The ability to perform a skill that artificial intelligence and machines can’t replicate is deeply human because these skills exercise creativity and patience — qualities often lost in the technologically progressive, capitalistic world. Without the ability to lean on machines for rapid productivity or on AI to generate pattern ideas, the art of crochet exercises the mind and body through practical and creative skills.
In the modern era of busy schedules and instant gratification, scientists using the Torrance Test, which measures creativity based on fluency, flexibility, elaboration and originality, found a decrease in collective creativity compared to that of the past, attributing the drop to “hurried, over-scheduled lives” and “ever increasing amounts of [time] interacting with electronic entertainment devices.” To make matters worse, companies and everyday people alike now turn to machine-made products and generative AI to instantly receive a creative product rather than hiring a team, commissioning an artist or creating the work themselves.
The ramifications of these developments are reliance on generative AI for rapid, creative thinking. While AI “thinks” for them, users fail to exercise their creativity and AI, in turn, fails to produce original products.
While generative AI possesses some capabilities of innovative generation, these simply cannot match the versatility of human thought. Lennart Meincke, a Mack Institute for Innovation Management research fellow, conducted a study on two groups of people where one had access to AI and the other didn’t. When asking these two groups to generate a toy using a fan and a brick, Meincke found that only 6 percent of the responses from the group with access to AI were unique, compared to 100 percent of ideas in the human-only group.
Within the crochet space, sellers have begun using AI-generated images of crochet pieces to sell pattern instructions. Not only are these images misleading and typically riddled with errors, but they also plagiarize the work from legitimate crochet pattern makers. Further, the patterns rarely resemble the marketed image and do not provide clear or sensible instructions.
Like generative AI, machine-made products cut corners of creativity and hone practical skills. Sucking the creativity out of product design, large companies steal crochet artists’ designs and employ machines to mass-produce them. But, crochet cannot currently be achieved by a machine. The intricacies of the stitches and hand movements, along with the process of repeatedly pulling yarn loops through other yarn loops in endless, multidimensional ways, require a level of flexibility and precision that current machinery cannot achieve.
Instead, mass-produced crochet relies on warp knitting machines, the closest mechanical equivalent to hand crochet. Though first developed in the 18th century, these machines have evolved to resemble authentic crochet styles. Still, these items often have telltale signs of cheap production and inauthenticity. Typically, items produced this way have bizarre seams, too many or missing stitches and generally do not resemble authentic crochet. Machine crochet saves time, but it still falls short of the rigor and skill of a human crocheter.
Thus, AI cannot generate crochet patterns or images, nor can it produce tangible crochet works. As crochet exists beyond the scope of machines and generative AI’s capabilities, it offers a method of reshaping society’s rapid, capitalistic approach to production, thinking and design.
Society must actively fight instant gratification to restore the human ability to generate creative ideas and hone practical skills through repetition, practice and allowing the mind to wander. Such work begins with slowing down the everyday schedule and reacclimating oneself to boredom. A variety of studies have associated boredom with increased creative output, suggesting that actively scheduling time to think, reflect and wonder during mundane tasks — like long walks or showers — can foster creativity.
Crochet produces art in a repetitive, mundane way while stimulating practical and creative ingenuity. Although overcoming an initial learning phase requires careful effort and attention, the gratification of producing a handmade product motivates the prospective crafter to slow down their busy schedule, delay gratification and acquire new knowledge.
Throughout a crocheter’s journey, learning never ceases. In general, however, crochet projects require many hours of repetitive stitches, which can lead the mind to wander into boredom and, subsequently, creativity, while gradually building practical skills.
My crochet journey began as a child, following simple patterns and slowly honing the fine motor skills to achieve good yarn tension and a variety of stitches in different combinations. With the boredom of quarantine in 2020, I found creativity in revisiting the craft and undertaking more complex patterns. While simultaneously motivating and mundane, the repetitive work gave me time to wonder what else I could create that was uniquely personal to my interests.
Thus, I began modifying or combining aspects of existing patterns to create something more original and better suited to my taste. Trusting my skills and knowledge, with about a decade of experience, I can comfortably design and create a variety of unique crochet pieces and patterns for personal enjoyment or to fill gaps in publicly available merchandise.
As I turn to crochet more frequently to slow down in life and express creativity, I relish the incredible freedom of creating through practice and patience. Being so irreplaceable by machines and AI, the art of crochet exemplifies something uniquely human that grounds a person in a reality outside the over-reliance on instant technological gratification and the capitalist mindsets of our modern era.
Allison Bonaventura is a sophomore double-majoring in comparative literature and anthropology.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.