AI-improv

Ideation has affinity with improvisation, or improv, a term derived from improvised performance and inspired by earlier theater forms such as commedia dell’arte and cabaret. At its core, improv is the art of free association, of making things up on the spot where improvised scenes often incorporate suggestions from the audience. But as an art form, improv favours the prepared mind. Similarly, ideators produce great ideas from their overall experience and observation*. And so, in the context of practising ideation, generative AI can be seen as an improv collaborator because interactive chatbots immediately respond to the user prompt by offering something new that directly builds on the user input. That is, working with improv dialogue, the chatbot responds to the user prompt with edits and multiple additions ("yes, ands"). But like any improv performance, the variety and quality of the output depends on interaction between the user and the bot. That is, the more the user brings curiosity, specificity and spontaneity to the improv dialogue, the more imaginative and meaningful the results become. Yet it should be noted that chatbots are not without bias, like people, but lack personal experience and human emotions. *There is no innovation without previous work. Also, "In the field of observation, chance favours only the prepared mind" (Louis Pasteur).