Awards

• Winner of PROSE Awards 2020 (United States)

Overview

“A brilliant travel guide to the coming world of AI.” —Jeanette Winterson What does it mean to be creative? Can creativity be trained? Is it uniquely human, or could AI be considered creative? Mathematical genius and exuberant polymath Marcus du Sautoy plunges us into the world of artificial intelligence and algorithmic learning in this essential guide to the future of creativity. He considers the role of pattern and imitation in the creative process and sets out to investigate the programs and programmers—from Deep Mind and the Flow Machine to Botnik and WHIM—who are seeking to rival or surpass human innovation in gaming, music, art, and language. A thrilling tour of the landscape of invention, The Creativity Code explores the new face of creativity and the mysteries of the human code. “As machines outsmart us in ever more domains, we can at least comfort ourselves that one area will remain sacrosanct and uncomputable: human creativity. Or can we?…In his fascinating exploration of the nature of creativity, Marcus du Sautoy questions many of those assumptions.” —Financial Times “Fascinating…If all the experiences, hopes, dreams, visions, lusts, loves, and hatreds that shape the human imagination amount to nothing more than a ‘code,’ then sooner or later a machine will crack it. Indeed, du Sautoy assembles an eclectic array of evidence to show how that’s happening even now.” —The Times

Full Product Details

9780674244719

Table of Contents

Reviews

As machines outsmart us in ever more domains, we can at least comfort ourselves that one area will remain sacrosanct and uncomputable: human creativity. Or can we? ...In his fascinating exploration of the nature of creativity, Marcus du Sautoy questions many of those assumptions. The Oxford mathematician, who is as adept at explaining complex theories in prose as he is on television, argues that so much of what we consider to be creativity consists of super-smart synthesis rather than the flash of inspiration.-- (03/01/2019) Fascinating... If all the experiences, hopes, dreams, visions, lusts, loves, and hatreds that shape the human imagination amount to nothing more than a 'code, ' then sooner or later a machine will crack it. Indeed, du Sautoy assembles an eclectic array of evidence to show how that's happening even now.-- (02/23/2019) Argues reassuringly that true creativity belongs to humanity...A computer may best any human at calculation, but it lacks that snippet of 'human code' that lets us know when an idea is not just new but meaningful.--New York Times Book Review (05/05/2019) In a classic 1950 paper, Alan Turing asked: 'Can machines think?' ...Du Sautoy's test is different but no less challenging: can machines be genuinely creative? The interest, just as it was for Turing, lies not so much in finding a definitive answer but in examining what the question itself might mean.--Prospect (03/04/2019) Absorbing...Eloquent and illuminating.--Nature (02/19/2019) Algorithms that not only duplicate human skills but learn from their mistakes are what define artificial intelligence. But du Sautoy considers the possibility of reaching another stage: machine creativity, technology that is itself capable of innovation.-- (02/08/2019) Technology is already controlling more and more of our lives every day, sometimes in ways we barely stop to think about. As programs slowly do more of our thinking, Du Sautoy reassuringly insists that there are, indeed, some ways in which technology can never replace human ingenuity.-- (05/08/2019) Makes the case for why algorithms could match Beethoven or Picasso--or for that matter, the creative departments of advertising agencies.--Marketing Week (04/25/2019) An interesting, reader-friendly discussion of how well computers can be creative.--Choice (10/01/2019) We seem to have convinced ourselves that higher-level creativity and intuition are uniquely human traits. Why? Why could a machine one day not create a truly original work of art, write a moving poem, compose an opera, or even discover a mathematical theorem? The answers, in this compelling and thought-provoking book by mathematician and musician Marcus du Sautoy, can be found by breaking down what it actually means to be creative.--Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of Theoretical Physics and Presenter of The Secret Life of Chaos Algorithms are often seen as opaque or dangerous forces, fueling our fears of apocalypse/the ghost in the machine. But if art is an early warning system and artists the experts at making the invisible visible, then Marcus du Sautoy is, in this remarkable consideration of the limitations and possibilities of AI, the light-bearer, illuminating not only the work of coders and creators, but the mathematics of chaos that underpin art.--Hans Ulrich Obrist, Director of the Serpentine Gallery and author of The Interview Project A wide-ranging and fact-packed tour d'horizon of current applications of artificial intelligence in mathematics and the arts.--The Guardian (03/12/2019) Fact-packed and funny, questioning what we mean by creative and unsettling the script about what it means to be human, The Creativity Code is a brilliant travel guide to the coming world of AI.--Jeanette Winterson The Creativity Code is only partly a book about AI art. It is as much about how AI thinks and how it does mathematics--du Sautoy's own special subject. And on these topics, he is thoughtful and illuminating.-- (02/17/2019)

