Harnessing Harm: Artificial Intelligence’s Role in the Amplification of Malevolent Creativity and Innovation

The increasingly widespread use of artificial intelligence (AI) has attracted the attention of creative individuals, organizations, and researchers alike. Traditionally focused on conventional forms of creativity, researchers have found many benefits of AI to enhance the generation of novel and useful ideas. However, not all ideas are benevolent in nature. As such, this review considers the intersection of malevolent creativity and AI. Specifically, we discuss how AI can enhance human generation, selection, and implementation of novel and harmful ideas. Using the stage model of creativity as our guide, we examine how stages from problem construction to implementation planning can be impacted by AI, shaping the potential for harm sought by AI’s human partners.