Since the release of Suno AI in 2023 and Sora AI in 2024, the question of whether AI should be used to replace the human creative process has grown larger and larger.
Suno AI is a generative AI model that creates songs from text prompts. Suno can also be used to help create elements of human-created songs, such as the vocals in the song “I Run” by Haven. Sora AI is a generative AI model created by OpenAI, the same company responsible for ChatGPT, that creates short videos based on text prompts. The first commercial using Sora AI was released in 2024 by ToysRUs featuring the founder, Charles Lazarus, imagining a dream world full of toys.
The main issue many have with generative AI is the amount of water data centers use. There is a lot of misinformation on the internet about the amount of water AI uses and how it uses it. When asked how many gallons of water AI uses every day, Freshman Len Kruk asked, “AI uses water?” According to the EESI Study “Data Centers and Water Consumption” done by Miguel Yañez-Barnuevo, one AI data center can use anywhere from one million to five million gallons of water every 24 hours, with about 5,400 data centers in the US. The data centers need the water to cool processors using watercooling, a process where water circulates through a closed loop throughout a computer to absorb the heat produced by components. During this process, water evaporates or becomes contaminated with chemicals that render it unusable. Although the water that evaporates makes its way back into the water cycle, large AI data centers take water from nearby residential areas, lowering water pressure in residents’ homes.
The largest issue consumers have with AI use in the arts is the loss of human creativity. Many argue that AI can be used as a tool to help low-budget film makers and musicians create products that can compete with the large studios and record labels. At the same time, a large amount of AI use in the arts is not used supplementally and is used to create something from start to finish, solely using AI. Teacher Casey deWaal said, “If AI can be used as an enhancer instead of the foundation, then AI use can be beneficial, but there needs to be a sense of human connection there.” Artists fear that AI will completely replace them, but at the same time there is hope that AI will cause creatives to have to be more creative to outshine the artificial music. “A real artist would argue that unless there was a real struggle or effort in the creation of a piece, it is not an actual piece of art,” said John Penola.
Many consumers are against AI and feel like its lacking something that human creation has. “AI music is soulless,” said English teacher John Penola. In 2025, the song “I Run” by Haven was released. At first, it was very popular on TikTok and Instagram, but then many listeners began to feel something was off about it. Someone put the song through an AI detector, and the song’s vocals came back 100% AI. The song was popular for a couple of weeks before anybody noticed anything, which means generative AI music models have become good enough, maybe not to compete with human creations, but at least to blend in.
There is a popular belief that AI is just a fad or a bubble, similar to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990’s. Casey deWaal said, “AI is here to stay. It’s gonna be like how we use electricity, you don’t think about the effects of it unless you’re thinking reflectively. In terms of replacement, that’s not gonna happen.”
Overall, there is a lot of fear, misinformation, and hysteria surrounding AI on both sides of the argument. Regarding the arts, AI will not be able to replace us anytime soon. Everybody interviewed agrees that AI lacks the human spirit that all human creations have. To lessen the progression of AI use in the arts, you can boycott generative AI entirely or at least not interact with obviously AI-generated content. AI is made stronger with every text, song, or film added to its database. John Penola said, “I had a friend who was upset that her work was put through AI because now it’s part of the system. That made me realize, I’m one hundred percent a part of the problem cause Im showing AI what poetry is when I put my work through it.” AI will only be able to “replace” us if we let it, so don’t give it the resources to.
