Leaps and Bounds: An Introduction to the Field of Computational Creativity

Computers have enhanced productivity and cost-effectiveness in all of the creative industries, and their value as tools is rarely doubted. But can machines serve as more than mere tools, and assume the role and responsibilities of a co-creative partner, or even become goal-setting, autonomous creators in their own right? These are the questions that define the discipline of computational creativity. The answers require an algorithmic understanding of how humans give meaning to form, but a transformation in the way we think about creativity is unlikely to occur in a single bound. Rather, interdisciplinary insights from diverse fields must first inform our models, and shape a narrative of creativity in which machines are both tools and creators. To set the stage for the newest work, this introduction to the special issue on computational creativity shows where the field is going, and where it has come from.