Balancing Generative AI use in Creative Processes

How Teachers and Students Adopt Emerging Technology in an Educational Context

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) text-to-image generators have quickly become influential in art, design, and media education. While some view it as a fruitful supplement to their creative processes, as it can stimulate idea generation and make image creation quicker and more accessible, others fear that the generators will replace the human creator and eradicate creativity. Furthermore, AI generators are known to reproduce stereotypes, and it can be challenging to control their output. Due to the emergent nature of the technology, there are many studies where the authors themselves or participants have explored using generative technology in specific tasks given by the researchers or in researcher-led educational interventions. Teachers, designers, and artists’ perceptions of text-to-image generators are also well studied, but there is less research on how they actually use generative AI in their everyday professional lives. As the technology now has been in common use for a few years, it is time to explore how early adopters have integrated text-to-image generators in their professional practice. We have conducted semi-structured interviews with teachers in Norwegian upper secondary art, design, and media education, strategically chosen due to their advanced use of generative AI. In the interviews, we have asked how they use the technology in their work, both in educational projects with students and in their professional development. We have also asked them to reflect on how they understand and seek to develop their students’ AI literacy, as well as the technology’s limitations, practical and ethical challenges of educational use of AI. This paper provides insights into how generative AI is used in art, design, and media education, including innovative practices and how the teachers seek to balance its positive and negative aspects in an educational context.