Generative artificial intelligence enhances creativity but reduces the diversity of novel content

77 Pages Posted: 14 Aug 2023 Last revised: 20 Mar 2024

See all articles by Anil R Doshi

Anil R Doshi

University College London - School of Management

Oliver Hauser

University of Exeter Business School - Department of Economics

Date Written: August 8, 2023

Abstract

Creativity is core to being human. Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) holds promise for humans to be more creative by offering new ideas, or less creative by anchoring on GenAI ideas. We study the causal impact of GenAI on the production of a creative output in an online experimental study where some writers are could obtain ideas for a story from a GenAI platform. Access to GenAI ideas causes an increase in the writer’s creativity with stories being evaluated as better written and more enjoyable, especially among less creative writers. However, GenAI-enabled stories are more similar to each other than stories by humans alone. Our results have implications for researchers, policy-makers and practitioners interested in bolstering creativity, but point to potential downstream consequences from over-reliance.

Keywords: generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), artificial intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language models (LLMs), creativity, experiment

JEL Classification: D03, C00, C91, J24, Z11

Suggested Citation

Doshi, Anil Rajnikant and Hauser, Oliver, Generative artificial intelligence enhances creativity but reduces the diversity of novel content (August 8, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4535536 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4535536

Anil Rajnikant Doshi

University College London - School of Management ( email )

Level 38
1 Canada Square
London, E14 5AA
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://mgmt.ucl.ac.uk/

Oliver Hauser (Contact Author)

University of Exeter Business School - Department of Economics ( email )

Streatham Court
Exeter, EX4 4RJ
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.oliverhauser.org

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