Phil/Psych 447

Seminar in Cognitive Science

Week 5: Art and Science

Boden Chapter 7

Discussion Questions

1. What did you find confusing or hard to understand in this chapter? Computers? Search? Analogical?
2. Is Aaron a creative artist? A good artist? More info on Aaron.
3. Could a computer do improvisational jazz? Punk rock? Haikus?
4. How much semantics do you need to know to creative new stories?
5. How does analogical reasoning contribute to creativity?
6. What are the limits of computational models of creativity?
7. Can background knowledge needed for understanding language be represented in computers?

Boden Chapter 8

Discussion Questions

1. What did you find confusing or hard to understand in this chapter?
2. Is inductive learning in computers like human learning?
3. Are BACON and other computer discovery programs at all like human scientists?
4. Does creativity require semantics?
5. Can creativity arise from random modification of rules?
6. Would a robotic scientist be more effective than a standalone computer?
7. Is scientific creativity different from artistic creativity?

Robot makes discovery by itself?

Phil/Psych 447

Paul Thagard

Computational Epistemology Laboratory.

This page updated Oct. 5, 2009