What is creativity?
Like art, it’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it. We use creativity to describe the generation of something new — ideas, art, technologies, and problem solutions. When we see something creative, it strikes us emotionally.
We can plot creativity along a spectrum from discovery to invention:
- Fire is a discovery. Gas stoves are an invention.
- Thought is a discovery. Language is an invention.
- Electricity is a discovery. The internet is an invention.
- Color is a discovery. The idea of using color paint on a canvas is an invention.
Inventions rely on discoveries (and other inventions). Discoveries are like the Lego bricks dumped all over the floor just waiting to be stepped on, I mean, assembled into something meaningful — an invention.
Every human is creative. You may not be an accomplished artist, but you are creative in the sense that you learn, do, and then assemble the discoveries and inventions of your world into new inventions. That invention may be something as simple as how you organize your day.
You see? You are creative. How does that feel?
And when you see somebody else’s creativity that resonates with you, how do you feel? You probably say something to yourself like, “That’s cool.” Because you can appreciate your own and others’ creativity.
AI can learn, do, and assemble. AI can find solutions to problems that we can’t.
But would an AI ever contemplate something new and think, “That’s cool.”
