Creative Zombie Apocalypse: A Critique of Computer Creativity Evaluation

Abstract

Using algorithms to generate creative work is a well-established transdisciplinary practice that spans several fields. Accessible and popular coding tools such as Processing and Open Frameworks, as well as the rise of hack spaces have significantly contributed to increased activity in this field. However, beyond art-technology curation and historical contextualisation, evaluation of the resulting artefacts is in its infancy, although several general models of creativity - and its evaluation - exist. There is a perceived distinction between human and computer creativity, whereas we argue that they are effectively the same thing. Computers are made and programmed by people, so it makes sense to measure the creativity of the human influence behind the machine, rather than viewing computers as truly autonomous entities. By concatenating and enhancing existing models of creativity, we propose a framework that takes these issues into account, with a view to evaluating creative work that uses the computer as a medium more effectively.