The viral phenomenon of Niu Lai proved one thing – we will be always curious to see what other humans create!
Niu Lai, an animated indie film created by a mother-son duo on a basic computer, was originally called ‘worse than AI homework’ by the critics for the crude 3D models and glitches. But when people learned that a 60-year-old mother self-taught screenwriting, 3D modelling, voice-acted, and sang the theme song just to support her son’s dream, it exploded into a multi-million-dollar box office sensation. Viewers flooded theatres because the raw imperfections were undeniable proof of human spirit.
Another story is Nolan’s The Odyssey that I can’t stop obsessing over. The director’s preference for practical filmmaking meant 60-foot puppets, animatronics and practical effects were used to bring the story to life. The Odyssey was one of its kind movie experience, but what made it so special was that the audience knew that they weren’t just watching a story, they were marveling at the sheer scale of human ambition and craftsmanship required to put those frames in real life. The way I got into the rabbit hole of seeing the interviews and the making footages, I wondered why I care so much about behind-the-scenes when I am already in love with the movie.
Now let’s zoom out of movie production and look at other products of human creativity.
Do you think you would have felt the intensity of Starry Night if you didn’t know that it was an interpretation of the night scene from the window of an asylum by a struggling soul?
Would you have felt the weight of The Bell Jar if you didn’t know how it was a reflection of author’s life; that it was her vulnerability and pain that literally made every line ache?
Think about all the instances where you have gone back to read more about the creator and ended up loving the creation even more.
As living and breathing humans, we don’t connect with a creation because of what it looks like or how well its worded, we connect with why it exists, how it was made and who suffered, dreamed or obsessed over it.
When you strip away human intent, struggle and context, art becomes empty noise.
In the last few years, the difference between AI outputs and human creation has blurred to a large extent. Whatever humans create, AI can create a further polished, cleaner version of it. And yet, our feeds never felt so dull, we never felt fatigue like this ever before.
AI is a wonderful co-creator, but it doesn’t have lived experience and intent. If a human context is not part of your creative strategy, you are just creating a background noise.
Irrespective of how and which AI tool/model you use, let your creation be a reflection of your experiences, references, obsessions, culture, memories and all the weird little things that influence how you see the world.
The Creative Lens 