Artists and AI. How can creativity remain relevant?

With the rise of artificial intelligence, creatives are understandably questioning the role of their craft in an increasingly digital world. Where machines can now generate literature, art, music, and more at the mere tap of a screen, the role of the artist is not disappearing - but it is changing.

Love it or hate it, artificial intelligence (AI) systems are undeniably powerful. They are demonstrating the ability to detect and diagnose cancers, to generate human-like languages, and scientists are even using AI to monitor global bee populations.

But the implications for the creative sector are not so straightforward.

AI can already create music in the style of Bach, produce full-length novels, and create "deep fakes" so convincing that regulators are struggling to keep up. The question isn't: can technology produce creative work? But, what happens when creativity loses its human touch, and what does that cost us?

There is no easy answer; we cannot shove innovation back into Pandora's box. So the real challenge for us is redefining creativity when digital tools are only innovating.

That is exactly what innovation should be to us: tools.

Technology hasn't stopped humanity from creating, but it has always shaped how we create. Novelists no longer write entire manuscripts by hand, for example, and the laptop is now a writer’s essential kit. Previously a typewriter would have been a must. Digital transformation isn’t new — it’s just accelerating.

The real threat to creativity is not job displacement; but a cognitive one. The risk is that our reliance on generative tools slowly dulls our imagination. And honestly? Some evidence suggests that decline has already begun.

So what is the solution? We keep creating. We keep engaging. We keep thinking for ourselves - even if the answer isn't as clean as the one from a chatbot.

Read books. Doodle in meetings. Pick up the guitar which is gathering dust in your room. Make chaotic videos for social media. Write your memoirs even if nobody reads them. Keep the muscle of imagination active.

But also — use the tech. Draw on ProCreate, design posters on Canva, experiment with AI brainstorming if it helps spark ideas. Digital tools aren’t the enemy unless we let them replace the human instinct to make things.

At the heart of all of this lies a truth: human beings are wired to create. That instinct predates any tech release, any version of ChatGPT, and it will outlast whatever comes next.

Art is not going anywhere - but what it means and how it is created is shifting and evolving, as it always has.