About the talk
This talk examines how the concept of "creativity" has become a convenient and effective discursive trap, in the contexts of algorithmic automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
We explore how, on the one hand, the word has seemingly infinite explanatory power, as its use becomes 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?
The talk sidesteps these questions drawing on ongoing fieldwork in generative AI creator communities. Instead, it examines the status of the creativity discourse as this concept is co-constructed by actors including tech companies, users, and commentators.
Gabriele de Seta’s 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.
The event is free and open to everyone. Welcome.
Speaker bio
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.