Despite perceptions, artificial intelligence doesn't have a shred of creativity within it. It's all statistical algorithms, slurping data from sources created by humans somewhere along the line. It will never be a source of innovation, but will serve to augment human innovation. "AI will not develop fundamentally new ideas on its own; however, there are ways in which AI can support humans in doing so," according to a recent study out of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute. In this context, AI serves as a liberating force.

If you are looking for a flash of inspiration, it might be at the bottom of a pint of beer. A study has found a drink can help us think more creatively, by freeing up the brain to think in a different way. It does not require industrial strength quantities, such as those enjoyed by the great poet Dylan Thomas or novelist Marguerite Duras. But the equivalent of a pint of beer or a small glass of wine was found by Austrian scientists to help people unleash their creative side. The researchers gave 70 people a drink of either beer or non-alcohol beer, which they were unable to distinguish between.

When Dove unveiled a huge billboard in London's Waterloo station that claimed to depict the'perfect mum', hackles were, understandably, raised. Beleaguered mothers took to Twitter to criticise the brand for piling even more pressure on mums struggling under society's critical gaze. But all was not quite as it seemed. The cherub-faced, blonde, white woman featured on the giant poster was not a real mum… or even a real person. She was an artificial intelligence-created image, synthesised by a computer that had been fed 1800 images of mothers from advertisements, magazines and social media.

Folk music is part of a rich cultural context that stretches back into the past, encompassing the real and the mythical, bound to the traditions of the culture in which it arises. Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, has no culture, no traditions. But it has shown great ability: beating grand masters at chess and Go, for example, or demonstrating uncanny wordplay skills when IBM Watson beat human competitors at Jeopardy. Could the power of AI be put to use to create music? This is not entirely unprecedented: an artificial intelligence co-wrote a piece of musical theatre, from the storyline to the music and lyrics.

Folk music is part of a rich cultural context that stretches back into the past, encompassing the real and the mythical, bound to the traditions of the culture in which it arises. Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, has no culture, no traditions. But it has shown great ability: beating grand masters at chess and Go, for example, or demonstrating uncanny wordplay skills when IBM Watson beat human competitors at Jeopardy. Could the power of AI be put to use to create music? This is not entirely unprecedented: an artificial intelligence co-wrote a piece of musical theatre, from the storyline to the music and lyrics.

Machine Learning and Haute Couture may not be what you expect to hear in the same sentence. But can Machine Learning help the creative side of fashion? There are plenty of examples where machine learning is applied within fashion retailing to do predictive stock assortments, trend forecasting and much more, but I was interested in the more creative side of fashion. One example is Google's Muze project. It hasn't exactly received universal acclaim and OMG! personally I would not be seen dead in it!