Artist A.D. Cook with CONTINENTAL, acrylic on panel, 2025
The Transformation of Creativity
The art and music worlds are changing faster than a trending meme on social media during election week. The art world is being driven by several powerful forces, primarily technological advancements, shifting social and political dynamics, globalization, and evolving economic models. These factors are transforming how art is created, consumed, and valued.
By now, we can all see how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming many aspects of our lives, from how we work to how we interact with technology and others in our daily routines. From automating mundane tasks to offering advanced data analysis, AI is enabling individuals and organizations to focus on more strategic and creative endeavors.
This groundbreaking technology has the potential to revolutionize a wide variety of industries, making processes more efficient and improving overall productivity. Industries such as healthcare, finance, and manufacturing stand to gain significantly from AI-driven solutions that improve decision-making and enhance customer experiences.
However, amid these advancements, there are growing concerns that AI may negatively impact human creativity and originality in the future as it increasingly takes over tasks that require innovative thinking and artistic expression. Ultimately, finding a balance between leveraging AI’s capabilities while nurturing human creativity will be crucial in shaping a future where both can coexist harmoniously.
One of the main ways AI can kill human creativity is by automating creative tasks. This automation can reduce the human touch that gives creative work its unique character and emotional depth.
For example, AI algorithms can already create music and art that is indistinguishable from human creations. These advancements also spark debate over originality, as the line between human and AI-generated art blurs.
While this may be impressive from a technological standpoint, it raises questions about the value of human creativity in a world where machines can replicate it perfectly. Ultimately, this challenges us to redefine what creativity means in an age dominated by artificial intelligence.
When I see AI images, I wonder why anyone would use them beyond illustrative purposes, which I view differently from actual art. But in reality, I know that their use comes from the simple ease and immediate gratification. It is, after all, easier to find an image and download it than it is to create something from scratch. Even as a designer, I am guilty of this as well. The image above of a robot at the easel is a stock AI-generated image, as is the robot playing a guitar, but I would never call either of them “art.” The most creative thing I had to do was search Adobe Stock for relevant images.
Over the years, as a designer, I’ve seen the industry change a lot. When I started, everything was created by hand. Then clip art came along, then computer-designed graphics, and now AI is everywhere, completely changing the entire process, and not always for the better. Clearly, some AI-generated imagery and design is fantastic, but in many ways, the race to mediacrity is faster than ever.
The AI Music Controversy
Sadly, not only has the visual arts been significantly affected, but the realm of music creativity is also taking a substantial hit as a direct result of advancements in AI technology. Notable examples of AI-generated music that have gained traction include popular tracks such as “Walk My Walk” by Breaking Rust, which impressively reached #1 on a Billboard Country Digital Song Sales chart in November 2025, captivating listeners worldwide. Additionally, emerging AI bands like Velvet Sundown are making their mark on platforms like YouTube and Spotify, underscoring the growing influence of artificial intelligence in the music industry.
The rise of AI music has generated significant discussion and concern among human artists and industry professionals. A recent study found that 97% of people could not distinguish between human-made and AI-generated music, which contributes to the technology’s rapid spread.
Personally, I’m not a fan of AI-generated music. I would much rather enjoy authentic music by real performers. There is something special about live music expressed through passionate talent, years of practice, and emotion.
AI skips the entire creative process and produces finished music in minutes with little human direction. I recently saw a video of a musician saying he wrote one line, and AI turned it into a complete song with multiple variations in a matter of moments. Imagine a group of teenagers in the future forming a band and saying, “The AI rock movement of the late 20s super influenced us.” I, for one, hope this never happens, but seeing where things are going, it’s more likely than not.
Today, with AI-generated music, the industry is constantly on the hunt for performers who can emulate what a computer created, essentially creating cover bands rather than seeking authentic talent.
The 30% Rule
The AI 30% rule is a widely accepted guideline that suggests AI should handle approximately 70% of routine and repetitive tasks. In comparison, humans focus on the remaining 30% that require critical thinking, creativity, and decision-making. This approach advocates viewing AI not merely as a replacement for human workers, but rather as a versatile tool that augments human capabilities and enhances productivity. By automating the more predictable and mundane parts of a job, AI allows humans to allocate their time and energy towards higher-value tasks that leverage uniquely human skills, such as emotional intelligence, complex problem-solving, and innovative thinking. Ultimately, this partnership between AI and humans aims to create a more efficient and fulfilling work environment for everyone involved, ensuring that both technology and human contributions are valued and optimized.
Personally, I believe that we as creators should flip those numbers if we’re going to use AI at all, and use it sparingly, like seasoning. And when it comes to creativity, I feel that art, writing, and songwriting should be created by hand, from the heart, and that AI-generated anything creative is soulless at best.
Encouraging Creativity
In the end, only humans create; AI can only recreate, or at best, glean, steal, and repurpose that which has already been made. AI is at best a cover band and an imposter of the creative soul. There is no need to fear its continued forthcoming, at least as far as the arts go. As they say, the cream always rises to the top, and I believe that talent shines where technology fails.
AI lacks emotional depth and soul, and cannot replicate the personal experiences, emotions, and unique perspectives that human artists bring to their work. True artistic creativity involves making complex choices based on a deep understanding of context, life experience, and emotional intent, which is beyond current AI capabilities. Artists can interpret and translate a client’s vague or poorly stated ideas, a socially and artistically complex task that modern AI cannot perform.
Ultimately, art is fundamentally about human connection and recognizing ourselves in someone else’s experience, which requires a human creator with genuine life experiences. I hope that artists and all creatives continue to be inspired by humanity and our full potential by exercising their spirit and mind through drawing, writing, singing, dancing, or whatever creative outlet inspires their soul.
Art is not about perfection, but progress. Keep on keeping on, my friends, and most of all, stay creative. The world needs your art.
In Full Disclosure
I have a confession: I, too, use AI for specific tasks. There, I said it. But I refuse to use it to create my Art. My use of Artificial Intelligence is mainly limited to editorial tasks, such as the images in this post and throughout this website, and occasionally expanding on an idea. When I use AI for work, I make it clear that it is AI-generated.
Many artists are using AI as a new tool in their creative process, much as they adopted digital tools like Photoshop. Since AI was integrated into Photoshop a couple of years ago, I’ve enjoyed using it to edit images, mostly in my car show posts, to remove distractions and unwanted content (again, mainly for editorial purposes).
Sometimes I use AI as a quick method to generate multiple concepts or references for artists to refine and develop into a final piece. I also use Grammarly, an AI-powered writing assistant, to help me with grammar, spelling, punctuation, tone, clarity, and style.
Ultimately, the rise of AI could lead to a stronger appreciation for the “human touch,” originality, and emotional honesty found in human-created art. Beyond that, I’ve resisted using AI much, mostly because I genuinely enjoy the creative process and believe AI limits it.
Artist A.D. Cook self-portrait with CONTINENTAL painting on panel, 36″ x 60″ © A.D. Cook 2025
Robot at easel, and Robot playing guitar images © 2025 Adobe Stock. Licensed for editorial.
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A.D. is an artist who started drawing at a young age. Throughout his life, he has worked with different creative tools in traditional and digital art and design. His art and writings have been showcased in various publications such as Airbrush Action Magazine, Airbrush Magazine, American Art Collector, America’s Sports Car magazine, Art & Beyond, Easyriders, Las Vegas City Life, Las Vegas Weekly, L’Vegue, ModelsMania, Quick Throttle, The Ultimate Airbrush Handbook, America’s Sports Car, The New York Times, and The National Corvette Museum 2024 Annual Report.
