Artificial imagination (AIm), also called Synthetic imagination or machine imagination is defined as artificial simulation of human imagination by general or special purpose computers or artificial neural networks.
The term artificial imagination is also used to describe a property of machines or programs: Among some of the traits that researchers hope to simulate using machines include creativity, vision, digital art, humor, satire, etc.
Artificial imagination research uses tools and insights from many fields, including computer science, Rhetoric, psychology, creative arts, philosophy, neuroscience, affective computing, Artificial Intelligence, Artificial intuition, cognitive science, linguistics, operations research, creative writing, probability and logic.
The various practitioners in the field are researching various aspects of Artificial imagination, such as Artificial (visual) imagination,[1] Artificial (aural) Imagination,[2] modeling/filtering content based on human emotions[3] and Interactive Search[4]. Some articles on the topic speculate on how artificial imagination may evolve to create an artificial world which people may not want to leave at all. [5].
Some researchers in the field, such as G. Schleis and M. Rizki, Dept. of Comput. Sci., Wayne State Univ. have focused on using artificial neural networks for simulating artificial imagination.[6]
The topic of artificial imagination has gotten interest from scholars outside the computer science domain, such as noted teacher-scholar Earnest G Bormann, a remarkable teacher-scholar, who came up with the Symbolic Convergence Theory and has worked on a project to develop artificial imagination in computer systems.[7]
How to Build a Mind: Toward Machines with Imagination by Igor Aleksander is a good book on the topic.
And of course, the popular press is catching the term as well.[8]