The Impact of AI on Students' Creative Thinking: FLDM as a Case Study

Abstract

Nowadays, it is more evident than ever before that soft skills are a predisposition for graduates to smoothly settle in and excel in the workplace. Soft skills involve a multitude of skills, one of which is creative thinking. This parallels with incredibly unprecedented technological innovation (AI), redefining the skills needed in the twenty-first century and their development. Within this realm, the primary aim of this paper is to explore students’ perceptions of harnessing the power of artificial intelligence for creative thinking development. To do so, this study utilizes a qualitative research design to capture a holistic view and in-depth understanding of the topic under scrutiny. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis, which allowed for the identification of themes and subthemes based on students' perceptions. The present study revealed that AI does impact creative thinking development at the investigated levels, namely ideation, elaboration, and originality. However, the participants expressed some concerns regarding the potential side effects of AI, particularly when misused. These findings can inform AI-related interventions, which seek to use AI for soft skills development, in higher education. Besides, unveiling students’ perceptions of AI use for creative thinking development would inarguably offer critical insights for educators and decision-makers.