Staying creative in an Al-dominated world

Creativity is deeply tied to our sense of selfworth and emotional well-being. Mint explores ways to stay inspired at a time when Al is the norm

- Divya Naik

AI may be able to generate content quickly, but it cannot infuse art with a personal perspective or emotional heft

Nay Pantojee, 36, a Mumbai-based creative designer, remembers the first time AI threatened his sense of creative worth. A client had approached him with a branding project—something that would usually involve hours of brainstorming, sketching, and refining ideas. But this time, the client had already generated a dozen AI-created logos in seconds. "Can you just tweak one of these?" the client had asked, almost as an afterthought. Pantojee was stunned. Was this what creativity had come to? Years of honing his craft, studying typography, color psychology, and branding strategy—was it all being reduced to clicking a few buttons on an AI-powered platform? "At that moment, I felt like my work, my originality, was disposable," he recalls. "If a machine could do in seconds what took me years to master, what was left for me?"

This existential crisis isn't unique to Pantojee. Across creative fields, professionals are questioning their relevance in a world where AI-generated content is rapidly becoming the norm. Beyond career anxieties, this shift is affecting something deeper—self-worth, mental well-being, and the very essence of personal expression.

IS CREATIVITY REPLACEABLE?