How AI can promote creative thought in class and beyond

For many years, educators have considered personalized learning as a way to adapt education to the unique needs of each student. With the progress of artificial intelligence, this vision becomes a reality. AI has the potential to transform classrooms by offering personalized learning experiences that align with individual forces, interest and learning needs.

At the same time, the emphasis is increasingly placed on promoting creativity and authenticity in the work of students. AI can play a central role in supporting the creative process, the generation of ideas for refining projects. By making the creative process more explicit and accessible, AI allows students to overcome obstacles and express their unique perspectives. This approach stimulates not only commitment, but also prepares students for a future where creative thought and problem solving are essential skills.

Recently, Edsurge spoke with Brian Johnsrudthe director of learning education and advocacy at AdobeRegarding the use of educational tools which not only exploit the power of AI, but also confirm the creative integrity of students and teachers. He underlines how AI can help personalize learning by allowing students to present their understanding and ideas in a diversified and individualized way. This passage of standardized assignments to personalized projects can make learning more engaging and relevant to each student.

Edsurge: How can educators take advantage of AI safely and responsible for more personalized learning?

Johnsrud: The dream of learning personalization has existed for decades. The first phase really focused on obtaining the right content at the right student at the right time. Now, with AI, we are in the second phase, which is not only to personalize the content, but also the way students present their understanding and share their knowledge. Because a characteristic of creativity is uniqueness. So, if we want students to make a creative thought, 30 missions carried out by 30 different students should all be different.

As for the deployment of AI safely and responsible for schools paying attention to a number of things at the moment. The first step is to check whether the AI ​​tool is really designed for education specifically. If he had not been made for the classroom, it was probably not made to improve learning. He will not necessarily have these educational documents or accessibility and other Edtech integrations you need.

Part of the design of security and responsibility includes the guarantee that the tools do not form their models on students or teachers' projects, because the creative work you develop as a teacher or student in class must be respected and protected. If you use a tool that benefits or inspires your creative masterpiece, it is not really aligned with basic creative values ​​and academic integrity.

How does AI help promote creativity while ensuring that students' work remains authentic?

AI can support any part of the creative process. If a student is stuck in a brainstorming, AI can help generate several ideas. If another student is good in brainstorming but needs help to refine his work, AI can act as a partner, by providing a criticism. This is what is exciting in AI designed for creativity! It makes the stages of the creative process explicit and helps students overcome obstacles. He removes this fear from the virgin canvas.

I hope that AI helps to pay the attention of teachers being content creators to students playing this role. As an examples inspired by my time as a teacher of social studies, instead of asking students to write a paragraph on continuity and change in a historical era, you could make them choose an era, choose a subject that shows continuity and design an imaginary propaganda poster from this period. The advantages of this creative mission are clear for each educator. But with rigid standards and an excited study program, it is difficult to devote two weeks to it. The good news is that with AI, you can finish this assignment in just 30 minutes during lessons.

Interestingly, we are looking for authenticity more than ever in the AI ​​era. AI tools exceed the basic approach invites and results “Grab and Go”. They become integrated into our creative workflows, allowing us to give life to our best ideas and to express ourselves more really. The objective is not for AI to do the work for us, but to help us create a more authentic and significant content so that we can have impactful storytellers. As a teacher, you should be able to see the unique voice of each student in the work they produce.

How do the literacy of AI and creative thought make students for future labor market requirements?

In just a few years, AI skills have become essential. The 2025 working trend index report revealed that 66 percent of the chiefs of the industry would not engage someone without IA skills. It is incredible how fast it has become a job contract. In the same report, 71% of managers said they were more likely to hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced candidate without them. For students, this means that having AI skills can level the rules of the game with more experienced professionals.

At the same time, creativity and creative thought are also in great demand. The future of Jobs 2025 report by the World Economic Forum has highlighted Creative thought as a higher competence for the future. The creators' economy is booming, with 200,000 new creative jobs created in the United States in 2025 only. Students who can combine AI skills with creative problem solving can take fairly incredible opportunities.

Research has shown that the more the students are able to create, the more they thrive. And AI opens more opportunities for the creation of students. A Gallup 2019 report revealed that Educators who focus on creativity and use technology in a transformative way see significant gains – Students are more committed, demonstrate a better critical thinking, keep more, establish links between subjects and reach deeper learning. For educators, seeing the excited and proud students of their work is incredibly enriching, in particular during periods of increased teachers.

How can educators easily integrate creative thought into their lessons?

Start by identifying areas of your program where students must dive deep into a concept or fully demonstrate their understanding. These are the moments when creative activities can replace traditional methods such as taking notes or multiple choice questions and arouse a much wider and deeper set of learning results.