ChatGPT and other large language models have taken the world by storm in the last few years. While their capabilities are considerable, there has remained a hope that human creativity would remain unrivaled. A few recent studies suggest this confidence might be misplaced.
For instance, a study from the University of Southern California explored how funny jokes created by ChatGPT were. It found that around 70% of respondents thought the jokes created by the AI were funnier than those created by humans.
Holding the edge
Of course, this runs counter to the more optimistic narrative around AI, which argues that it will do away with the routine and mundane tasks humans have to accomplish, thus freeing us up to do the creative things we do best.
Research from Cambridge Judge Business School explores the creativity of a wide range of LLMs to understand how they compare against humans across a total of 13 creative tasks, ranging from story writing to scientific problem-solving. The tasks were designed to cover creative writing, problem solving, and divergent thinking, which are believed to be at the heart of creativity.
The results show that the collective creativity of LLMs is broadly equivalent to 8-10 humans when the LLM was questioned 10 times. For every 2 additional responses after that, it was equivalent to around one extra human. The researchers argue that, if we use LLMs in the right way, they may be competitive with a small group of humans on creative tasks.
“These findings are valuable, timely and comprehensive,” the researchers explain. “They provide empirical evidence for LLMs’ high-level cognitive capabilities in tackling creative tasks, challenging the notion that only occupations intense in routine tasks would be exposed to AI automation.”
Augmenting, not replacing
Of course, this doesn’t have to mean that AI will replace all creative people. For instance, another study, from Rice University, found that AI can actually help us to be creative.
The researchers found that ChatGPT outperforms traditional methods like Google Search and even human brainstorming without any AI help.
The study focused on ChatGPT’s ability to generate creative ideas. The researchers conducted five experiments with GPT-3.5, where participants were asked to come up with creative ideas using either ChatGPT, Google, or no assistance at all. These ideas were then judged by two groups—ordinary participants and experienced business professionals—who didn’t know where the ideas came from. Both groups consistently rated the ideas generated by ChatGPT as more creative.
The study found that ChatGPT can boost creativity in everyday tasks, such as thinking of gift ideas or finding new uses for common items. According to the researchers, ChatGPT’s strength lies in its ability to combine different concepts to create something fresh and coherent.
Used in the right way
There are clearly advantages to using the likes of ChatGPT to boost our creativity, but as research from the University of Southern California highlights, this boost only tends to emerge under certain conditions.
“We found that AI assistance changes job design by intensifying employees’ interactions with more serious customers,” the researchers explain. “This change enables higher-skilled employees to generate innovative scripts and develop positive emotions at work, which are conducive to creativity.”
The researchers analyzed how sales agents in a telemarketing firm used conversational AI (that had been trained on huge quantities of call center data). The results show that hardly any customers were able to tell they were talking to a bot rather than a human, but the key here is when human agents used the technology. Then, they were twice as likely to successfully answer customer questions, with this boost nearly three times as great for the best performing agents.
“AI can help your employees become more creative at work, but it only applies to your higher-skilled employees. With AI eliminating menial drudgery, those higher-skilled employees can use their potential to achieve more creative outcomes. However, your lower-skilled employees might not simply have the ability to achieve creative outcomes,” the researchers explain.
It’s important to look at the situation through a sober lens. For instance, in The ROI of Thought Leadership, IBM’s Cindy Anderson and Anthony Marshall highlight that while AI can play a role in the generation of thought leadership, there are a great many things that it still can’t do, especially when it comes to creating something truly novel.
It’s increasingly clear that AI can be harnessed to augment human capabilities and enhance efficiency in certain processes. It is essential to discern which areas are most appropriate for the integration of technology to strike a balance between automation and the human touch.
