Starting Computational Creativity

[Gabriel Ducrocq]

Dear enthusiasts of CC,

I hope you did not hear my questions too many times,

I obtained a master degree in probability and statistics and I am currently finishing a specialization year in data science. I am getting more and more interested in computational creativity. Unfortunately, with all the materials existing, I don't really know where to start.

I would be glad if you told me the best books or publications to start with and get some overview of the field.

I also wish to know what background is best to practice CC. I heard a lot about CS background, unfortunately I am more maths-oriented than CS-oriented - even if programming is not a problem. Would it be a problem if I wanted to do a PhD in the field ?

Thank you very much,

Best regards,

Gabriel Ducrocq.

[a.k.jordanous]

Hi Gabriel - great to see your enthusiasm. 

A good place to start would be by delving into the things that most interest you at http://computationalcreativity.net/ , particularly the papers and other blog posts. The most recent conference papers are listed at http://www.computationalcreativity.net/iccc2016/ and for previous years' conferences and workshops there are also video presentations that you can watch. The PROSECCO network website is also full of useful content: http://prosecco-network.eu/ . Keep an eye on this mailing list as well, for events that might be helpful. 

There will soon be a Springer book 'readings in computational creativity' which will be a very good start for an overview (this book is currently being finalised) - for now, I like Tony Veale's robotcomix.com/ as a really accessible way of getting started with the area and getting an overview. Also, we teach a final-year undergraduate module on computational creativity at the university I work at, for which we have a reading list - this list might also be helpful to you: http://resourcelists.kent.ac.uk/lists/92F2F66A-9721-631D-9092-842212A433EE.html 

In terms of what background you'd need - yes personally, I'd certainly say you'd need some programming, and a bit of computer science wouldn't hurt.. but there are quite a few people within the field who come from a maths or similar background. You might actually want to check out a project going on at the moment that covers (among other things) mathematical creativity, the CoInvent project http://www.coinvent-project.eu/ . I will let those involved in this project follow up in terms of what papers are particularly good.

Hope this is useful,

anna

[Joe Corneli]

On Friday, 29 July 2016 20:58:17 UTC+1, Gabriel Ducrocq wrote:

> I also wish to know what background is best to practice CC. I heard a lot
> about CS background, unfortunately I am more maths-oriented than
> CS-oriented - even if programming is not a problem. Would it be a problem
> if I wanted to do a PhD in the field ?

Hi Gabriel,

It would probably be useful to track down some recent
theses/dissertations. This will give you a good idea of the kind and
amount of work that's involved.

E.g. this one might be relevant for you:

https://www.cs.helsinki.fi/en/news/85133 (and congrats to Jukka by the
way)

Keep in mind that different countries and institutions also have
different requirements. Course work, publications, page limits,
supervision style -- all of this will vary from place to place, and
furthermore "Computational Creativity" is quite broad as you can see
from looking over the ICCC proceedings.

You might want to contrast the PhD theses you find with some related
high-quality Master's theses as well, e.g. here's one I came across
today:

https://people.csail.mit.edu/csauper/pubs/sauper-sm-thesis.pdf

Regarding mathematics vs computer science vs data science: I guess it
really depends on what you're interested in studying. Figuring out your
research question(s) is big percentage of the work of doing a PhD!

And lastly, regarding COINVENT (thanks Anna!), the paper "The role of
blending in mathematical invention" is a good taster.

Joe