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TALK: “Creativity & Intrinsically Motivated, Open-Ended Learning: Three Roads to Surprise”

Abstract
In this talk, Christian makes the case that (computational) creativity and intrinsically motivated, open-ended learning (IMOL) are deeply intertwined, and puts forward a translational research agenda on their relationship with the potential to advancing several involved fields. Few would dispute that research, too, is an inherently creative activity and its outcomes often marked by an element of surprise. Here, three ‘roads’ to surprise on this agenda - conceptual analysis, formalisation of creativity theory, and simulation studies – are argued for and demonstrated based on recent projects from the Autotelic Interaction Research (AIR) group. The talk concludes with an outlook to upcoming research projects which further extend this agenda. The title of this talk is a homage to the late British cognitive scientist Margaret Boden (1936-2025).

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Short Bio

Christian Guckelsberger is a Computer Scientist, Art Historian and Assistant Professor in Creative Technologies at Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland. He leads the Autotelic Interaction Research (AIR) group, which seeks to understand, model and support self-directed behaviour in AI, in people, and in their interaction. His research agenda is twofold, (i) engineering artificial systems that exhibit such behaviour alone and in interaction with people, and (ii) investigating how such AI is perceived by its users and society to guide sustainable, more-than-human AI research and adoption. Christian emphasises studies on human and AI creativity, for which autotelic behaviour has been considered crucial. His work is essentially interdisciplinary, bridging between AI, HCI, Psychology, Philosophy and creative domains such as videogames. Web: autotelic.science .