AI & Human Creativity: Art, Improv & Empathy 🎨

What if artificial intelligence could improvise, empathize, and tell stories with us—rather than merely generate polished fragments for us to consume? In this talk, MIT professor D. Fox Harrell presents a form of soulful AI he calls subjective computing—code designed to adapt to our cultures, moods, and play styles.

He walks through four creative frontiers:
• Playable narratives whose plots bend to each player’s choices
• Generative game worlds that sense and respond in real time
• Virtual performers that mirror our gestures and voices, expanding identity
• Creative-AI toolsets that let artists improvise and jam with algorithms like jazz partners

Harrell argues that placing human imagination, ethics, and authorship in active partnership with algorithmic intelligence is the true game-changer for art and the creative industries. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx