. Agents up-and-coming.
- New form factors addictive (cell phones to iPhone; BlackBerries = "crackberries").
Grok Imagine: Least censored big image generator; does anime-style topless/LWD. Novelty wears off (exactly expected).
TL;DR: Humans need novelty, curiosity signal, high-entropy input from outside (life experiences, others' output). AI keeps you in walled garden (nice but no surprise).
Open generators (Grok Imagine, Midjourney, Suno) avalanche novelty into noise.
- Rare gems inspire ("damn that was cool").
- Suno bespoke to tastes; only handful of others' songs he likes.
Not making music for popularity (SoundCloud, Suno). Someone criticized first Suno music ("not that good, could be more popular"); blocked them (making for self).
Recent output: ~dozen songs, 3-5 on repeat.
Saturation of novelty + being bottleneck explains creative limits.
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