Perceptions of Creativity in Artistic and Scientific Processes

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a factorial survey research on perceptions of artistic and scientific creativity in humans and AI. A general reluctance at attributing creativity to artificial systems is well-documented in the literature on the theme. Aim of this survey is to test whether this reluctance is equally strong when participants evaluate scenarios where human and artificial agents are involved in processes of scientific discovery and scenarios where they are engaged in artistic creation processes. The starting hypothesis of the study is that participants should be less hesitant at attributing creativity to artificial agents when the latter engage in scientific discovery processes. Findings, however, disconfirm this assumption, showing that participants attribute significantly less creativity to artificial actors than to human ones, and even more so when they are involved in scientific processes.