The paradox of major AI tools lies in their inability to achieve true creative expansion. Their outputs are merely inferences drawn from data patterns, lacking imagination, awareness, and the capacity for critical self-reflection. Furthermore, relying on them as the sole source of inspiration leads to outputs that are easy to recognize, because everyone is now drawing from the same source.
What creators need to understand well today is the importance of not resisting the tool out of fear alone, but rather using it as a creative partner, while recognizing that AI is capable of enhancing the creative process. Just as social media channels were initially met with resistance before becoming a force that transformed brands, AI today can be understood in the same way, and may well be the next revolutionary game changer.
Professor Karim Jebari of the University of Montreal summarized this equation precisely after a study comparing more than 100,000 humans with AI systems. He said that AI has become an immensely powerful tool in service of human creativity, but it will not replace creators. Instead, it will bring about a profound transformation in how they imagine, explore, and create. Therefore, creativity remains at its core, a human act, one that becomes more advanced when supported by human intelligence through controlled experimentation.
How do you use artificial intelligence in the creative process?
Learn how to tailor your prompts and guide the tool as much as possible, whether in generating creative ideas for visuals or for texts. Also, adopt a conversational approach that looks at things from different angles. Instead of making a direct request such as, “Give me ideas for a sports campaign,” try asking, “Why do people hate sports advertisements?” That is where your role comes in: providing creative direction during the brainstorming session, then making the final decision by selecting and refining the best options.
Suppose you ask ChatGPT for ideas for a marketing campaign. It will generate a list and present results that may not be the best at first, but you can repeat the process by excluding what you do not want, or by expanding on one of the ideas until you reach the result you are looking for.
What kinds of tasks can AI do?
AI can be highly useful in a number of daily creative tasks, especially those that consume time and effort in the early stages. Among the most prominent things it can do are:
- Generating creative ideas for marketing campaigns.
- Suggesting multiple headlines and text formulations.
- Summarizing and organizing information quickly.
- Recommending visual references for designers.
- Preparing initial drafts for content writing.
- Assisting with translation and proofreading.
However, there are also things AI cannot perform with the same level of efficiency as humans. It is not skilled at communicating to fully understand clients’ requirements, nor does it always grasp the appropriate tone or the sensitivity required in certain messages. It may also fail to understand local context, especially in the Saudi market, when it comes to dialect, customs, cultural symbols, and what may or may not be appropriate for the audience.
In addition, current tools still suffer from relative weakness in delivering fully developed Arabic-language models in terms of style, depth, and fluency of expression. More importantly, they do not always guarantee correct information; they may produce answers that sound convincing but are inaccurate. Therefore, its best role remains that of assistance, while the final judgment stays with the creative professional.
Organizations that have adopted AI.
Talk about employing AI in the creative sector is no longer just a global trend detached from local reality. With Saudi Arabia’s announced 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence, and with the Kingdom ranking first in the Arab world in developing AI models, Saudi cultural institutions and creative teams have started to integrate this technology into the heart of their work.
The Saudi Data and AI Authority developed the “ALLaM” model, a large language model that processes Arabic content skillfully while taking local context into account. It has been used in the development of creative writing tools tailored for Saudi creators.
The King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity, “Mawhiba,” also implemented guidelines for the use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney in students’ creative and research projects, encouraging the younger generation to integrate machines into brainstorming stages and prototype development.
Conclusion: The entry of artificial intelligence into the creative field does not replace humans, but rather expands the space of creativity before them. The better a creator uses the tool, the greater their ability to move faster, experiment more, and produce ideas that bear their own signature, not the machine’s.