The Creativity Code audiobook cover - How AI is learning to write, paint and think

The Creativity Code

How AI is learning to write, paint and think

Marcus du Sautoy

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CreativityTechnology & the Future

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The Creativity Code
Defining Creativity+
Math & Algorithms+
The AI Revolution+
AI in the Arts+
Current Limitations+
The Human Element+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 8
According to cognitive scientist Margaret Boden, what type of creativity did Arnold Schönberg exhibit when he disregarded traditional musical keys to invent atonality?
  • A. Transformational creativity
  • B. Exploratory creativity
  • C. Combinatorial creativity
  • D. Algorithmic creativity
Question 2 of 8
How did mathematician Grigori Perelman demonstrate 'combinatorial creativity' when proving the Poincaré conjecture?
  • A. By using a bottom-up machine learning algorithm to calculate geometric shapes.
  • B. By programming a computer to write its own axioms and theorems.
  • C. By applying the rules of a completely different area of mathematics, such as the way liquid flows over a surface.
  • D. By inventing a completely new numerical system based on abstract art.
Question 3 of 8
What fundamental shift in programming allowed the AlphaGo computer to defeat human Go champion Lee Sedol?
  • A. A shift to a top-down approach where grandmasters programmed every possible move.
  • B. A shift to a bottom-up approach where the computer learned by trial and error.
  • C. The introduction of emotional intelligence algorithms to read the opponent.
  • D. The use of a Creative Adversarial Network to confuse the human player.
Question 4 of 8
How was the AI software 'Emmy' able to compose music that sounded authentically like Johann Sebastian Bach?
  • A. It analyzed the emotional intent of Bach's letters and translated them into music.
  • B. It used a critic algorithm to reject any note that wasn't previously written by Bach.
  • C. It combined Bach's music with modern jazz riffs using combinatorial creativity.
  • D. It was trained to pick out and replicate the mathematical patterns typical of Bach's compositions.
Question 5 of 8
In Ahmed Elgammal’s Creative Adversarial Network (CAN), how do the two algorithms interact to produce visual art?
  • A. One searches the internet for inspiration, while the other paints the physical canvas.
  • B. One algorithm generates images, while the other acts as a critic to judge their originality.
  • C. One algorithm creates abstract shapes, while the other translates them into figurative art.
  • D. One generates random pixels, while the other deletes pixels that do not resemble real-world objects.
Question 6 of 8
Why do artificial intelligence programs currently struggle with understanding natural language and weaving complex narratives?
  • A. They lack the intuitive knowledge and real-world experience required to understand context and nuance.
  • B. They cannot process the massive amount of vocabulary found in modern dictionaries.
  • C. They are programmed using a top-down approach that strictly limits their grammar.
  • D. They process text pixel-by-pixel, making it difficult to read long sentences.
Question 7 of 8
What is the main takeaway from the author's use of Jorge Luis Borges's 'The Library of Babel' analogy?
  • A. Computers will eventually write every possible book, rendering human authors obsolete.
  • B. AI can sort through infinite data much faster than a human librarian can.
  • C. Just as a library of random books requires a human mind to find meaning, AI-generated data requires a human to extract creative value.
  • D. True creativity requires strict rules, just like a library requires a cataloging system.
Question 8 of 8
Based on the text, what is the author's ultimate conclusion about the current state of AI and creativity?
  • A. AIs have already surpassed human creativity and will soon replace human artists entirely.
  • B. AI creativity is fundamentally identical to human creativity, just operating at a faster computational speed.
  • C. AIs are incapable of producing anything surprising or valuable without direct line-by-line coding from humans.
  • D. AIs are highly capable creative tools, but they lack the free will and consciousness to be true creative agents.

The Creativity Code — Full Chapter Overview

The Creativity Code Summary & Overview

The Creativity Code (2019) explores the growing capabilities of artificial intelligence and its recent venture into creative fields such as art, music and literature – previously thought to be exclusively human territory. Author Marcus du Sautoy takes us on a journey from the origins of our own creativity to a future of art-making algorithms in a quest to answer the existential question: Can machines be creative? 

Who Should Listen to The Creativity Code?

  • Anyone interested in artificial intelligence 
  • Lovers of art, math and music
  • Futurists who like to speculate about the coming union of human and machine

About the Author: Marcus du Sautoy

Marcus du Sautoy is a British mathematician and author of the best seller The Music of the Primes (2003). On the strength of his writing about science, he was appointed to the Simonyi Professorship for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University, a post previously held by Richard Dawkins.

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