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Artificial Intelligence and Literature

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A Guided Tour of Artificial Intelligence Research

Abstract

Throughout the history of artificial intelligence, the performance of natural language processing algorithms has continuously improved, such that many aspects of human language behaviour are now effectively modeled by current systems. The improvements within the field of natural language processing are self-evidently beneficial for the generation of literary artefacts, but they are not sufficient for truly creative language generation: in order to exhibit creativity, language systems need to be equipped with additional components, that not just mimic human language use, but are able to produce and self-assess creative language expressions. In this chapter, we will trace the various paradigms that researchers have taken in order to model this creative process. We start with the simplest form, mechanical creativity, continue with rule- and template-based systems, and end with statistical machine learning approaches. We will exemplify the various paradigms by focusing on different forms of literary artefacts: computational humour, metaphor, poetry generation, and story generation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Note that this chapter mainly focuses on computational approaches to creativity in which the system takes control of the creative process. Another form of computational creativity is brought about by the nature of the computational medium, in which the static, linear process is dispensed with, leaving room for an interactive reading of texts. This is the kind of creativity that emerges within hypertexts, or story development within computer games (see chapter “Games in Artificial Intelligence” of Volume 2). This second kind of computational creativity is beyond the scope of this chapter.

  2. 2.

    ‘ALAMO considers the computer a tool that facilitates combinatorial work. The goal is not to make the computer generate specific artefacts; rather, the texts are written by authors, and the machine’s function is to make available, to rearrange, and to reactivate.’ Excerpt from ALAMO founding manifesto by Paul Braffort and Jacques Roubaud, cited in Bootz (2012).

  3. 3.

    Metaphor Magnet. http://ngrams.ucd.ie/metaphor-magnet-acl/. Visited 21 January 2018.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IRIT-CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France

    Tim Van de Cruys

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  1. Tim Van de Cruys
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Correspondence to Tim Van de Cruys .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CRIL-CNRS, Université d'Artois and Institut Universitaire de France, Lens, France

    Pierre Marquis

  2. Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CNRS, LIS, Marseille, France

    Odile Papini

  3. IRIT, CNRS and Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France

    Henri Prade

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Van de Cruys, T. (2020). Artificial Intelligence and Literature. In: Marquis, P., Papini, O., Prade, H. (eds) A Guided Tour of Artificial Intelligence Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06170-8_15

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