Creativity’s Death by AI
Back in 2023, I told a friend that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will soon be coming for us, journalists and other creatives, to replace us in our jobs. It didn’t take long for this prediction to come true.
When 2024 rolled in with the writers’ strike in Hollywood, I felt it in my bones that the AI tidal wave would soon be hitting our corporate shores in the Philippines. AI was growing in leaps and bounds that it is impossible to keep the dark thoughts birthed by doubt and anxiety from lurking in every corner of my home office where I perform my duties for an industry that is already struggling, threatened by the fluctuations in the economy and the rise of social media.
AI, despite its youth, was learning rapidly, its generated images and videos becoming more realistic as time passes by and its writing capabilities already grammatically error-free. It was barely out of its diapers by 2025 but it was already actively changing the information landscape.
In a February 5, 2025 report, the United Nations (UN) said on its website that AI may worsen the significant financial strain that has been plaguing traditional media.
“Declining advertising revenue, reduced subscriptions, and the dominance of digital platforms have eroded their economic models. These pressures can lead to editorial compromises, such as prioritising trending content over public-interest reporting or aligning coverage with political interests,” the UN report said.
That line is already foreboding but this is what got me: “Automation could potentially replace not only reporters, but also designers, editors, and distribution staff. With fewer journalists on the ground, we risk losing investigative reporting, local news coverage, and the rich storytelling that defines quality journalism.”
Disrespect sandwich
Before I got laid off in July 2025 from my job as a desk editor of the Luzon Bureau of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, I started noticing how much AI was beginning to saturate print and broadcast media.
As an editor, I know exactly the strengths and weaknesses of each correspondent, the grammatical mistakes they usually commit, words they often favor, and even the words they always misuse. Years of working with the same people can give you that superpower, a form of discernment.
Enter ChatGPT, suddenly the stories they submitted were nearly flawless. I felt insulted by this newborn AI spawn but at the same time, it made my job easier. Processing already grammatically near-perfect stories meant I’m saving everybody’s time.
A fellow desk editor, while on a chat with me early 2025, told me that a senior editor from the main office taught him how to edit stories using AI. Now THAT was something.
It added the bread to the disrespect sandwich. We, who were doing our jobs the traditional way, using solely our brains and an old laptop that the company refused to replace, were the ham and cheese between the field reporters-ChatGPT team-up and the senior editors’ AI secret weapon.
I felt like a tiny crab trying to hold on to a blade of seaweed, fighting against the rushing current.
Up until now, seven months after that “break up” with the paper, I still won’t use AI to write anything. I admit that I am guilty with using it for videos and photos from time to time but never with writing. I guess it would feel like cheating on the only committed romantic relationship that I’ve ever had.
Leaving media
It was not AI that caused the “change”, as the management chose to call it, with the operations of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“The Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) has entered into an agreement with its sister company, Inquirer Interactive Inc., which also manages the Inquirer.net website, for it to assume the publication of the newspaper effective July 1, 2025. With the integration of print and digital operations, the Inquirer’s financial foundation would be strengthened and its ability to deliver news in traditional and digital platforms enhanced,” the official statement said, neglecting to point out that the newspaper has been bleeding red for years even before AI. I guess the sentinels of truth are not truthful when it comes to admitting how they are actually doing.
So I lost that job but I was lucky enough to have a connection that helped me get back on my feet almost immediately. It’s still in the communications and information industry but I’m on the other side of the fence now as a news source.
It pays lesser than my job at the newspaper but I deeply appreciate the peace that comes with it. I adore my new boss Mayor Niño Tayco and my workmates. It made me believe in teamwork again.
In this job, nobody is pressured enough daily to use AI to help them meet deadlines. Creativity, the one that requires calm, quiet, and time, is encouraged to bloom.
I still mourn the death of my media career but it’s a demise that I also celebrate. It means that I can be anything I choose to become now.
I’ve already started laying down the groundwork for the consultancy I’ve been dreaming of for years. I’m also opening a concessionaire to sell plants and organic rice. My TikTok is also at over 10,600 followers and have just made it to the Creators Program.
All that matters to me is that I could still keep feeding my cats. I’ve resolved myself to the fact that I have to work extra now just to keep their lifestyle.
I know every job won’t be safe from AI for very long. There will come a time that running a coastal town like Pasacao would also become fully-automated. But I don’t think the human factor will be replaced fully.
After all, AI will never understand people. It will never be able to duplicate and anticipate how every person thinks. Sure, it can predict and map out collective responses of a community but there will always be someone or a subset of people in the group that would be an exception.
That’s how human creativity works, it is unpredictable and always full of surprises, and often, it always finds a way to stand out and triumph over anything that challenges its expression.
