The Creativity of AI

This paper investigates how humans evaluate the creativity of AI-generated artworks in comparison to the human artworks from which they were derived. Using a novel experimental framework, we commissioned original artworks across three distinct art styles: animal charcoal drawings, minimalist commercial logos, and watercolor landscapes. We then prompted Stable Diffusion to produce artworks based on the commissioned pieces. Participants evaluated the creativity of both human- and AI-generated artworks by assigning a grade between 0 and 10, and then bid for these drawings in an auction to examine how monetary costs influenced their choices. Participants then evaluated the creativity of a sample of selected AI-generated artworks to investigate the factors that drive perceptions of creativity. Results show that AI-generated drawings are consistently rated as more creative and elicit higher bids in the landscape treatment. The perceived creativity of AI-generated drawings is driven by detailed features, scene construction, and color use, while errors do not diminish perceived creativity and may even enhance it. These findings suggest that AI-generated artwork is preferred by participants due to its higher aesthetic appeal.