Skynet has taken over, and it’s looking bleak to be a creative individual
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There is no doubt about it. The front page we crave, and the algorithms we created, have ruined our creativity.
Skynet (algorithms) has already infiltrated our systems and microchipped our brains. Installing a lust for the spotlight by eliminating creative expression.
Okay, enough about Skynet and being programmed.
What is important to notice is just how terrible writing, as an example, has become in terms of creativity, in favour of making a quick dollar. Almost everywhere you turn to post your writing, you are met with an algorithm. A system set to filter out what is popular and what isn’t, based on what generated the most clicks/reads the day before.
We already know Medium has an algorithm that favours AI, Self-Help, and How to grow as a writer types of articles over others, just to name a few.
Constantly seeing these articles on the front page entices us to abandon our niches because we aren’t earning enough writing about what we’re passionate about in the first place.
It can take a long time to build a fanbase that wants to follow your niche. (To the point when Skynet really does take over.) But in reality, people today want to make the quickest dollar possible, and that reinforces the algorithms and systems.
This essentially eliminates the creative aspect that embraces authenticity, since the few that change their niche in favour of income change their creative process. Creative in a sense, yes, but copying what others are writing just to earn a few dollars isn’t authentic and doesn’t embrace creativity.
So if you want more money, what helps you get to that goal faster?
AI.
AI has made writing easier and simpler. Give it a topic based on what you see on the front page. Then bam, machine-generated slop that can produce more clicks feeding into the ever-growing algorithm.
This sparks the question:
Has creativity diminished in favour of greed?
I argue, yes, but algorithms are based on greed in the first place.
As per Tony Stubblebine’s most recent article about how writers can use AI to tell human stories.
“Our recommendation system uses algorithmic machine learning to match-make between what writers publish and what readers want to read.”
— Tony Stubblebine
Quote and link from this article:
We want your feedback: How can writers use AI to tell human stories? | by Tony Stubblebine | The Medium Blog | Aug, 2025 | Medium
Furthermore, I believe algorithms have ruined half of our creativity. While AI has ruined the other half.
So, if you change your niche in favour of income, you lose creativity. Also, we have the AI algorithm showing us what it thinks we want to see, taking away our choice on what we want to read.
This is an endless cycle.
Medium itself is already trying to leverage more from AI to tell “human stories”. And as you can see, based on the comments section, the masses do not approve of it.
“Value your human writers.”
“No real writer, no real person, will use AI to write anything.“ ”
“”Human” You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Yet the algorithms are proven to work.
People want to read about AI and how they can leverage it to earn more money, as a writer, and so on…
Algorithms that favour the most clicked articles powered by AI systems increase new users wanting to sign up/pay for services, then pay the people who want to conform to what’s popular, and this creates the cycle I mentioned above.
A whirlpool that drags real writers down to the bottom. Never giving them a chance to swim to the top.
This reinforces the fact that many talented writers won’t have their opportunity to shine unless they decide to conform. It’s frustrating that AI-generated jargon floods the main streets of writing, while the creative, original pieces get tossed into the gutter.
I won’t sit here and complain that I am not earning enough views or recognition. But I will sit here and shout to the heavens that as creatives, we need to remind ourselves of one key thing…
Creativity was born from expression.
It’s possible that we can grow and beat the algorithm using our creative roots. Our creative roots have been planted for centuries before the algorithms and AI had their digital claws dug into us. But a true and creative writer will be undefeated through dedication and constant protest of the system that favours the conformist.
We have always learnt to adapt and fight back.
The humans beat Skynet. It took learning how to time-travel, but we made it happen.
I hope that isn’t the case for writing as an art form.
What is difficult to mention is that, obviously, algorithms and systems do assist the writers who choose not to write about AI, Self-Help or Writing tips at times. It’s far and few, unless you have a well-established following already. But at that point, I’d argue you’ve already succeeded. You’ve attained what most writers dream of. You now have the option to write about what you love, and people want to read it.
You no longer require an algorithm to push your work out to others in hopes you get one person to read it.
We must not give up.
If you want to use AI to create for you, be my guest. But I would rather read a human-made article, littered with errors and loose arguments, over AI-generated garbage.
