Gabriele de Seta – Why We Should Not Talk About AI Being Creative

In the contexts of algorithmic automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence, the concept of ‘creativity’ has become a convenient and effective discursive trap. On the one hand, the word has a seemingly boundless scope, as its use becomes self-explanatory and self-justifying: computational tools can enhance creativity, facilitate creation, and unleash the user’s creative potential. On the other hand, creativity precipitates unsolvable debates: can machines be creative? Do algorithms create art? Has artificial intelligence become more creative than humans?

Grounded on ongoing fieldwork in generative AI creator communities, this talk sidesteps these questions and instead examines the status of the creativity discourse as this concept is co-constructed by actors including tech companies, users, and commentators. Gabriel de Setas central proposal is that, following Peter Galison’s formulation, creativity is a “trading zone” – not as much a concept to be defined or a property to be measured, but a site of active negotiation where multiple sociotechnical practices and imaginaries coexist before stabilizing.

Presented in collaboration with Malmö Theatre Academy, a part of Lund University.

Garbiel de Seta

Gabriele de Seta is, technically, a sociologist. He is a Researcher at the University of Bergen, where he leads the ALGOFOLK project (“Algorithmic folklore: The mutual shaping of vernacular creativity and automation”) funded by a Trond Mohn Foundation Starting Grant (2024-2028). Gabriele holds a PhD from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, and at the University of Bergen, where he was part of the ERC-funded project “Machine Vision in Everyday Life”. His research work, grounded on qualitative and ethnographic methods, focuses on digital media practices, sociotechnical infrastructures, and vernacular creativity in the Chinese-speaking world. He is also interested in experimental, creative, and collaborative approaches to knowledge production.

Moderator: Emma Bexell, Malmö Theatre Academy

Program

• Restaurant Varv is open from 8 am.

• Check-in from 8.30 am
• Event start at 9 am
• Event ends at 10 am

Context

This lecture is a part of Create, Adapt, Sustain – a project that supports creative professionals in Skåne to strengthen digital skills, leadership competences and Futures thinking. It is run by Media Evolution in collaboration with Region Skåne and The City of Malmö, with funding from the European Social Fund.