Creative AI Futures: Theory and Practice

Abstract

This paper analyses creative activity enabled by ML and recognised under the banner of ‘AI art’ or ‘creative AI’. The theoretical discussion is anchored in the critical reflection on the activities in which the authors have been involved as part of the Creative AI Lab, which is a collaboration between the R&D Platform at Serpentine Galleries and King’s College London’s Department of Digital Humanities. The paper proposes a 5C model (‘Creative – Critical – Constructive – Collaborative – Computational’), which brings together technical research and conceptual inquiry into AI art, while shifting focus from artefacts to their wider contexts, processes and infrastructures. It also outlines directions for future research.