AI and the Decentering of Disciplinary Creativity

TL;DR

This paper explores how artificial intelligence influences disciplinary creativity in science, showing that AI can both extend and displace traditional creative processes, potentially impacting the value of scientific work.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of disciplinary creativity and analyzes how AI approaches can displace traditional methods within scientific disciplines.

Findings

AI can extend disciplinary creativity through computation.

Certain AI approaches may displace traditional disciplinary creativity.

Displacement of creativity could diminish scientific value.

Abstract

This paper examines the role of artificial intelligence in scientific problem-solving, with a focus on its implications for disciplinary creativity. Drawing on recent work in the philosophy of creativity, I distinguish between creative approaches and creative products, and introduce the concept of disciplinary creativity -the creative application of discipline-specific expertise to a valued problem within that field. Through two cases in mathematics, I show that while computation can extend disciplinary creativity, certain approaches involving AI can serve to displace it. This displacement has the potential to alter (and, perhaps, diminish) the value of scientific pursuit.