Creativity, Generative AI, and Software Development: A Research Agenda

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Generative AI could reshape creativity in software development by combining McLuhan's tetrad with the Rhodes 4P framework (Person, Product, Process, Press). It argues that GenAI can both enhance and threaten different facets of creativity, depending on how it is integrated into individuals, teams, and products, and it outlines a six-theme research agenda (Individual Capabilities, Team Capabilities, The Product, Unintended Consequences, Societal Impact, Human Aspects) to guide longitudinal, cross-disciplinary studies. By analyzing future scenarios and deriving 76 tetrad-driven hypotheses for creativity, the work emphasizes proactive design of interventions to amplify positive impacts and prevent negative outcomes. The practical significance lies in informing researchers, practitioners, and policymakers about potential pathways GenAI may take in creative software work, enabling strategies that preserve human agency while leveraging AI-assisted creativity.

Abstract

Creativity has always been considered a major differentiator to separate the good from the great, and we believe the importance of creativity for software development will only increase as GenAI becomes embedded in developer tool-chains and working practices. This paper uses the McLuhan tetrad alongside scenarios of how GenAI may disrupt software development more broadly, to identify potential impacts GenAI may have on creativity within software development. The impacts are discussed along with a future research agenda comprising six connected themes that consider how individual capabilities, team capabilities, the product, unintended consequences, society, and human aspects can be affected.