AI in the Realm of Creativity

To pry an object from its shell, to destroy its aura, is the mark of a perception whose ‘sense of the universal equality of things’ has increased to such a degree that it extracts it even from a unique object by means of reproduction.

--- Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”

With the emergence of generative AI, we must question what separates us from its coding and patterns. Creating in any form becomes more complex as we navigate the digital world and its audiences, searching for elements and styles that make a piece immune to AI-detection software as proof that we, the human, made the work ourselves. Regardless of our field, creativity is vital to forming a work. Whether it be for a creative writing class or a new research proposal, the “aura” of our work, as Walter Benjamin describes it, is unique to us and must remain at the forefront of our work. 

Aura cannot be replicated. It cannot be recreated by AI and AI's attempts at creating original work become vague and repetitive through mimicry of previous pieces done by people. Removing the aura, the time and space the work uses up by existing, strips the piece of its originality and human voice within it. AI’s logarithmic parameters do not allow it to create new ideas but, rather, repeat and revise patterns and ideas seen before, using the work of others to “create” a piece without an aura. 

What arises from this process is the creation of vague, emotionless,  pieces that do not express interest in a topic or have an in-depth understanding through the creator’s thoughts. AI-created work stands out for its lack of comprehension and unique interpretations, producing work that is overdone and unoriginal through the lack of creativity within it. Rather than interpreting works and reacting organically, prompted mechanical reproduction dilutes the human aura. What remains is surface-level and robotic work that rephrases as a copy rather than original. 

With this we come to the ultimate question: where does AI belong in academia? Answers will vary based on instructor expectations and approaches; however, many advise against the use of AI in the creation of original work, particularly written assignments. AI lingers as a potential tool to aid in understanding, but original analysis only emerges from the writer’s interaction with the topics and discourses, providing space to evolve a claim and understanding of the material through time and the research process. Part of this process includes manual changes and, in the case of academic work, revisions to assignments. Creating a draft, begins the process and develops the aura of your own work, allowing your own thoughts and understandings to arise through interacting with course material and themes. 

Works Cited

Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” edited by Hannah Ardent, translated by Harry Zohn. Illuminations, 1969. https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/benjamin.pdf. Accessed 8 October 2025