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Turn-based evolution in a simplified model of artistic creative process

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Abstract

Evolutionary computation has often been presented as a possible model for creativity in computers. In this paper, evolution is discussed in the light of a theoretical model of human artistic process, recently presented by the author. Some crucial differences between human artistic creativity and natural evolution are observed and discussed, also in the light of other creative processes occurring in nature. As a tractable way to overcome these limitations, a new kind of evolutionary implementation of creativity is proposed, based on a simplified version of the previously presented model, and the results of initial experiments are presented and discussed. Artistic creativity is here modeled as an iterated turn-based process, alternating between a conceptual representation and a material representation of the work-to-be. Evolutionary computation is proposed as a heuristic solution to the principal steps in this process, translating back and forth between the two kinds of representation. Those steps are: implementation, going from concept to material form, and re-conceptualization, forming a new conceptual representation based on the current material form. The advantages and disadvantages of this approach are discussed, and concluding from the initial experiments, it is a very promising path, well worth further exploration.

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Notes

  1. Except in some exceptional cases, e.g., if a certain interaction with the environment is repeated in every generation, a symbiotic relationship can evolve, since there might be an evolutionary advantage. This may last until this other species or circumstance disappear. Also, recent finds in epigenetics shed new light on soft inheritance, but that is of little relevance here.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partly funded by the Swedish Research Council, in the project Creative Performance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Information Technology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Palle Dahlstedt

  2. Department of Communication and Psychology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Palle Dahlstedt

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  1. Palle Dahlstedt
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Correspondence to Palle Dahlstedt.

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Dahlstedt, P. Turn-based evolution in a simplified model of artistic creative process. Evol. Intel. 8, 37–50 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12065-014-0123-5

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