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"I was wholly addicted to watching Kojack, for as long as it was on television."
- Frederik Pohl

Verhaeren Factor  
  Provides autonomous robots with the capacity for independent creative action.  

What provisions could a roboticist make to ensure creativity in an autonomous robot?

"I'll bet I know why android cooks were never too successful. Nobody ever included the Verhaeren factor in their brains."

The Verhaeren factor, if you've studied this stuff at all, is what makes robots capable of independent creative action. For instance, in the robots that turn out popular fiction - in a very small proportion, of course.

"Yes, that's the trouble. They never realized that a cook is an artist as well as a servant Well, we'll give him in his brain what he needs for creation and in his body the tools he needs to carry it out..."

Technovelgy from Robinc, by Anthony Boucher.
Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1943
Additional resources -

See also the entry for light-sculpture for one idea from Isaac Asimov. Also, can this robotic painter create masterpieces like his namesake?

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Robinc
  More Ideas and Technology by Anthony Boucher
  Tech news articles related to Robinc
  Tech news articles related to works by Anthony Boucher

Verhaeren Factor-related news articles:
  - Robot Painter 'Action Jackson' Mimics Jackson Pollock
  - Midjourney AI Creates 'Théâtre D'opéra Spatial', Wins Art Fair First Prize

Articles related to Robotics
Robot Gas Station Attendant Pumps Gas For You
SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits
Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
What's The Best Way To Ship And Unpack Humanoid Robots?

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