Building Artistic Computer Colleagues with an Enactive Model of Creativity

This paper reports on the theory, design, and implementation of an artistic computer colleague that improvises and collaborates with human users in real-time. Our system, Drawing Apprentice, is based on existing theories of art, creative cognition, and collaboration synthesized into an enactive model of creativity. The implementation details of the Drawing Apprentice are provided along with early collaborative artwork created with the system. We present the enactive model of creativity as a potential theoretical framework for designing creative systems involving continuous improvisational collaboration between a human and computer.