Creativity Killed the Media Star. Spoiler: Let’s Hope So.
Video Killed the Radio Star. Spoiler: It Didn’t.
Every time a new technology emerges, the doomsayers declare the death of creativity.
TV will kill cinema.
Photography will replace painting.
Synthesizers will make musicians obsolete.
Wrong. Every. Single. Time.
Creativity doesn’t die when technology advances. It adapts, reinvents, and thrives. And yet, here we are again. AI has arrived, and the fearmongers are in full voice:
“It’s the end of human creativity!”
It’s not. But something else is ending.
AI Won’t Kill Creativity — But It Will Kill the Obvious
Yes, AI is automating the formulaic, the predictable, the routine.
It generates songs, movies, images, and stories in seconds. Jobs will disappear, and the obvious will become cheap. But that’s exactly why real creativity is about to become more valuable than ever.
This cycle has played out before:
Painters didn’t vanish when photography arrived; they invented impressionism.
Musicians didn’t surrender to computers; they built new genres.
Writers didn’t quit when word processing was born; they wrote faster.
Early in my design career, clients told me, “We don’t need you anymore — we’ve invested in desktop publishing.”
We didn’t disappear. We grew significantly.
And that’s the real story of creativity: It isn’t destroyed by new tools but reborn through them.
Creativity as Evolution, Not Extinction
“Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.” — Pablo Picasso
When photography was invented in the 19th century, the French painter Paul Delaroche allegedly proclaimed, “From today, painting is dead.”
It wasn’t.
Rather than competing with cameras for perfect realism, painters pushed into areas photography couldn’t reach. Impressionism, surrealism, cubism — art became less about copying reality and more about emotion, abstraction, and perspective.
The same thing happened in music. When synthesizers and computers arrived, some feared ‘real’ musicians would be replaced. Instead, electronic music opened new creative frontiers — from Kraftwerk to hip-hop sampling to film scores.
Even in literature, word processing didn’t erase storytelling. It amplified it, allowing writers to refine their craft more efficiently.
“The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like humans, but that humans will begin to think like computers.” — Sydney J. Harris
That’s the real risk — not that AI will take over, but that we will stop being creative enough to make ourselves irreplaceable.
It’s Always Time For Vision
What Creativity Will Look Like in the AI Age
While AI can mimic and automate, it still lacks vision, instinct, and intent — the deep human qualities that drive original creativity. The new era will belong to those who use AI as a tool rather than a crutch.
Here’s where new creative frontiers will emerge:
Hyper-personalised art and storytelling — Humans will develop highly personal, contextual, and emotionally resonant work instead of mass AI-generated content. Imagine novels that evolve based on reader engagement or art that changes based on your emotional state.
Experiential and multisensory storytelling — AI can write scripts but doesn’t experience life. The next creative frontier could integrate tactile, spatial, and emotional dimensions into art — performances that involve smell, temperature, memory triggers, or audience interaction in deeply human ways.
AI-assisted but deeply human craftsmanship — Instead of replacing humans, the best creators will use AI as a co-pilot, helping generate rough ideas that humans refine, subvert, and make genuinely original. Think of musicians using AI to create unexpected soundscapes but then layering human emotion over them.
Creative activism and culture hacking—If AI is being used for manipulation, propaganda, and control, we will see a rise in creative countermovements—artists, writers, and designers using storytelling, satire, and spectacle to challenge power in ways AI-driven narratives cannot predict.
Revival of handmade, imperfect, and ‘slow’ creativity — As AI floods the market with polished but soulless content, we could see a resurgence of deliberate imperfection — hand-drawn designs, non-digital art, analog photography, and a renewed appreciation for craftsmanship over mass production.
Reimagining ‘ownership’ of creativity — Blockchain and decentralised networks could allow artists and creators to reclaim control over their work, ensuring that human-created content is valued over mass-produced AI derivatives. We may see new forms of artistic economies where personal creative expression has higher worth than AI-generated imitation.
Humanity-as-Content — AI will automate ‘content’ but not human presence. The resurgence of live, in-person, and community-driven creativity — spoken-word poetry, town hall discussions, real-life storytelling — could become more valuable in a world saturated with deepfakes and synthetic media.
Creative activism and culture hacking—If AI is being used for manipulation, propaganda, and data control, we will see a rise in creative countermovements—artists, writers, and designers using storytelling, satire, and spectacle to challenge power in ways AI-driven narratives cannot predict.