As machines outsmart us in ever more domains, we can at least comfort ourselves that one area will remain sacrosanct and uncomputable: human creativity. Or can we? ...In his fascinating exploration of the nature of creativity, Marcus du Sautoy questions many of those assumptions. The Oxford mathematician, who is as adept at explaining complex theories in prose as he is on television, argues that so much of what we consider to be creativity consists of super-smart synthesis rather than the flash of inspiration.-- (03/01/2019) Fascinating... If all the experiences, hopes, dreams, visions, lusts, loves, and hatreds that shape the human imagination amount to nothing more than a 'code, ' then sooner or later a machine will crack it. Indeed, du Sautoy assembles an eclectic array of evidence to show how that's happening even now.-- (02/23/2019) Argues reassuringly that true creativity belongs to humanity...A computer may best any human at calculation, but it lacks that snippet of 'human code' that lets us know when an idea is not just new but meaningful.--New York Times Book Review (05/05/2019) In a classic 1950 paper, Alan Turing asked: 'Can machines think?' ...Du Sautoy's test is different but no less challenging: can machines be genuinely creative? The interest, just as it was for Turing, lies not so much in finding a definitive answer but in examining what the question itself might mean.--Prospect (03/04/2019) Absorbing...Eloquent and illuminating.--Nature (02/19/2019) Algorithms that not only duplicate human skills but learn from their mistakes are what define artificial intelligence. But du Sautoy considers the possibility of reaching another stage: machine creativity, technology that is itself capable of innovation.-- (02/08/2019) Technology is already controlling more and more of our lives every day, sometimes in ways we barely stop to think about. As programs slowly do more of our thinking, Du Sautoy reassuringly insists that there are, indeed, some ways in which technology can never replace human ingenuity.-- (05/08/2019) Makes the case for why algorithms could match Beethoven or Picasso--or for that matter, the creative departments of advertising agencies.--Marketing Week (04/25/2019) An interesting, reader-friendly discussion of how well computers can be creative.--Choice (10/01/2019) Algorithms are often seen as opaque or dangerous forces, fueling our fears of apocalypse/the ghost in the machine. But if art is an early warning system and artists the experts at making the invisible visible, then Marcus du Sautoy is, in this remarkable consideration of the limitations and possibilities of AI, the light-bearer, illuminating not only the work of coders and creators, but the mathematics of chaos that underpin art.--Hans Ulrich Obrist, Director of the Serpentine Gallery and author of The Interview Project Fact-packed and funny, questioning what we mean by creative and unsettling the script about what it means to be human, The Creativity Code is a brilliant travel guide to the coming world of AI.--Jeanette Winterson The Creativity Code is only partly a book about AI art. It is as much about how AI thinks and how it does mathematics--du Sautoy's own special subject. And on these topics, he is thoughtful and illuminating.-- (02/17/2019) We seem to have convinced ourselves that higher-level creativity and intuition are uniquely human traits. Why? Why could a machine one day not create a truly original work of art, write a moving poem, compose an opera, or even discover a mathematical theorem? The answers, in this compelling and thought-provoking book by mathematician and musician Marcus du Sautoy, can be found by breaking down what it actually means to be creative.--Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of Theoretical Physics and Presenter of The Secret Life of Chaos A wide-ranging and fact-packed tour d'horizon of current applications of artificial intelligence in mathematics and the arts.--The Guardian (03/12/2019)

Author Information

Marcus du Sautoy is the Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and the bestselling author of The Music of the Primes, Symmetry, and The Great Unknown. A trumpeter and member of an experimental theater group, he has written and presented over a dozen documentaries, including The Code and The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms. He also created the codes for Lauren Child’s Ruby Redfort mysteries. He has received the Berwick Prize, the Zeeman Medal, and the Royal Society’s Michael Faraday Prize, among other honors.

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