Action Selection in the Creative Systems Framework

The Creative Systems Framework (CSF) formalises creativity as search through a space of concepts. As a formal account of Margaret Boden’s descriptive hierarchy of creativity, it is at the basis of multiple studies dealing with diverse aspects of Computational Creativity (CC) systems. However, the CSF at present neither formalises action nor action selection during search, limiting its use in analysing creative processes. We extend the CSF by explicitly modelling these missing components in the search space traversal function. We furthermore integrate the distinction between a concept and an artefact, and provide stopping criteria for creative search. Our extension, the Creative Action Selection Framework (CASF), is informed by previous studies in CC and draws on concepts from Markov Decision Processes (MDPs). It allows us to describe a creative system as an agent selecting actions based on the value, validity and novelty of concepts and artefacts. The CASF brings more analytical depth for creative systems that can be modelled as utilising an action selection procedure.