Dynamic Concept Spaces in Computational Creativity for Music

Abstract

I argue for a formal specification as a working understanding of ‘computational creativity’. Geraint A. Wiggins proposed a formalised framework for ‘computational creativity’, based on Margaret Boden’s view of ‘creativity’ defined as searches in concept spaces. I argue that the epistemological basis for delineated ‘concept spaces’ is problematic: instead of Wiggins’s bounded types or sets, such theoretical spaces can represent traces of creative output. To address this problem, I propose a revised specification which includes dynamic concept spaces, along with formalisations of memory and motivations, which allow iteration in a time-based framework that can be aligned with learning models (e.g., John Dewey’s experiential model). This supports the view of computational creativity as product of a learning process. My critical revision of the framework, applied to the case of computer systems that improvise music, achieves a more detailed specification and better understanding of potentials in computational creativity.