PhD student in Computer Science and Engineering at University of Bologna.
Research Work
Papers
Giorgio Franceschelli and Mirco Musolesi. 2024. Do Agents Dream of Electric Sheep?: Improving Generalization in Reinforcement Learning through Generative Learning. arXiv:2403.07979 [cs.LG]The Overfitted Brain hypothesis suggests dreams happen to allow generalization in the human brain. Here, we ask if the same is true for reinforcement learning agents as well. Given limited experience in a real environment, we use imagination-based reinforcement learning to train a policy on dream-like episodes, where non-imaginative, predicted trajectories are modified through generative augmentations. Experiments on four ProcGen environments show that, compared to classic imagination and offline training on collected experience, our method can reach a higher level of generalization when dealing with sparsely rewarded environments.
Giorgio Franceschelli and Mirco Musolesi. 2024. Reinforcement Learning for Generative AI: State of the Art, Opportunities and Open Research Challenges. Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, 79, 417-446. doi.org/10.1613/jair.1.15278Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most exciting developments in Computer Science of the last decade. At the same time, Reinforcement Learning (RL) has emerged as a very successful paradigm for a variety of machine learning tasks. In this survey, we discuss the state of the art, opportunities and open research questions in applying RL to generative AI. In particular, we will discuss three types of applications, namely, RL as an alternative way for generation without specified objectives; as a way for generating outputs while concurrently maximizing an objective function; and, finally, as a way of embedding desired characteristics, which cannot be easily captured by means of an objective function, into the generative process. We conclude the survey with an in-depth discussion of the opportunities and challenges in this fascinating emerging area.
Giorgio Franceschelli and Mirco Musolesi. 2023. On the Creativity of Large Language Models. arXiv:2304.00008 [cs.AI]Large Language Models (LLMs) are revolutionizing several areas of Artificial Intelligence. One of the most remarkable applications is creative writing, e.g., poetry or storytelling: the generated outputs are often of astonishing quality. However, a natural question arises: can LLMs be really considered creative? In this article we firstly analyze the development of LLMs under the lens of creativity theories, investigating the key open questions and challenges. In particular, we focus our discussion around the dimensions of value, novelty and surprise as proposed by Margaret Boden in her work. Then, we consider different classic perspectives, namely product, process, press and person. We discuss a set of easy'' andhard’’ problems in machine creativity, presenting them in relation to LLMs. Finally, we examine the societal impact of these technologies with a particular focus on the creative industries, analyzing the opportunities offered by them, the challenges arising by them and the potential associated risks, from both legal and ethical points of view.
Giorgio Franceschelli and Mirco Musolesi. 2022. DeepCreativity: Measuring Creativity with Deep Learning Techniques. Intelligenza Artificiale, 16(2), 151-163. doi:10.3233/IA-220136Measuring machine creativity is one of the most fascinating challenges in Artificial Intelligence. This paper explores the possibility of using generative learning techniques for automatic assessment of creativity. The proposed solution does not involve human judgement, it is modular and of general applicability. We introduce a new measure, namely DeepCreativity, based on Margaret Boden’s definition of creativity as composed by value, novelty and surprise. We evaluate our methodology (and related measure) considering a case study, i.e., the generation of 19th century American poetry, showing its effectiveness and expressiveness.
Giorgio Franceschelli and Mirco Musolesi. 2022. Copyright in Generative Deep Learning. Data & Policy, 4, E17. doi:10.1017/dap.2022.10Machine-generated artworks are now part of the contemporary art scene: they are attracting significant investments and they are presented in exhibitions together with those created by human artists. These artworks are mainly based on generative deep learning (GDL) techniques, which have seen a formidable development and remarkable refinement in the very recent years. Given the inherent characteristics of these techniques, a series of novel legal problems arise. In this article, we consider a set of key questions in the area of GDL for the arts, including the following: is it possible to use copyrighted works as training set for generative models? How do we legally store their copies in order to perform the training process? Who (if someone) will own the copyright on the generated data? We try to answer these questions considering the law in force in both the United States and the European Union, and potential future alternatives. We then extend our analysis to code generation, which is an emerging area of GDL. Finally, we also formulate a set of practical guidelines for artists and developers working on deep learning generated art, as well as some policy suggestions for policymakers.
Giorgio Franceschelli and Mirco Musolesi. 2021. Creativity and Machine Learning: A Survey. arXiv:2104.02726 [cs.LG] (under review by ACM Computing Surveys) There is a growing interest in the area of machine learning and creativity. This survey presents an overview of the history and the state of the art of computational creativity theories, key machine learning techniques (including generative deep learning), and corresponding automatic evaluation methods. After presenting a critical discussion of the key contributions in this area, we outline the current research challenges and emerging opportunities in this field.
Books and Contributions
Giorgio Franceschelli, I, Artist. Opere d’arte e intelligenza artificiale: il curioso caso del diritto d’autore, Ventura Edizioni, Senigallia, 2019.
Giorgio Franceschelli, L’importanza del suono nel progresso culturale, in Prospettive sonore. Percezione e mediazione, by A. Calanchi e A. Laquidara, Galaad, Giulianova, 2016, pp. 257 - 274.