I still think creativity is exclusively human characteristic.

They already are.

@Karl, can you perhaps provide citations etc.

Also, what are their success rate, and what are their challenges?

@Mirna, if you observe innovation facilitation, particularly creative problem solving, you will note a) there is some process to it that is followed, suggesting it is semi-structured; b) a lot of what the facilitator does is guiding - to guide.

This to me suggests the possibility that a computer can assist with innovation (facilitation).

@Milan, i think you highlight some of the fundamental and principal intricacies of innovation and why AI may find it challenging.

Still, the innovation facilitator also does not necessarily follow the underlying context; he simply facilitates the innovation as process.

Cant AI do the same still.

In that sense, if AI can help and guide students with maths, why not innovation?

In the field of engineering design, artifical cognition is definitely an innovation facilitator and it can help creative problem solving:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO9oOj9yj7k

In this respect, we can regard informatics and software writing as creative cognitive science, i.e. the creative capacity of the human mind can be significantly expanded by engineering design, because we already live in a 'technotope' or world of created artifacts.

https://de.slideshare.net/JosePscoa/engineering-design-springer-2007pahl-1846283183

The phenomenon of creativity is not fully understood yet. Why is one person creative, and the second is only able to repeat what has already been done by others, although both have an excellent memory? Often, creativity is seen as a talent. Things are easy - to create a talented AI ... Let it at least reinvent the wheel. Repeated inventions (as well as stupid invention) are the criterion of creativity (with a small level of knowledge)... In general, in order to invent (to solve a problem in a non-trivial way), one must learn to formulate a problem that has not been solved yet. In my opinion, AI is still very far from this. Facilitator? It can even be a dog.

@Milan, as a very practical response:

Given that creative problem solving has an innovation premise, and is typically facilitated by a (human) facilitator, would AI be able to facilitate a creative problem solving session? Brainstorming as CPS technique may be extreme. Perhaps brainwriting, morphological analysis, guided fantasy are milder CPS techniques (for AI).

I think the ultimate answer is yes,

@Milan, perhaps facilitator is a big ask first time round for a machine.

If one demotes this to "guide", as suggested by Stephen, with the plan to gradually work from there to eventual facilitator.

Still, it contains/ captures a number of inferences regarding innovation teaching and innovation pervasiveness.

Simply/ any program that "automates" or "digitizes" creative problem solving techniques should then constitute a step in such direction.

I think AI merely as an assistant through replication would serve a number of purposes: ease of use, distribution and pervasiveness, but most importantly, getting a foot in the door to take it a step at a time - a very pragmatic or empiricist approach to this particular innovation.

I dont think AI has to get everything right 100% to get going.

I am sure the ultimate answer is yes.

I do some oil painting in whatever spare time I can make for it. Hence, I followed this news of the computer painting 'a new Rembrandt'. It brought home how the craft and process of creating a visual art piece can be digitized and "algorithm-ized":

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35977315

I think particularly in the case of known problems or (as more) known contexts.

Yes, it is.

Devices with Artificial Intelligence are already facilitators in creative processes.