What is an original experience when programming an intelligent system?

A class mate in my Artificial Intelligence class wrote about AI possibly being able to create something unique
in which I responded below.

I agree expectations can be a bit diluted by the fact that a system can only contain rules or “intelligence” from experiences it has consumed and ultimately learned from. Presumption or ‘pre-programming’ of other rules can help but most of the time I feel would prejudge a situation. After all, we sometimes learn more about a situation when we experience it ourselves and we often call this experience life, even if it turns out good or bad. So the program or entity must experience good and BAD.

It lends a hand to the term original. How can something be original and unique to all when the collective of the majority of all rules in the world have already been discovered? For example, humans are not given every rule or boundary when we are born. We are contently rule-less and spend the rest of our lives finding the boundaries in which we can exist in our individual cultures.

If computers are to be truly ‘original’ then they must learn on their own. The combinations of one’s’ experiences are the only unique factor we all have. Computers, because of their rule-based nature, can be programmed with the prejudices and therefore are given an advantage of the outside world but still only begins with the rules learned be the programmer.