“Creativity is the ability to come up with ideas or artifacts that are new, surprising, and valuable.”
Margaret A Boden OBE FBA is known for her deep curiosity about human creativity. Her work revolves around the understanding of creative cognition, offering insights into how machines might one day emulate the creative sparks we humans so cherish. Her influence goes far beyond creativity, as she has also critically examined the promises and risks of AI.
She is a pioneering researcher in artificial intelligence and cognitive science. As a research professor at the University of Sussex, she has spent her career connecting the dots between AI, psychology, philosophy, and computer science.
With academic roots that stretch across medical sciences, philosophy, and psychology, Boden brings a rare, interdisciplinary perspective to her work. Her books, like Artificial Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction and Mind as Machine: A History of Cognitive Science, have become essential reads for anyone delving into the field.
Some of her achievements include, being elected a Fellow of the British Academy, receiving an OBE for her contributions to cognitive science, and earning the ISAL Lifetime Achievement Award in Artificial Life.