[Paper Review] Creativity, Generative AI, and Software Development: A Research Agenda

Victoria Jackson, Bogdan Vasilescu+8 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jun 4, 2024

Big Data and Business Intelligence6 citations

TL;DR

The paper argues for a research agenda on how Generative AI (GenAI) may affect creativity in software development, using McLuhan’s tetrad and the 4P creativity framework, and outlines six thematic areas for future study.

ABSTRACT

Creativity has always been considered a major differentiator to separate the good from the great, and we believe the importance of creativity for software development will only increase as GenAI becomes embedded in developer tool-chains and working practices. This paper uses the McLuhan tetrad alongside scenarios of how GenAI may disrupt software development more broadly, to identify potential impacts GenAI may have on creativity within software development. The impacts are discussed along with a future research agenda comprising six connected themes that consider how individual capabilities, team capabilities, the product, unintended consequences, society, and human aspects can be affected.

Motivation & Objective

• Propose a structured analysis of GenAI's potential impact on creativity in software development using the 4P framework (Person, Product, Process, Press).
• Develop a scenario-driven,McLuhan tetrad-based exploration of possible futures for creativity in software work.
• Present a six-theme research agenda addressing individual, team, product, unintended consequences, societal impact, and human aspects.

Proposed method

• Adopt the McLuhan tetrad (enhances, obsolesces, retrieves, reverses) to generate potential impacts across the four P components of creativity.
• Use future scenarios to populate tetrads and brainstorm a broad set of potential effects.
• Apply the Disruptive Research Playbook framework to structure questions and study designs around GenAI and creativity.
• Organize findings into six high-level research themes to guide empirical investigations.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How does GenAI enhance or amplify an individual’s creativity (Person) in software development?
• RQ2 Which factors relevant to individual creativity does GenAI make obsolete, retrieve, or transform (Person)?
• RQ3 What is the impact of GenAI on creativity related to the Product, Process, and Press (environment) in software development?
• RQ4 What are the six high-level research themes (individual capabilities, team capabilities, product, unintended consequences, societal impact, human aspects) guiding future studies?

Key findings

• Identifies 76 potential impacts of GenAI on creativity in software development across the four P components via tetrads.
• Argues that GenAI could both enhance creativity (e.g., idea generation, cross-domain inspiration) and risk undermining core human creative capabilities if over-relied upon.
• Highlights possible behavioral and organizational shifts, such as time freed for creative work and potential loss of problem-solving skills or intuitive decision-making.
• Emphasizes the importance of studying social and human-centric implications (unintended consequences, societal impact, human aspects) alongside technical effects.