Blog: New Psychology Theory Enables Computers to Mimic Human Creativity at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

New Psychology Theory Enables Computers to Mimic Human Creativity at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
RPI News (12/01/10) Mary L. Martialay

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers are using the new Explicit-Implicit Interaction Theory to develop artificial intelligence (AI) models. The researchers say the theory, which explains how humans solve problems creatively, could provide a blueprint to building AI systems that perform tasks like humans. The model can be used "as the basis for creating future artificial intelligence programs that are good at solving problems creatively," says RPI professor Ron Sun. He worked with the University of California, Santa Barbara's Sebastien Helie to develop the CLARION cognitive architecture, a system based on the Explicit-Implicit theory that acts like a cognitive system. The researchers ran a logic test in which 35 percent of humans answered correctly after discussing their thinking and 45 percent answered correctly after working on another problem. In 5,000 trials of the same test, the CLARION system got the correct answer 35 percent of the time on the first try, and 45 percent of the time on the second try. "This tells us how creative problem solving may emerge from the interaction of explicit and implicit cognitive processes," Sun says.

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