Mixed-Initiative Methods for Co-Creation in Scientific Research
Marissa Radensky · Creativity and Cognition · 2024
The scientific process is inherently creative, requiring the generation and exploration of ideas for scientific inspiration, projects, study design, and communication. As large language models (LLMs) advance rapidly, scientists increasingly take advantage of their abilities. While LLMs show great promise in supporting many steps of the scientific process, researchers still face significant challenges in validating and steering their output. Interactions tailored to scientists and their specific tasks may empower them to harness the full creative potential of LLMs. I present a course of research that will lead to the development and evaluation of mixed-initiative methods for co-creation in scientific research. These methods aim to facilitate verification and control of AI output. I briefly describe my prior and proposed work on mixed-initiative methods for co-creating research inspiration, studies, and communication, and I detail my current project on an LLM-powered tool for co-creating research project ideas.