Seminar overview: How are creative ideas inspired? Given the rise in using machine learning in artistic practices and design, what is the role of authorship when considering the generation of a creative idea? Accordingly, this seminar will be a focused investigation into the generation of creative thought. It will be a text-based seminar where we will examine one theme each week and have one core text accompanying each theme. Discussions and activities will be inspired by the theme of the week, which include: hyper-realities, dreams, episodic memory, simulation hypothesis, and philosophical/aesthetic questions around using machine learning/Artificial Intelligence in creative practices.

Assignment: During the seminar you will be asked to keep a journal to map how your creative thoughts and (day)dreams are dynamically changing based on the themes we explore. For the final project, you will be asked to create a dream scape from your collected journal experiences by taking the perspective of a machine learning algorithm (to embody the algorithm).