Creative thinking

September 14, 2023 - A study published in Scientific Reports suggests that large language model AI chatbots may be able to outperform the average human at a creative thinking task involving divergent thinking, but the human participants with the highest scores still outperformed the best chatbot responses. The study compared 256 human participants’ responses with those of three AI chatbots’ to an Alternate Uses Task for four objects, and found that the chatbot-generated responses scored significantly higher than the human responses for both semantic distance and creativity. However, the authors note that they only considered performance in a single task associated with the assessment of creativity and propose that future research could explore how AI can be integrated into the creative process to improve human performance.

Large language model chatbots are often perceived as creative thinkers due to their ability to generate new content and ideas based on vast amounts of data. Here are several ways in which these chatbots may exhibit creativity:

• Novel Content Generation: These chatbots can produce original content, such as stories, poems, or music lyrics, that haven't been explicitly programmed into them.
• Problem-Solving: They can approach problem-solving in unique ways, providing innovative solutions to complex problems by combining information from diverse fields.
• Idea Synthesis: Chatbots can synthesize ideas from different domains, creating new connections between seemingly unrelated concepts.
• Language Play: They are capable of language play, such as puns or jokes, demonstrating a form of linguistic creativity.
• Artistic Assistance: Chatbots can assist in artistic endeavors, offering ideas for visual arts, writing, and even music composition.

While their creativity is based on patterns learned from vast datasets, these models do not possess consciousness or intentionality. Their creativity is a product of sophisticated programming and data processing capabilities, rather than human-like creative thought processes.