Posthuman Storytelling: AI, Erasure, and the Ethics
of Creative Collapse
Dr. Prajnajyoti Dutta,
State
Aided College Teacher,
Department
of English,
Cooch
Behar College,
West
Bengal, India.
Abstract:
Artificial
intelligence (AI) as a means of creative authorship has drastically changed the
world of storytelling, reshaping how we think about who creates, what counts as
original, and what it means to be human in the process.This paper dives into
the rise of posthuman storytelling, zeroing in on AI-generated short fiction
and highlighting the underlying themes of erasure and creative collapse. Using
posthumanist theory and Emmanuel Levinas’s ethical philosophy, the paper
discusses that when AI takes over the narrative space, it not only redefines
creativity butit also pushes humans out of the picture.The term “creative
collapse” sums up this new mess: narrative authority gets scattered, unstable,
and hard to pin down ethically once algorithms start spinning stories.The paper
further explores how AI models thriving on vast datasets inherently leads to
the erasure of the human being from the art of storytelling because the AI
often tells stories that reflect the dominant perspectives and voices in
society, while ignoring or invalidating those of minority groups and
individuals with different experiences.Furthermore, the stories created by
artificial intelligence often reinforce the existing social and cultural
inequalities within the world, under the guise of introducing innovation to the
storytelling process.Through analysing AI-created stories and story elements,
the paper makes the case for a critical engagement with AI as both a
technological and cultural force. In the end, the paper calls for a new ethical
approach; one that puts responsibility, inclusivity, and a clear recognition of
the ‘Other’ in the shifting landscape of posthuman storytelling.
Keywords: Posthumanism; AI storytelling;
creative collapse; authorship; algorithmic bias; minority erasure; ethics;
alterity; digital humanities; narrative theory
Since
time immemorial, storytelling has been considered one of the most distinctly
human acts, it has been regarded as a way of making sense of the world,
preserving memory, and expressing identity. However, with the advent of artificial
intelligence (AI) as a medium capable of generating stories has altered our
perception of storytelling.Machines are now capable of generating narratives
that are similar in style, structure, and emotion to the stories created by
humans, presenting fundamental questions: Who is the author? What does this
mean for human creativity? Which voices will be heard and which will be
absent?These are just some of the questions that must be considered regarding
the domain of posthuman storytelling, wherein the distinctions between humans
and machines begins to dissolve within the context of the stories that are
told. This paper dives into what happens when humans and machines start sharing
the role of storyteller. The rise of AI-generated narratives leads to what may
be called creative collapse, a condition in which traditional ideas of
originality, authority, and ethical responsibility become unstable. When AI
takes the stage, our usual ideas about originality, creative authority, and
who’s responsible for a story start slipping out of reach. Although, AI brings
new opportunities to storytelling, but there's a risk too: it could overshadow
the human voices that matter most, especially those that already struggle to be
heard.
The concept of authorship has undergone a significant
transformation over time. Roland Barthes theorised the concept of ‘death of the
author’, essentially stating that the reader of a work of art determines the
meaning of the story rather than the author writing it.Now, with AI in the
mix,the author is not just absent but also replaced by an algorithm.AI stories
are inspired by existing stories and texts in the world.AI doesn’t really write
the way people do. It sifts through repositories of existing text, grabs bits
and pieces, and stitches them together in new shapes.Thus, AI stories are
derivative but often presented in ways that make them seem original.The shift
from human author to an algorithmic writer raises the question of the
responsibility for the story produced by the machine.If a machine produces a
story,who is responsiblefor its content?The person who programmed it? The
people who wrote the data it learned from? Or maybe the user who hit the
‘generate’ button?This scattered responsibility is right at the heart of what
some call a creative collapse.
Creative collapse refers to the breakdown of the
relationship between the author, the story, and the meaning of the story. In traditional
stories, the author creates the story and the story expresses the meaning of
the author or the human being who created the story. AI disrupts this
relationship.AI stories have no relationship with intention or experience.
While they may appear to have meaning, the meaning is merely simulated. The
generated story appears to be created by a human being but is actually
simulated and bereft of any relationship to human consciousness.Furthermore,
there is an oversaturation of stories generated by AI. When stories can be
produced endlessly and instantly, their value and significance may diminish.The
uniqueness of storytelling which was once intertwined with human creativityhas
also been diluted by the number of stories being generated by AI.