Countering Complacency & The New Power Structures
While AI itself isn’t the enemy, those who control it are shaping the future in ways that benefit them. The real danger isn’t just automation — it’s the consolidation of power.
A handful of billionaires are determining how AI is trained, deployed, and used to reinforce their influence.
Here’s where I believe we (creativity) must push back:
Build independent creative ecosystems — Instead of relying on AI models trained on biased datasets owned by corporations (OpenAI, Meta, Google), communities of artists and thinkers can train open-source models on diverse, ethical, and subversive data. Independent AI labs could be as vital as underground printing presses once were.
Use AI as a weapon against its gatekeepers — We can turn AI against the forces that use it for control. AI-powered investigative journalism, misinformation tracking, and bias detection could be used to hold tech and political leaders accountable.
Decentralised content distribution — As platforms like Twitter/X and X become hyper-controlled spaces that push certain narratives, new distribution methods (blockchain, peer-to-peer publishing, artist-owned platforms) can ensure diverse voices remain heard.
Reclaim public imagination from corporate AI — Musk, Zuckerberg, and their counterparts want AI to shape public discourse — but humans can create art, literature, and movements that challenge the AI-driven status quo. Creativity has always been the most powerful force for cultural shift.
Resist the gamification of thought. AI will increasingly predict and manipulate what people engage with, shaping culture toward passive consumption. Counter this by fostering spaces for profound, slow, complex ideas—public reading circles, in-person debates, and independent media hubs.
Make anti-AI control a movement — Much like open-source software disrupted Big Tech, open-source creativity can challenge AI monopolies. Artists, coders, and thinkers working together can build alternative AI, knowledge, and creation models that aren’t controlled by a few powerful hands.
Fighting Defeatism: Creativity as a Form of Power
Too many people feel powerless in the face of AI-driven change. That’s precisely what those in power want.
Defeatism serves those in control. If we believe AI will replace us, we stop fighting, stop creating, and accept the inevitable. That’s the trap.
The future belongs to the creatives, not the consumers. Those who actively shape the AI age will thrive, while those who consume what’s generated for them will fade into irrelevance.
Creativity is an act of defiance. In every era, those who made meaning instead of just absorbing it shaped history.
We get to decide what AI means for humanity. AI is a tool. It can be used for automation and control or for expanding human potential. The people who fight for the latter will define the future.
Aphorisms to Live By in the Age of AI
We need to rewrite the narratives being pushed about AI:
From — “AI will replace you” To —
To — “AI will replace the predictable, but creativity has never been predictable.”
From — “There’s nothing we can do”
To — “If technology is inevitable, human agency must be intentional.”
From — “AI will take our jobs”
To — “AI will take the jobs of those who stop imagining.”
From — “AI-generated art is the future”
To — “The future of art is human vision; AI is just the paintbrush.”
From — “Musk, Zuckerberg, and OpenAI will decide the future”
To — “The future is decided by those who refuse to accept theirs.”
From — “This is too big to fight”
To — “There is no machine more powerful than human imagination.”
The Real Threat Isn’t AI — It’s Complacency
Let’s be clear: AI will take jobs.
Automation is swallowing up predictable work in creativity and across industries. AI will do it faster and cheaper if your role is built on repetition, routine, or formula.
But this isn’t new. It happened to:
Typesetters when desktop publishing arrived.
Factory workers when robots were introduced.
Data analysts when algorithms got smarter.
Creativity isn’t just an artistic skill — it’s a survival instinct.
AI isn’t coming for creativity. It’s coming for the uninspired, the unoriginal, and the routine. You should be worried if you’re producing predictable, replaceable, soulless work.
If your creativity is about vision, reinvention, and meaning? AI isn’t a threat. It’s an accelerant.
AI will generate content.
But art is not content. Art is meaning. Art is intention. Art is a fight against the obvious. That fight has never been more critical.
Creativity Has Always Been The Language Of Invention
Final Thought: AI Won’t Kill Creativity — Unless We Let It
Creativity isn’t just about making things. It’s about meaning, rebellion, and survival. AI will reshape culture — but it’s up to us whether that means a more homogenised, controlled world or a new era of wild, messy, profoundly human reinvention.
AI is coming for creativity.
But it’s creativity that will decide what happens next.
So the real question isn’t: Will AI take jobs? It’s:
Are enough humans ready to fight for creativity as if our future depends on it?
Because it does.
New technology always forces a choice: Fall back on what’s familiar and risk irrelevance. Or push forward, experiment, and create something no machine can replicate. Are we ready?
