AUGMENTED CREATIVITY: LEVERAGING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR IDEA GENERATION IN THE CREATIVE SPHERE

The continuing attention that artificial intelligence has received in recent years has given rise to a debate about its possible role for creativity. Positions differ widely. Some argue that algorithms will replace human creativity altogether, while others claim that creativity is genuinely human and thus cannot be replaced. With this work, we want to leave this philosophical debate behind by looking at the specific challenges of creative processes. We make use of the distinction between two essential aspects of creative action: divergent and convergent thinking. We investigate how different algorithms of artificial intelligence can contribute to these two aspects of the creative process and unite creative AI with existing IS design theory. We specifically investigate the domain of fashion design to showcase how artificial intelligence can assist designers. In divergent thinking, this would mean that artificial intelligence develops a large number of possible solutions/designs and therefore supports creatives in idea generation. In convergent thinking, this would mean help in idea selection. The application of artificial intelligence in creative processes could have far-reaching consequences for the practices in creative domains. We are currently at the beginning of a possibly fundamental change in what constitutes a creative profession