The document discusses how generative AI can enhance human creativity by promoting divergent thinking, challenging expertise bias, assisting in idea evaluation, supporting idea refinement, and facilitating collaboration. It highlights various applications across consumer products, engineering design, food and beverages, and consumer services. The author emphasizes the potential of generative AI to democratize innovation and generate novel ideas quickly.

1. AUGMENTING
CREATIVITY
USING GEN AI
Tojin T. Eapen, PhD.
Principal Consultant &
Head – Global Innovation Centre (GIC)
AUGUST 16, 2023

2. TOJIN T. EAPEN, PHD
• Principal Consultant & Head – Global
Innovation Centre (GIC) at Innomantra.
• Formerly faculty at the University of
Missouri - Columbia
• 17 years of professional, consulting, and
research experience in innovation
management
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/tteapen/
BIOINSPIRED SYSTEM DESIGN | EAPEN T. T. EAPEN 2

3. HOW GENERATIVE AI CAN AUGMENT
HUMAN CREATIVITY
• by Tojin T. Eapen, Daniel J. Finkenstadt,
Josh Folk, and Lokesh Venkataswamy
• One of the biggest opportunities generative
AI offers to businesses and governments is
to augment human creativity and
overcome the challenges of democratizing
innovation.
• HBR Magazine July/August 2023
3

4. HOW GENERATIVE AI CAN AUGMENT
HUMAN CREATIVITY
• Promote Divergent Thinking
• Challenge Expertise Bias
• Assist in Idea Evaluation
• Support Idea Refinement
• Facilitate Collaboration
4

5. PROMOTE DIVERGENT
THINKING
• Challenge: Ideators find it hard to connect
multiple remote concepts.
• Solution: Use Generative AI as a tool for
remote associations can overcome curse-
of-expertise and help identify novel ideas
TURBOCHARGING IDEAS WITH GENERATIVE AI 5

6. TURBOCHARGING IDEAS WITH GENERATIVE AI T. T. EAPEN 6

7. CONSUMER PRODUCTS
• Large number of design concepts can be
generated quickly by customers
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusi
nesscouncil/2023/07/21/what-
generative-ai-means-for-consumer-created-
content/

8. TOYS & PUZZLES
• Introduction of novel concepts quickly.
• https://aithority.com/machine-
learning/ai-invasion-revolutionizing-
childrens-toys-and-education-with-doodly-
ai/
• https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/n
ews/story/chatgpt-powered-teddy-bears-
could-read-bedtime-stories-to-kids-in-
future-says-major-toymaker-2395837-
2023-06-21

9. TURBOCHARGING IDEAS WITH GENERATIVE AI T. T. EAPEN 9

10. ENGINEERING DESIGN
• New Product Development
• Chip Design | Synopsys.AI
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmo
orhead/2023/05/04/synopsysairevolution
izing-chip-design-through-ai-driven-eda-
suite/?sh=66c29ac44637
• https://www.assemblymag.com/articles/
97855-toyota-unveils-new-generative-ai-
technique-for-vehicle-design

11. FOOD & BEVERAGES
• New concepts, packaging, taste design
• https://foodindustryexecutive.com/2023/
03/tastewise-unveils-tastegpt-the-new-
generative-ai-that-predicts-what-and-how-
we-eat/

12. CONSUMER SERVICES
• Enables personalized management of
customer requirements
• https://www.bain.com/insights/five-
principles-for-generative-ai-in-financial-
services/
• https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how
-generative-ai-will-play-a-role-in-our-
customer-experiences?IR=T

13. CHALLENGE EXPERTISE BIAS:
FORM LEADS FUNCTION
• Use generated images as a trigger for novel
ideas
• Inversion of the traditional paradigm of
“form ever follows function”
• Can overcome biases such as design
fixation and the Einstellung effect.
TURBOCHARGING IDEAS WITH GENERATIVE AI 13

14. TURBOCHARGING IDEAS WITH GENERATIVE AI T. T. EAPEN 14

15. CHALLENGE EXPERTISE BIAS:
TRISOCIATION
• Method of Trisociation
• Extension of Bisociation
• Described by Papanek
• Challenging for humans to associate three
unrelated concepts
15

16. ASSIST IN IDEA EVALUATION
• BP Oil Spill Challenge
• Organizations don’t have sufficient time to
appropriately evaluate large number of
ideas
• Idea evaluation and integration using
LLMs can save time and improve the
feasibility of ideas
16

17. SUPPORT IDEA REFINEMENT
• Expand on ideas. Detail ideas. Integrate
ideas and remove inconsistencies.
17

18. BOOK PUBLISHING
• “The Fox” published in March 2023
• Edited in the style of Enid Blyton
• Entire book “The Fox” in 10 hours
• Link: amazon.com/dp/B0BZV6JL8V
• Sparked intense conversation
• Challenges include consistent imagery
18

19. FACILITATE COLLABORATION
• Collaborative design detailing using text-
to-image models allows users without
training in specialized tools to participate
in visualization
19

20. THE AGE OF
AUGMENTED CREATIVITY
IS HERE
Tojin T. Eapen
linkedin.com/in/tteapen/