AI, Education, and the Risk to Creativity · Growth Syndicate

AI, Education, and the Risk to Creativity

The challenge with students using AI is this: how will innovation and breakthroughs occur if they begin to rely on AI for everything too early? In just a few weeks of using it myself, I’ve noticed how easy it is to accept what AI provides without questioning it. But what if what it shares isn’t the whole truth? What happens to original thought when convenience takes the lead because the world is moving too fast?

I experienced this firsthand when AI generated minutes from a meeting I attended. On the surface, the summary seemed accurate. But as I reviewed it, I realized several key points had been left out. It reminded me how quickly we can become dependent on AI, trusting it to “think” for us, while overlooking its limitations because it is so convenient.

@Mike Greene

This raises an important question for education you queried: if students use AI in schools - it could easily become a default tool, what will that do to their creativity? There is already significant pressure on teachers roles and responsibilities, so can AI be used responsibly?

There is already evidence that creativity and risk-taking decline as students grow older. Sir Ken Robinson, in his famous TED Talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity?”, argued that education systems often suppress creativity by rewarding conformity and discouraging mistakes. If traditional schooling already narrows imagination, then what happens when AI enters the mix?

On one hand, AI has the potential to enhance learning by providing personalized insights and instant feedback but that will depend on the level of ability to ask probing questions and to dig deep. On the other, it risks making students passive consumers of information rather than active creators of ideas. True innovation requires questioning, experimenting, and sometimes failing, qualities that can’t be outsourced to AI in my opinion. Already university lecturers have challenges around students using AI type of tools to write their essays etc.

If we are not careful, AI could accelerate the very problem Robinson warned us about: the erosion of creativity in education. The challenge is not to reject AI, but to use it wisely, as a tool to spark new ideas, not as a crutch that replaces them.

Recently, my daughter used AI to create some artwork. The key difference was that she already had advanced art skills, so the AI did not dictate her creative direction. Instead, she used it as a tool to enhance efficiency. This experience highlights an important point: students need to master fundamental skills such as questioning, reasoning, and critical thinking before introducing AI into their learning. Without this foundation, it’s easy for them to become overly dependent on AI, relying on it rather than developing their own creative and intellectual abilities.

These are just some thoughts - I see you are very passionate about education as well.

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