Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 2.8
Two sample outputs from the line drawing system with niche construction
The term “automation” originated in the USA, from the newly industrialised en-
gineering of the 1940s, although similar concepts arose prior in different guises,
both historically and geographically. The central idea was to create machines to per-
form tasks previously performed by humans. The rational was largely economic:
machines that could replace and even out-perform their human counterparts will in-
crease production efficiency. As a central driving force in US industrialisation and
technologisation throughout the twentieth century, computers enabled the increas-
ing sophistication and range of capabilities for automation within the capitalist eco-
nomic system. The idea of machines automating human tasks still underpins many
technology-driven approaches to “automating creativity”. Traditional AI or EC ap-
proaches seek the automation of aesthetic or creative optima finding. In contrast,
the ecosystemic approach, as outlined here, does not seek to automate the human
out of the creative process, nor claim to equal or better human creative evaluation
and judgement. It views creative search and discovery as an
explorative
process, as
opposed to an optimisation.
Ecosystemic processes recognise the importance of the link between structure
and behaviour. Ecosystem components must be embedded in, and be part of, the
medium in which they operate. The design of the system—components and their
interdependencies—requires skill and creativity. This design forms the conceptual
and aesthetic basis by which the outcomes can be understood. So rather than re-
moving the artist by automating his or her role, the artist's contribution is one of
utmost creativity—creativity that is enhanced through interaction with the machine.
As is also argued elsewhere in this topic, forming an “ecosystem” that encompasses
humans, technology and the socially/technologically mediated environment, opens
up further ecosystemic possibilities for creative discovery.
