Do schools kill creativity? I will never forget the first time I watched the late Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk about how schools and educational systems systematically kill human creativity. The question, still resonating with me, inspired me to delve deeper into the topic of creativity and human potential and how we can create safe spaces for people to unleash their creative potential and flourish in their private and professional lives. The evidence of human creativity is visible everywhere.

A similar question hit me like a brick when I realized that the technological development of AI might do exactly the same: kill creativity. This, at times, shocking realization couldn’t leave my mind for a very long time, and its presence still haunts me:

Does AI kill creativity? Does it really?

Or, quite the opposite: does AI allow humans to be more creative? A river of questions started to surface in my mind as I dove deeper into the development of AI and began using AI tools frequently in what I call creative experiments. From using AI-image generators to translate my words into compelling imagery as part of my creative writing practice, to creating AI-generated image collections for forums and conferences, to being labeled a “digital artist” and making it to the finals of an AI artistic global competition with my piece Children Learning with the Neuro-Link Approach from the collection Creative Bites: Children of the Future,

I finally realized that the future was already happening all the time – I just wasn’t aware of it yet.

My newfound practice enabled me to translate my ideas into images while discovering that, after all, my “artistic” career was being questioned beyond measure:

Is this really art? Don’t you think you are stealing the real artists’ work?

💡Who owns the IP rights?

💡Is everything eventually going to become an AI-generated piece when all our data is part of data rooms used by LLMs?

💡Are AI tools the end of human creativity?

💡How do you measure the ethical aspects of your work when you generate images?

💡Do you even think about it? (Breaking news: I do.)

💡How about your business? If you generate ideas for new projects with AI, do they belong to you?

💡How about academia and scientific breakthroughs? Who is the owner if not the AI itself?

💡And, after all, are you already working on your digital twin, which will outlive you and your practice and enable you to live forever?

At times overwhelming, I realized that there seem to be more questions than answers, and nothing is black or white. Many of these questions require a deep dive into the legal, societal, individual, and ethical structures, and the rapid development of technological systems makes everything much more complicated.

All the above questions fundamentally relate to the future of humanity and its unpredictability.

💡How are we going to navigate these changes?

💡How do we envision the world for ourselves, our community, and life on our planet and beyond, where technology is no longer a matter of philosophical questioning but is deeply integrated into all aspects of life?

💡Do we quickly and unquestionably allow it to develop without any boundaries, or is there a force that will allow us to sit down and consider the potential consequences of this technological development and stop them before it might be too late?

💡How about human rights? What if AI is already breaking them without our awareness?

💡And what if the promise of AI for good is so strong that, in no time, we will enjoy a utopian life?

💡How do we create ethical boundaries for the use of AI in creative fields? Are they necessary?

💡And what if the machines become so good and fast in their own development that we, humans, become irrelevant?

💡What if the interactions and merging between humans and machines create a new type of species?

💡What, in the end, is the world we wish for, and how can our wishes, dreams, and actions positively influence the future?

AI won’t kill our human creativity; it is time for us to be part of the co-creation of the future we want to live in. Or, to quote Sir Ken Robinson:

“Our hope for the future is to adopt a new conception of human ecology, one in which we start to reconstitute our conception of the richness of human capacity.”

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P.S. What are your favourite AI questions?

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Creative recommendations from the global communities:

1. The Future of Humanity happens here as well.
2. Gendered Species – A Natural History of Patriarchy by Tamas David-Barrett – I can’t wait to listen to its audio book.
3. PLEASE DO NOT join the Moonshot Celebration! 🚀✨
4. The Quester’s Guide for Exploring your World: Issue 01: Magic ✨ Unlock wonder in your everyday with creative prompts, stories, and challenges to spark inspiration and connection by @Sam Furness Hannah Singleman Aliena Haig Annie Ly