Is it Time for Computational Creativity to Grow Up and start being Irresponsible?

A recent definition of computational creativity has emphasised that computational creativity systems should “take on certain responsibilities” for generating creative behaviour. This paper examines the notion of responsibilities in that definition, and looks at a number of aspects of the creative act and its context that might play a role in that responsibility, with an emphasis on artistic and musical creativity. This problematises the seemingly simple distinction between systems that have responsibilities for creative activity and those which support or provide tools for creativity. The paper concludes with a discussion of an alternative approach to the subject, which argues that the responsibility for creative action is typically diffused through a complex human/computer system, and that a “systems thinking” approach to locating computational creativity might ask better questions than one that tries to pin creative responsibility to a particular agent.