Dr Leah Henrickson and Dr Luke Zaphir write for Times Higher Education.
Creativity in university classrooms is taking an unexpected hit, and generative AI appears to be part of the reason. In a recent course at the University of Queensland, 150 students submitted creative proposals that all centred on the same four ideas. The wording varied, but the concepts were nearly identical, and surprisingly disconnected from the actual course content. When the lecturers tried the assessment themselves using different AI tools, they instantly saw where the ideas had come from: the systems generated those same four suggestions.
The issue isn’t plagiarism, nor is it students being lazy. Many probably believed they were coming up with something original. But the incident highlights a bigger problem; the way AI tools funnel users toward similar, predictable ideas. While AI can certainly mix, tweak and transform concepts, it often lacks the personal values, risk-taking and imaginative spark that make creativity meaningful. Because most systems are built to be safe, polite and socially acceptable, they tend to steer users away from unconventional or uncomfortable ideas—exactly the space where creative thinking thrives.
University of Queensland lecturers Leah Henrickson and Luke Zaphir argue that creativity matters not just for assignments but for helping students build their identities and confidence. Reaching genuinely new and valuable ideas requires students to sit with uncertainty and explore the unknown, which can feel messy or uncomfortable. AI shouldn’t replace that process; it should support it.
To help, the academics suggest using AI as a creative partner, not a shortcut. They offer prompts that encourage exploration rather than ready-made answers—like asking AI for two unrelated ideas to spark metaphors, requesting a series of “unhinged” what-if questions, or generating absurd constraints that force students to rethink their assumptions. These activities aren’t meant to produce final answers but to help students stretch their imaginations and think in new directions.
The hope is that, instead of hundreds of students submitting the same AI-generated concepts, they’ll use these tools to push their thinking further and shape ideas that truly reflect their own perspectives. After all, creativity isn’t about speeding up the work—it’s about discovering something that feels both new and genuinely yours.
