This paper examines a distance learning course on the fundamentals of scientific and technical creativity in research and development processes (Lehrbriefreihe zu den Grundlagen des wissenschaftlich-technischen Schöpfertums in Forschungs- und Entwicklungsprozessen) that was developed in the early 1980s by the departments for cadre education of the Building Academy and the Carl Zeiss Jena combine in the GDR. The course was a joint attempt to make the theoretical findings of state-organised science of science research in the GDR usable for practical application. It comprises 15 volumes in approximately 20 consecutive booklets and was intended to train and further educate architects in the GDR by bringing together the latest findings on “creativity” from historical, sociological, economic, cybernetic and not least psychological research. The aim was to design practical training modules for the creative mind in a socialist society and state. Based on the exercise sections and imagery of the of distance learning course, the paper describes the series a) as a medium for multiple, multi-oriented translation processes between different scientific disciplines and b) as a zone of contact and negotiation for the application of scientific research, in order to ultimately position it in relation to the genealogy of recent debates on creativity at the boundary between human and artificial intelligence.