The Creativity Issue: Muse or Machine? - #41
Series “Controversies”
Introduction
Welcome back to Controversies, where we explore how artificial intelligence is redefining creativity, innovation, and the very fabric of our cultural landscape. Today’s edition dives into the May/June 2025 issue of MIT Technology Review, which asks: Can machines truly be creative, or will human ingenuity always remain irreplaceable? This comprehensive issue—aptly themed “Muse or Machine? Defining Creativity in the Age of AI”—offers a rich tapestry of reporting, profiles, and essays that reveal how AI-driven tools are reshaping everything from scientific discovery to art and architecture.
In this Substack article, we unpack:
Rapid-Fire Breakthroughs: Highlights from The Download, including a five-minute bird-flu sensor, bitcoin miners heating a Brooklyn spa, and NASA’s drone UTM traffic control system.
Volcano-Driven Architecture: A profile of Arnhildur Pálmadóttir and her visionary “Lavaforming” project, which harnesses molten lava to build low-carbon cities in Iceland.
In-Depth Features: Explorations of how a 1980s toy arm inspired today’s robotics, NIST’s early-warning system for drug overdoses, and South Korea’s generative AI revolution in the webcomics industry.
The Creativity Issue: Essays that interrogate the human–machine collaboration paradigm—from co-creative musical agents to diffusion-based AI models that challenge our notions of originality, and even nuclear-powered asteroid defense.
Critical Reflections: How today’s researchers and thinkers argue that true artistry will always require human friction, reflection, and surprise, not just one-click AI outputs.
Let’s dive into how MIT Technology Review illuminates the tension and synergy between human imagination and machine intelligence—and why this conversation matters now more than ever.