People

We are a group of Artificial Intelligence researchers with specific interests in the automation and evaluation of creative processes in software. We pursue both practical applications and theoretical developments, in addition to engaging in philosophical discourse about the issues raised when considering software which is meant to be autonomously creative.

Associations

We are very much involved with the PROSECCO network which is an EC-funded co-ordination action, organized by ourselves and colleagues at University College, Dublin; Universidad Complutense de Madrid; Universidade de Coimbra; Queen Mary, University of London; Institut Josef Stefan; and the University of Helsinki. The goal of PROSECCO is to grow and nurture the field of CC research, by educating a new generation of CC researchers and by bringing existing researchers from neighboring disciplines into the fold. It will do this through a variety of exciting outreach mechanisms and engagements with the public, with academia, and with industry.

We are also active in the International Association for Computational Creativity, which is an umbrella organisation for researchers in our field, and which organizes the annual conference. The association is a non-profit organisation, whose mission is the advancement of Computational Creativity as a discipline and a technology.

We are one of three research groups supported by an EPSRC Platform Grant. Together with colleagues at Heriot-Watt and the University of Edinburgh, we have joint projects to study The Integration and Interaction of Multiple Mathematical Reasoning Processes. The Platform Grant supports essential infrastructure and exploratory activities for a portfolio of projects that focus on the automation of mathematical reasoning processes – including their analysis, development and interaction.

We have been priveliged to work on projects with a number of other research groups in the UK and around Europe. In the UK, we are currently engaged in funded projects with the Universities of Cambridge, Dundee, Edinburgh, Essex and York, and Heriot-Watt University. In wider Europe we are currently engaged in funded projects with partners in Athens, Barcelona, Bremen, Coimbra, Dublin, Helsinki, Ljubljana, Madrid & Osnabruck.

When possible, we engage with industry, and we have had a number of projects funded by EPSRC/TSB with video games companies. These include Rebellion Developments, Introversion Software, NestorGames, Emote Games and Lionhead Studios. We were very active as organizers of the AI and Games Industry/Academia Research Network, which brought together games practitioners and AI researchers interested in applications to games. We have also had some engagement with the Creative Industries Knowledge Transfer Network.

We have been lucky to gain funding from a number of research councils and agencies. Our main funders have been the EPSRC and the European Commission FP7 Programme. We have also gained funding from the Technology Strategy Board and the British Council.