Creativity is a complex term. The expert conference for creativity research at THWS discusses the term from various perspectives - and connects boardgames, artificial intelligence, and stand-up comedy. About innovative impulses and creative processes in the multi-faceted world of creativity research.
Published on 11 July 2024
The question of the night: "Does innovation require genius?" In November 2023, the EntrepreneurSHIP project of the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS) organised the specialist conference "Rethinking creativity" under that slogan, which is aimed at interested parties and experts from the fields of entrepreneurship education, research and funding. A central component of the programme is to find out and discuss how human creativity and innovation are connected. Can creativity be actively influenced - and to what extent are people forced to fundamentally rethink their understanding of creativity in view of the advanced developments in artificial intelligence?
Creativity is the basis for finding ideas and therefore one of the most important prerequisites for innovation. Hence, it is essential to allow creativity. Game developer Antonia Bartning favours a playful approach to promoting innovation. In order to overcome creative blocks such as pessimism and scepticism, she has developed a board game that brings out creative ideas for solving social and ecological problems in a playful way. "Games offer a protected space in which you can try your own ideas without the same kind of barrier thinking of everyday life. All these barriers are removed in the game, and you can just let your thoughts flow freely," says Bartning. She also talks about experiencing flow, a state in which people are so engaged in an activity that they put on a new role to take on new perspectives.
Ferdinand Grah is a food designer and works in the field of social innovation. To him, the definition of creativity is people developing problem-solving feelings in order to try things, reflect on them, and develop them further. "Intuition and the gut feeling as to whether something is right are truly helpful for creative processes," Grah says making a connection to stand-up comedy: In comedy, as in other creative processes, it's all about improvising and observing whether things work. Grah emphasises that it is crucial to look at the improvisations of others in order to learn from them - and then to create things in a different way.
Artificial creativity
Dr. Felix Liedel works as a research associate at the Campus for Applied Research and is actively involved in the EntrepreneurSHIP project. His expertise covers the areas of research, media, and communication. Dr. Liedel co-organised the expert conference. His aim: addressing the topic in an interdisciplinary manner. According to the current status, there is not enough interdisciplinary exchange between the various disciplines - a deficit because the different subjects each have their own unique perspective on the topic of creativity. "Through intensive exchange and the connection of different disciplines, we can not only enable a more comprehensive understanding of creativity but also create an opportunity for developing innovative approaches and ideas," Dr. Liedel says. However, the question of how creativity arises is a complex process and cannot be answered unequivocally, as everyone has an individual perception of creativity. "Rather, we see creativity as a way of solving problems and as the ability to solve problems using different techniques. The design thinking principle is particularly important in this context," explains Dr. Liedel.
![Quote by Dr. Felix Liedel: "Intensive exchange [...] also creates space for innovative impulses and ideas."](/fileadmin/user_upload/QuoteLiedel.png "Quote by Dr. Felix Liedel")
The design thinking method has proven to be particularly effective in design research. It is a creative problem-solving method that focuses on the needs of the users, an iterative process that leads through the phases of understanding, observing, brainstorming, prototyping and testing. The aim is to develop innovative solutions through multidisciplinary collaboration. The process is divided into two spaces: the problem space and the solution space. In the problem space, the problem is identified and analysed in detail. Subsequently in the solution space, creative solution approaches are worked out based on previously made findings.
The quote by Walt Disney "If you can dream it, you can do it!" is used by the intuition researcher Professor Dr. Jochem Müller from Ansbach University of Applied Sciences in his presentation at the expert conference "Rethinking creativity". The quote highlights the ability to dream about visions and new ideas - and thus plays a central role in entrepreneurship. "Our dreams and desires act as a powerful drive for innovative undertakings and help us pursue forward-looking visions," says Professor Dr. Müller. In this context, the main focus is on the discussion about the demarcation or possible overlaps between human intuition and artificial intelligence. "Human intuition is proving to be the key to disruptive developments in areas where empirical knowledge is limited and new knowledge is urgently needed," the intuition researcher emphasises. In that, artificial intelligence acts as a complementary factor by expanding existing knowledge, contributing empirical knowledge, weighing up and providing analytical additions. Nevertheless, the essential difference remains that humans open the door to visionary ideas.
When using artificial intelligence to promote intuition, there are both opportunities and limitations. Professor Dr. Stephanie Kapitza from Rosenheim Technical University of Applied Sciences is an expert for entrepreneurship and digital business models. As she explains: "The potential of AI clearly lies in supporting human creativity and in promoting business models with a more incrementally innovative character." This area therefore opens up promising links between technological progress and entrepreneurial creativity, which can be supported by the use of AI. When compared to human intuition, however, artificial intelligence also reaches its limits. "AI cannot reproduce this intuitive component, as it is only able to process existing thought patterns," says Professor Dr. Kapitzka. She also appeals for a responsible approach to artificial intelligence. "The quality of the AI results depends heavily on the question asked and the underlying database," explains the professor.
Does innovation require genius?
To return to the initial question: The experts at the conference agreed that innovation does not necessarily require geniuses. After all, everyone has creative potential within them that can help to shape the world in a positive way. The concept of genius needs to be defined more broadly and it needs to be recognised that creative skills and talents can contribute to innovation in many different ways.
