Abstract
When faced with complex real-world problems, humans display resourcefulness, flexibility, creativity, active learning, improvisation, and critical and analytical thinking. Humans have a unique capacity to be creative that AI has yet to duplicate. However, AI brings new possibilities. Most humans believe creativity is a uniquely human ability that cannot be copied, especially not by AI. This chapter explores two views: (1) AI cannot be creative and (2) AI can be creative. This chapter uses a literature study as research methodology. The main finding is that there are people who believe that AI cannot be creative and should be feared, while others believe that AI can amplify human effectiveness, offer more opportunities to be creative, and should not be feared. The recommendations are that education, knowledge sharing, and working with AI tools and programs can change people's negative mindset and make AI a valuable partner in human creativity endeavors.
TopIntroduction
The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has led to rapidly advancing artificial intelligence (AI) capacity. AI is an emerging intelligent technology that uses intelligent computers, machines, and algorithms to solve problems and make decisions based on the human mind (IBM Cloud Education, 2020; Leos, 2022). The theory of the mind consists of five stages (Wellman and Liu, 2004; Wellman & Peterson, 2012). These are the understanding of (a) wanting, (b) thinking, (c) knowing, (d) false beliefs, and (e) hidden feelings (Ruhl, 2020). The theory of the mind enables AI to understand human motives, reasoning, and intent. AI is also self-aware, which refers to human-level intelligence (Burns, 2022).
It became evident that AI has societal implications for humans and that there are concerns about the effects that AI will have on human intelligence and creativity. What is essential is to realize that AI is no longer a futuristic fantasy but a current reality made possible by 4IR technology (Kumar, 2022). AI will become part of our existence, just like the internet and electricity. There is the view that as technology progresses, human creative outputs should also increase (Liu et al., 2021). This, however, may not be the case. Bieser (2023) explained that as AI becomes more intelligent, it becomes both more helpful and distracting, potentially inhibiting human creativity. Russel (2023) concurs that AI can offer a lot to humans but also warn that AI can also cause harm, which depends on how it is used.
Elon Musk warns that AI is the biggest risk for humanity (Browne, 2023). When ChatGPT was launched people questioned the ethical issues behind AI technology and the impact it will have on plagiarism and academia for instance. The debate around creativity came to the fore and people started asking the question if AI can be creative or not. If AI becomes creative the fabric of humanity will drastically change. This is one of the reasons why an AI halt was called by Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak. Humans created a powerful tool, AI intelligence, without considering the implications of it in the future (Sharma, 2023). It is recommended that ethical standards need to be put in place before further development takes place. The risk should therefore be manageable before more research is done and more power is given to AI.
Russell (2023) states that he does not want the field of research halted or destroyed but rather that humans can see the value of AI and can gain from the technology. He does not deny that there are dangers too. One can say that AI can be used for good and for bad and this cannot be controlled at this stage.
Creativity is seen as a unique skill that only humans possess. The advancements made by humans are linked to imagination, creativity, and innovation, something that other species cannot do. Now, AI becomes a threat as it is possible for AI to develop creative capabilities, maybe not now, but in the future. Human creativity can also be used for good of for the bad.
The chapter’s main objective is to explore the debate around human creativity, AI and artificial creativity.
TopLiterature Review
This section draws information from various literature sources to define and explain the possible links between human and AI creativity and debate the various views on the matter.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Artificial creativity: This refers to computational creativity in artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, philosophy, and the arts. The main aim is to support human creativity.
Creativity: This is the process of generating new or novel ideas. This process is the first step in innovation. During creativity, ideas can be copied, transformed, and combined to create novel ideas.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): This is machine intelligence and is different from the intelligence of humans. AI uses perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information. It helps to process large amounts of information.
Computational Creativity: This refers to building software that exhibits creative behavior, such as inventing mathematical theories, writing poems, painting pictures, and composing music.