On Creativity and Open-Endedness

TL;DR

This paper addresses the lack of a cohesive bridge between Computational Creativity (CC) and Artificial Life's Open-Endedness/Open-Ended Evolution (OE/OEE). It provides historical context, reviews prior attempts to connect OE and creativity, and identifies definitional and measurement ambiguities in both domains. The authors contribute by (i) synthesizing existing connections, (ii) proposing a new set of open research questions to illuminate where OE and creativity align or diverge, and (iii) outlining a road map for cross-disciplinary collaboration to reduce conceptual ambiguity. The work highlights opportunities for mutual learning, proposes concrete questions to guide future interdisciplinary studies, and argues that a dialogue between CC and ALife can accelerate progress toward implementing open-ended, creatively evolving artificial systems. The overarching significance lies in guiding AI research toward more robust, continuously creative systems and in clarifying foundational concepts to support rigorous evaluation across domains.

Abstract

Artificial Life (ALife) as an interdisciplinary field draws inspiration and influence from a variety of perspectives. Scientific progress crucially depends, then, on concerted efforts to invite cross-disciplinary dialogue. The goal of this paper is to revitalize discussions of potential connections between the fields of Computational Creativity (CC) and ALife, focusing specifically on the concept of Open-Endedness (OE); the primary goal of CC is to endow artificial systems with creativity, and ALife has dedicated much research effort into studying and synthesizing OE and artificial innovation. However, despite the close proximity of these concepts, their use so far remains confined to their respective communities, and their relationship is largely unclear. We provide historical context for research in both domains, and review the limited work connecting research on creativity and OE explicitly. We then highlight specific questions to be considered, with the eventual goals of (i) decreasing conceptual ambiguity by highlighting similarities and differences between the concepts of OE and creativity, (ii) identifying synergy effects of a research agenda that encompasses both concepts, and (iii) establishing a dialogue between ALife and CC research.