Is Creative Coding with AI… still Creative Coding?

Last week (it’s August 25th) I posted a statement on Instagram: “Creative Coding with AI is not Creative Coding”. In the caption I wanted to make clear that the term “Creative Coding” is changing its meaning through the influence of vibe-coding and that I believe that the human writing code by hand in the process should be a requirement. In other words: That the “old” meaning should be preserved.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DcRjc_mDT5_

There are semantic landslides happening right now. In the last few months I have observed that the term “Creative Coding” is used more and more often to describe vibe-coding with Processing. Vibe-coding with Processing or p5.js is fun, but it is not Creative Coding.

I think about it like this: Just as the industrial production of vases and vessels is not pottery, the automated generation of code is not Creative Coding. I draw the line here: Creative Coding is an artistic practice where a human writes code with the intention to build something expressive instead than something functional. Creative Coding is a human dialogue with the machine, through code as the interface. The human writing the code is not optional, but essential. Machines are not creative.

What do you think? Do you agree? Or disagree? Let me know in the comments.

That… exploded! It’s one of the most shared and commented-on things I have ever posted on social media. 248 comments. The post turned into a collide-oscope¹ of opinions and perspectives.

I was especially surprised how some of the comments unveiled my own biases. I think I didn’t see the many shades of gray in the discourse and thought about it too narrowly. It became clear to me that for me, there are actually two questions hiding inside one: what does AI mean for me personally, as an “artist”, if you will, and what does it mean for me as an educator and so for my students? After all, my goal with my content is to create access points, and not at all to dictate my own perspective. This is something I’ve gotten pretty tangled up in in the past. The discussion relly enhanced the resolution of my view.

In this video, I want to walk us through some of the insightful comments and untangle the complexities within the intersection of Creative Coding and AI.