Getting Creative With Evolution

Peter J. BentleyUniversity College London

Evolutionary Computation

• Allows us to harness the power of evolution for non-living designs.

• We can use evolution to generate music, art, and design.

• It endows our computers with skills which suspiciously resemble creativity.

• Even for such mundane tasks as evolving the design for a coffee table, evolution shows surprising originality…

Explorative Evolution

• Recently, views of evolution have begun to change.

• Although evolution will behave like an optimiser if properly constrained, many now believe that its natural behaviour is more like exploration.

• And we are starting to use evolution for exploration instead of optimisation.

Explorative Evolution

• Differences:

• Optimisation - knowledge-rich representations, fixed fitness functions, global optimum required in minimum time.

• Exploration - knowledge-lean representations, possibly variable fitness functions, new and interesting solutions required (but optima may be unavailable)

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A new urban space in Milan, the “Caravanserraglio”. Evolved using Argenia by Celestino Soddu(From Creative Evolutionary Systems)

Explorative Evolution

• Recently, views of evolution have begun to change.

• Although evolution will behave like an optimiser if properly constrained, many now believe that its natural behaviour is more like exploration.

• And we are starting to use evolution for exploration instead of optimisation.

Evolved 60dB amplifier, by John Koza, Forrest Bennett, David Andre, Martin Keane

(From Evolutionary Design by Computers)

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Explorative Evolution

(From Creative Evolutionary Systems)

Evolved competing creatures by Karl Sims

(From Evolutionary Design by Computers)E

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“Pearly Gates”

© 1999 Steven Rooke

(From Creative Evolutionary Systems)

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Explorative Evolution

Produced by GenJam (Al Biles)

(From Creative Evolutionary Systems)

How is this creativity achieved?

Through component-based representations

Component-based representations

Instead of optimising selected elements of a given solution, we allow evolution to build new solutions from scratch, using component-based representations

Component-based representations

My work used primitive shapes to construct novel designs

Component-based representations

sin() pdiv() pminus() mandelstalk() pqj4da2013() pln() M_PI 0.022307 x y

Steven Rooke uses GP function and terminals to generate his art

Component-based representations

John Gero used ‘wall fragments’ to generate house floor plans

How is this creativity achieved?

• When evolution is told to build solutions from components, it becomes creative.

• Only those approaches that use component-based representations provide sufficient freedom.

• Evolution now explores new ways of putting components together to construct innovative solutions.

Creative Computers - What does this mean?

• We are now beginning to understand the benefits and pitfalls of creative evolutionary computation.

• Evolution can find solutions that disregard our conventions and theories.

• Efficient new designs have been evolved, and unusual art.

Creative Computers - What does this mean?

• Whilst we know that the solutions do perform better, sometimes we do not know how they work.

• Circuits, neural networks, computer programs - all evolved to perform brilliantly, but their functioning is bizarre and difficult to understand.

Creative Computers - What does this mean?

• Principle extraction is one way of overcoming the fears.

• Rather than use directly the wacky evolved designs, we can learn new design techniques and then apply them ourselves.

• Some even predict that new mathematical understandings will arise from the electronic circuits that defy current theories.

Creative Computers - What does this mean?

• Other issues begin to arise when we do use computers as creative machines.

• If the artist uses evolution to generate the art, who created the art - the artist or the computer?

• Most evolutionary artists claim to be the originator, but if the piece is more the product of the software than the person, is this appropriate?

Creative Computers - What does this mean?

• Legal issues arise when computers are used as composition machines.

• As we have found from our evolutionary music work, the law only recognises people as capable of music composition.

• When using a computer to evolve novel music, someone must be nominated to be the composer…

• J13 CD tracks: 10-13, (2), 4, 6, (7)

Creative Swarms

• Evolution is not the only way to be creative.

• The new field of swarm intelligence (related to evolutionary computation) also shows the same features.

• Our work on swarm music has provided an unusual and exciting way to perform life music improvisation.

Conclusions

• Creative computers allow more innovative ideas to be explored in a shorter time.

• Evolution is enabling our technology and arts to develop in surprising and exciting new ways.