One of the most pressing concerns with AIstorytelling is
the issue of erasure. The datasets upon which AI models are trained inherently
contain biases and hierarchies that already exist within society. As a result,
AI tends to reinforce those prevailing narratives and features while ignoring
alternative viewpoints.This issue is especially important when it comes to
short stories, which have always been a place for different voices to be
heard.AI-generated narratives risk undermining this diversity by privileging widely
available, mainstream data. For instance, stories that reflect the norms of the
dominant language and culture will be more likely to be generated, there may be
underrepresentation of the voices of those that use minority languages, stereotypes
embedded in data can be reproduced and amplified.Thus, AI storytelling can
potentially reinforce the existing social and linguistic inequalities. The lack
of inclusion of stories and voices of marginalized groups in the datasets
results in their lack of representation within the stories that are generated
by these AI language models.
Emmanuel Levinas’s ethical philosophy addresses these
concerns to show that we must have a sense of responsibility for the
"Other."For Levinas, ethics begins with the recognition of the
Other’s irreducible difference and the obligation to respond to it.Several
significant issues arise from the use of AI for storytelling.Will AI have the
ability to recognize the Other? Will it be capable of being ethically
responsible?What happens when storytelling becomes detached from human
accountability?As a machine without consciousness or moral understanding, AI
cannot be responsible. It may mimic responsible behaviour based on the
information it has been given. However, there is an ethical gap in the fact
that AI can create stories without any sense of responsibility.In relation to
Levinas' ethical philosophy,the lack of accountability that an AI system
exhibits is a serious issue; AI creates a "disconnected" act of
storytelling, which is devoid of ethical connection between selves and Others,
and replaced by an algorithmic representation of self and Other in a
storytelling process. Thus, storytelling loses its sense of accountability when
approached through the idea of AI.
The growth of AI-based methods of storytelling represents
part of a larger shift towards posthumanism,which challenges the centrality of
the human in knowledge and culture.Posthumanism recognizes the role of
technology in shaping human experience and questions the boundaries between
human and machine.Nevertheless, the decentering of the human needs to be
treated cautiously. Although it creates opportunities, there is a danger of
neglecting human agency and subjectivity. In storytelling, this could result in
an environment where human perspectives take second place to machine narratives.
Overall, posthumanism in storytelling presents a paradox.While it creates new
possibilities for storytelling, it also poses a threat to the very essence of
storytelling.
The aesthetic features of AI-generated stories include
repetitive patterns, absence of emotional depth, discontinuity and
fragmentation. These features are part of the new aesthetic in today’s age of
artificial intelligence. Some have even labelled this the “glitch aesthetic” in
relation to artificial intelligence. While this is creatively interesting, the
lack of deep emotional resonance raises the question of whether or not a story
without the author’s experiences can genuinely resonate with the readers, or if
it merely simulates such a feeling.Given these challenges, it is imperative to
develop an ethical framework for AI storytelling. Such a framework would
include aspects such as transparency in acknowledging AI-generated content, inclusivity
in the datasets used to train AI systems, accountability for potentially
harmful content generated by AI, human intervention in ensuring that AI remains
a tool rather than a replacement. Most importantly, the ethical framework for
AI storytelling should focus on the importance of recognizing the voices of
marginalized groups and using AI as a tool to tell diverse stories and give
everyone access to storytelling.
The emergence of AI as a storytelling agent marks a turning point in the history of narrative. While it offers exciting possibilities, it also introduces significant ethical and cultural challenges. The concept of creative collapse captures the instability of authorship, meaning, and responsibility in this new landscape. At the heart of these challenges lies the question of erasure. As AI systems generate narratives based on existing data, they risk reproducing and intensifying inequalities, particularly for marginalized communities. Addressing this issue requires not only technological solutions but also ethical reflection. Drawing on Levinasian ethics, this paper has argued for a reorientation of storytelling toward responsibility and recognition of the Other. In a posthuman age, the task is not to reject technology but to engage with it critically, ensuring that the future of storytelling remains inclusive, ethical, and deeply human.
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