AI might be getting impressively good at writing, designing, and even brainstorming. But when it comes to true creativity, humans still have the edge. A new study published in Advanced Science by researchers from the University of Barcelona’s Institute of Neuroscience, along with collaborators from IDIBELL, CVC-UAB, and the Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, argues that AI’s “creativity” isn’t genuine. Instead, it only appears that way on the surface.
The research shows that while generative AI can produce outputs that appear creative, it largely recombines patterns from existing data rather than generating truly original ideas. In fact, it suggests AI struggles with the deeper “thinking process” behind creativity, even if the final output seems impressive. In other words, AI can mimic creativity, but it doesn’t really understand it.
Isn’t AI beating humans in creativity tests?
Yes and no. Large-scale studies comparing AI with over 100,000 human participants found that AI can actually outperform the average person on certain structured creativity tests. But here’s the catch: the most creative humans still consistently outperform AI, often by a significant margin. So while AI raises the baseline of creativity, it still struggles to reach the top tier, where originality, intuition, and unique perspective come into play.
That’s because human creativity is shaped by emotion, experience, context, and personal perspective. Basically, things AI simply doesn’t have. Additionally, AI tends to converge toward familiar patterns. Some research even shows AI-generated content can become repetitive or fall into clichés without human guidance. That’s why AI works best as a creative assistant, helping generate ideas or speed up workflows, and not as a replacement for human imagination.
So… is AI the artist or just the assistant?
This isn’t AI vs humans, but AI with humans. These tools are great at raising the floor, helping anyone come up with solid ideas faster than ever. But the ceiling? That still belongs to people. AI might remix, refine, and accelerate creativity, but that unpredictable spark, the kind that creates something truly original, is still very much a human superpower.