We robot: artificial intelligence and the future of creativity

The disruptive impact of artificial intelligence (AI) is increasing rapidly. Already capable of exceeding productivity and competence in a burgeoning range of human endeavours, increasing ubiquity raises profound questions, both practical and philosophical, and potentially, existential. Despite having a long run-in into this foreseen reality, the world nevertheless finds itself on the back foot. Whilst technology has been synergistic with human ingenuity and creativity throughout history, AI represents a fundamentally different moment, a possible Rubicon event. The genie may be out of the bottle and the consequences may already be beyond our control. Focusing specifically on the implications for creativity—a characteristic now arguably no longer the preserve of the organic, much less the distinguishing feature of humanity—this chapter uses Isaac Asimov's collection of stories, “i, Robot” (Asimov, 1950) as a thematic lens to consider the consequences conceptually, practically, and theoretically, in terms of what now and what next for creativity. The chapter concludes with a summary of key considerations regarding AI and creativity and outlines a proposed framework of three laws for machine creativity.