The Impact of Interacting with Generative Artificial Intelligence on College Students' Creativity Performance

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of generative artificial
intelligence (GAI) on college students' creativity
performance in the PISA 2022 Creative Thinking Test,
focusing on the differences in performance on the
dimensions of generating diverse ideas (GI), evaluating and
improving existing ideas (EI), and generating creative
ideas (GC).A sample of 14 students from a university in
South China was selected for the study, and by comparing
their scores on the same PISA questions independently
versus collaboratively with the help of GAI, it was found
that GAI significantly improved students' performance on
the EI dimension, while it did not have a significant
effect on the GI and GC dimensions. Further case studies
showed that students' interactions with GAI in the EI
dimension were more likely to result in deeper cognitive
discussions that effectively optimised existing ideas,
whereas in the GI and GC dimensions, GAI's support for
original and out-of-the-box thinking was more limited due
to the limitations of GAI's modelled output and the
constraints imposed by the nature of the task. This study
reveals the strengths of GAI in supporting assessment and
improvement skills, and also points out its shortcomings in
promoting divergent thinking and creative expression, which
provides some references for the research on generative AI
assisting students to enhance their creativity.