PhD candidate Charlotte Bird’s research focuses on the digital exploration of creativity and generative AI world. She utilises two methodologies for answering a multitude of questions surrounding creativity, generative AI and human-computer creative interactions. Through qualitative analysis, Charlotte aims to uncover:
- What participants require from generative AI,
- How participants employ generative tools,
- How participants perceive AI as a support actor,
- What values are held in regards to creative processes.
The initial stages of this research will mainly take the form of ‘snowballing’ - wherein a community identifies itself through human connections. Through online ethnography, the behaviours within specific online groups or communities are then observed and recorded, and Charlotte will focus on the interactions and content of dedicated AI artists. Subsequent interviews will be conducted using a semi-structured interview protocol, focused on the distinct manifestations of creativity in relation to generative AI. These interviews will draw on evaluative theories from the field of computational creativity to enable a scoring mechanism.
This study is designed to capture a participant’s understanding of creativity, such as “what does it mean to be creative in the use of generative AI?” Further, this study will focus on established artists alongside users, understanding the potential or realised influences of image-based generative AI. Participatory design such as co-design workshops may assist in informing how such tools can be evolved to enable greater human support or collaboration. Taken together, understanding these online communities is crucial to recognising how generative AI is employed in practice, and how tools can be developed (as is imagined for subsequent work) to support such use.
