The Stories Behind Art

In 1971, Robert Caro was on the verge of going broke. The book he had been researching and writing for five years, The Power Broker, was still three years away from completion.

His modest advance was gone, his wife had to start shopping at the cheapest stores, and the young couple was forced to downgrade homes just to stay financially afloat.

From the outside looking in, Caro appeared insane. He was placing his young family in dire circumstances to finish writing a 1,000+ page book that his agent, at the time, claimed no one would ever read. Afterall, the subject of this massive tome was a man few had ever heard of: the former city planner of New York, Robert Moses.

That book, which Caro originally thought would take him nine months and ended up consuming eight anxiety riddled years of his life has now sold over 500,000 copies. Not only has it sold well, but it influenced the philosophies of some of the most powerful leaders in the world.

Barack Obama said of The Power Broker “I’m sure it helped to shape the way I think about politics.”

So why am I telling you this story?

There’s been a lot of buzz recently about AI and its ability to replace writers, content, and creative work broadly. Some technologists believe that AI will make human creations totally obsolete because AI can make better versions instantaneously. I disagree.

Creative work is about connecting with others. It’s about gaining a better understanding of the human condition. And when you learn the story behind a creative work, your appreciation for it significantly increases. This sensation of deep appreciation occurs because you are connecting with the person behind the work - the writer, the artist, the painter, the director, the musician, the human.

AI, on the other hand, has no story behind the things it creates. This quality makes it difficult to connect with and objectively worse as a creative product.

After the success of The Power Broker, Caro wanted to study national power instead of the urban power wielded by Robert Moses. So he devoted the rest of his life to writing a remarkably vivid and well researched five volume series on Lyndon Baines Johnson - a project he is still in the process of finishing today at the age of 89.

In the LBJ books, Caro’s descriptions of the Texas Hill Country where LBJ was raised are more vivid when you learn that Caro lived there for three years and actually spent a night in the country, lying down, alone, gazing up at the stars to gain a better understanding of the feeling of isolation so common to the hill country’s residents.

Caro’s revelation that LBJ stole the 1948 Senate election is made all the more shocking when you learn that Caro found the man who cast the fraudulent votes in Johnson’s favor in a run-down trailer park outside of Houston. The man had been living with the knowledge of his actions for decades - his votes having illegitimately sent a man to the Senate who later, as president, passed the most powerful civil rights legislation in history yet then waged one of the most senseless and destructive wars in recent memory.

Caro’s description of a young Lyndon Johnson desperately running towards the United States Capitol building is that much more moving when you learn that Caro walked the same path over and over again, never understanding its significance until he walked the route in the morning (the same time of day LBJ had) and witnessed the rays of gold from the morning sun reflect off the marble building in an inspiring, hazy, dreamlike glow.

These stories inform the essence of Caro’s work - a feat AI, no matter how advanced, will never be capable of doing.

The song Layla by Derek and the Dominoes was ranked the #27 greatest song of all time in Rolling Stone’s 2004 edition of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

It’s a heavy rock & roll tune full of lightning bolt guitar licks that musically convey a sense of bravado and boastfulness. But if you listen closely to the lyrics - the message contains anything but braggadocio.

“What’ll you do when you get lonely, and nobody’s waiting by your side?”

“Layla, you’ve got me on my knees, Layla, I’m begging darling please, Layla, darling won’t you ease my worried mind?”

The singer and writer of Layla, Eric Clapton (the front man for Derek and the Dominoes), is considered the greatest guitar player of the time. So great were Clapton’s guitar chops that a fan once spraypainted “Clapton is God” on a wall in London. The nickname, God, sticks with the guitar legend to this day.

Despite Clapton holding the ‘Greatest Guitarist’ title, the ‘Best Band’ title was held by a four-piece group from Liverpool called The Beatles. Many of The Beatles commercial sales records still stand today including most #1 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart (20) and most #1 albums on the UK Albums Chart (15).

Clapton and The Beatles ran in similar social circles as they had much in common. They were all from England and all influenced by the same American blues records. Particularly, Clapton and George Harrison (the guitarist for The Beatles) struck a close friendship.

Despite the close bond between Clapton and Harrison, Clapton could not help but fall in love with Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd. And it was this forbidden love that inspired the epic song, Layla.

When you learn of the hidden love Clapton held for his best friend’s wife, Layla takes on another meaning. It isn’t an amorphous ballad written about some imaginary muse - it’s a camouflaged declaration of love to a woman Clapton can never have without severing his closest friendship. The depth of emotion with which Eric yearns for Pattie gives new meaning to the heartfelt lyrics and piercing guitar notes.

“Like a fool, I fell in love with you. You turned my whole world upside down.”

Plenty of people enjoy Layla without knowing its backstory. But for those who do know the backstory, their ability to appreciate the song is that much deeper.

Morgan Housel once wrote that the best story wins. A narrative is often spread not because it is the first one, the most true, or the most supported by data, but because it is the narrative that the most people connected with it. And I think this excludes AI from making truly good content. People enjoy connecting with other people and this, by definition excludes AI from producing superior creative work.

AI won’t be able to tell the best stories because the best stories are the most human ones. They are full of shortcomings, trials, tribulations, and imperfections - qualities of which every human being can relate to. Black and white isn’t interesting. 0s and 1s aren’t interesting. Binaries aren’t interesting. The best stories have a complicated, emotional, and relatable human element that AI can’t replicate.

The same way a piece of art becomes better when you know the story behind it, a piece of AI generated art is worse because you know there is no story behind it.

And the same way people would rather interact with a human customer service agent than a robot, people would rather read content developed by humans rather than AI.

Drakes music is worse when you know it was not written by Drake.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is worse when you know it was written by a ghostwriter.

Tweets from someone you admire are worse when you know they’re generated by AI.

And vice versa, The Rolling Stones music is better after you’ve read Keith Richard’s biography.

The Godfather is a better movie after you’ve watched The Offer TV show.

Apple products are better after you’ve read the Steve Jobs biography.

Knowing the backstory of the man or woman behind a creation makes it objectively better. And a backstory is something AI generated work will never have.