A Pusan National University Study Explores the Meaning of Creativity in AI in the Novel Ada

The article suggests traditional and new forms of creativity, distinguishing humans and machines

BUSAN, South Korea, July 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ada by Antoine Bello delves into the meaning of creativity in the context of AI through its protagonist Ada, an AI character who writes literary works. In a new article, a researcher from Pusan National University has analyzed the novel to bring out the meaning and forms of creativity by leveraging the perspectives of powerful thinkers, including Walter Benjamin, Henri Bergson, and Jacques Derrida.

Ada by Antoine Bello is a science fiction novel that explores the meaning of creativity in the context of machines through the lens of Ada, an artificial intelligence (AI) character capable of writing literary works. Authored by the former Silicon Valley entrepreneur, the novel was published in 2016, a time of revolutionary strides in the field of AI. Notably, that year, DeepMind's AlphaGo remarkably outsmarted the world Go champion, Lee Sedol, showcasing the potential of AI to learn, innovate, and perform complex tasks just like a human.

Over the last decade, AI has come a long way, especially in the domains of content generation and language processing. In this era of the growing role of AI in creative industries, it is thus necessary to ask the question: can a machine ever replace the deeply human, introspective journey behind artistic creation?

Posing and addressing such and similar questions, Assistant Professor Ji Eun Hong from Pusan National University has analyzed Ada to explore the concept of creativity and its forms. Her work was made available online on January 24, 2025, and will be published in French Forum, Volume 50, Issue 1, in September 2025.

Dr. Hong explains that the novel Ada raises a fascinating point about whether artificial intelligence can truly be creative. The AI character, Ada, writes literary works so convincingly that she even wins a Pulitzer Prize, which challenges our assumptions about what makes creativity 'authentic.' As Dr. Hong states, "My work dives into how Ada starts by mimicking existing styles—what Aristotle called mimesis—and then begins to create seemingly original works at a rapid speed."

"But is originality just remixing old ideas in new ways?" she asks further.

Dr. Hong approaches this question by considering the perspectives of powerful thinkers. According to Walter Benjamin, "technical reproducibility" can lead to a loss of aura in mechanically produced works. Furthermore, Ada's work faces criticism for lacking historical context and subversion and play on meaning in the novel. Notably, while Henri Bergson emphasizes the continuous and introspective nature of human creativity, Jacques Derrida shows that all creation is intertextual through his concept of différance. 

Nevertheless, the AI character in Ada manages to add humor and combines existing works innovatively and coherently, a trademark of "association theory" in AI. This reveals a confrontation between traditional and new creativity like Ancients vs Moderns.

In this way, this research helps us think critically about the growing role of AI in creative industries. "As AI becomes a more common 'creator,' we may find ourselves redefining what counts as 'human' creativity. My research suggests we might be drawn to art not just for its technical brilliance, but for the story behind its creation." concludes Dr. Hong.

Reference 
Title of original paper: When Artificial Intelligence Creates: Reflections on Literary Creativity and Authenticity in Ada by Antoine Bello
Journal: French Forum
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/frf.2025.a992962

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