Abstract
By
Submitted to the Program in Media Arts and Sciences, School of Architecture
and Planning, on August 16, 2024 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of
Master of Science
Abstract:
This thesis investigates how AI tools can augment rather than diminish human creative capacity through practice-based research. While AI promises to democratize creative production, it risks corrupting the distinctiveness of artistic voices, tempting us to lean on automation rather than enhancing creative judgment. Through the creation of 'After AGI,' a techno-apocalypse musical, I document how AI impacts my creative process and have developed a set of principles that help maintain human authorship over core creative decisions while leveraging AI for supportive technical functions. The research outputs include: a musical that serves as the primary case study, a novel interactive web app developed for this work, and a public installation that surfaces and engages community concerns about future dependence on AI systems. This work contributes new frameworks for maintaining human creative agency in Human-AI Co-Creative practice, along with new methods for both AI-augmented worldbuilding and public engagement around AI ethics.
Thesis Advisor: Tod Machover
Title: Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music and Media; Faculty Director, MIT Media Lab