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AI & Creativity?

  • Writer: Felix
    Felix
  • Nov 24, 2024
  • 4 min read

Updated: Dec 1, 2024

There’s been a lot of talk about how AI might be stifling creativity, with some people saying, “Sometimes it’s good to use your own brain.” But isn't asking questions, creating prompts, and engaging in critical and logical thinking also using your brain?

Is creativity only defined by mastering a skill and using that skill to create something? Or is the act of thinking and generating ideas in itself a form of creativity? Let’s explore this in today’s blog. Creativity is a complex and multi-dimensional concept, often associated with the ability to generate novel and valuable ideas, solutions, or expressions. It involves thinking outside the box, problem-solving, and adapting to new or unique challenges. Here are some scientific definitions:



Psychological Definition (by Graham Wallas, 1926)

Creativity is the process of generating something new. It unfolds through five stages:


  1. Preparation: Defining the problem and gathering relevant information.

  2. Incubation: Setting the problem aside to allow unconscious processing.

  3. Intimation: A subtle sense that a solution is near, often felt as a "gut feeling."

  4. Illumination: The "aha moment," when the solution becomes clear.

  5. Verification: Evaluating and refining the idea to ensure its practicality.



Cognitive Definition (by J.P. Guilford, 1950s)

Creativity is linked to divergent thinking, exploring multiple potential answers instead of focusing on one. It involves several cognitive abilities, including:


  • Fluency: Generating many ideas quickly (word, associational, ideational, and expressive).

  • Flexibility: Adapting to new approaches (spontaneous and adaptive).

  • Originality: Producing unique or uncommon ideas.



Social Definition (by Howard Gardner, 1988)

Creativity is a blend of cognitive skills, personality traits, motivation, and societal conditions. It’s not solely linked to intelligence but rather to everyday problem-solving abilities. Creative individuals tend to engage in interconnected endeavors over time, driven by intrinsic motivation. Understanding creativity requires integrating insights from psychology, sociology, and neuroscience.


 

AI helps boost creativity by acting as a powerful tool that enhances and accelerates the creative process. It supports the stages of creativity as outlined in various definitions, such as Graham Wallas’ psychological model. By aiding in Preparation, AI helps gather and analyze information more efficiently, allowing for a deeper understanding of a problem. During Incubation, AI processes vast amounts of data, helping to uncover hidden patterns that may not be immediately obvious. In the Intimation and Illumination stages, AI can offer suggestions or generate ideas that spark the feeling of insight, guiding a person toward creative breakthroughs. Finally, in the Verification stage, AI helps evaluate and refine ideas, ensuring their practicality.


AI also boosts creativity through cognitive abilities such as fluency, flexibility, and originality. It can quickly generate a wide range of ideas, adapt to new approaches, and offer unique solutions, pushing creative boundaries. This capability allows individuals to explore more ideas, experiment with different solutions, and discover novel concepts that they might not have otherwise considered.


From a social perspective, AI integrates into everyday problem-solving, allowing people to leverage both human and machine creativity. It adapts to different contexts, helping to uncover new possibilities while collaborating with human intuition and insight.


It's what you make of it, and everything is right until proven otherwise. There is a hard stone to place on creativity, like Math, 1+1 equals 2. But creativity is based on so many contexts and cultural differances. Don't tell me about it, I graduated as a teacher of art and design where we had a amazing Art History teacher! But what is creativity and what is intellect, it all depends on what perspective we look. This reminds me of a book I received from a colleague that I’m still reading, "Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?" by Frans de Waal. In it, he discusses cognitive pluralism, which advocates recognizing different forms of intelligence across species, rather than judging all intelligence by human standards. This challenges human exceptionalism and encourages a more inclusive understanding of cognition. The book concludes that intelligence should be viewed beyond human standards, as animals demonstrate complex cognitive abilities, such as problem-solving and social understanding. A broader definition of intelligence is needed. Creativity is similar in this way. For some people, something as simple as a line can be seen as creative, while for others, nothing is truly creative, just a physical manifestation of thought. It's a fascinating topic, and I could philosophize about it for hours! Conlusion Creativity is not a one-size-fits-all concept; it’s multi-dimensional and influenced by various factors such as cognition, culture, and context. AI enhances and accelerates creativity by supporting different stages of the creative process, from idea generation to refinement. It offers new possibilities, helping individuals explore and push creative boundaries. Just like intelligence, creativity isn’t defined by a single standard; it varies depending on perspective. What one person sees as creative, another might not, yet both perspectives are valid. Ultimately, creativity is what you make of it, and its definition continues to evolve, influenced by new tools, insights, and cultural understandings. Let’s continue exploring and discussing what creativity truly means! Feel free to reach out if you want to keep the conversation going.

If you found this interesting or have any questions,

don’t hesitate to reach out! I’d love to help, contact me today!



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