Creative reflection spaces in human-machine collaboration : cultivating non-cognitive competences in BANI times

In an era defined by rapid technological acceleration and increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in linguistic and communicative domains, the question of how human creativity and reflective capacities intersect with AI becomes central. This contribution explores the role of creative reflection as a methodological and epistemological tool for cultivating non-cognitive competences in applied linguistics contexts. Drawing on interdisciplinary frameworks integrating non-cognitive competences (IDG, 2025; Sunder et al., 2024; OECD, 2019; Gutman et al., 2013; Kusuma et al., 2023), the presentation synthesizes insights from Linda Candy's Creative Reflective Practice (2020)—who further developed the approach of Donald Schön's Reflective Practice (1987/2016)—the multi-perspective view of Creative Agility (ZHAW, 2024/2025), and the transcendent potential of spiritual poetry (Borghoff, 2021; Leopardi et al., 2013; Friedman, 2016; Marcato, 2023; Walker, 2013/2019/2021; Whickman, 2016; Robinson & Cussen, 2022; Spies, 2012; Jastrzñebski, 2023; brückenwege, 2025). First, the study examines how creative approaches to reflection provide applied linguists, translators, educators, and creative content creators with practices, interventions and tools to critically assess their interactions with AI systems. Schön's concept of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action is revisited in light of creative reflective practice according to Candy (2020), human-AI collaboration, emphasizing the dynamic interplay between intuition, problem-framing, and real-time decision-making in AI-mediated workflows. Second, Creative Agility is positioned as a competence framework that enables practitioners to navigate the brittle, anxious, nonlinear and incomprehensible environments created by AI integration in language education, translation technologies, and content creation. Creagile reflection fosters adaptive thinking and empowers linguists to maintain authentic, human-centric communication amidst algorithmic standardization. Third, spiritually inspired poetry is introduced as an innovative lens to explore the often-overlooked transcendent dimensions of reflective creativity. In applied linguistics, spiritual poetic reflection can serve as a meta-cognitive tool that transcends logical reasoning, enabling practitioners to articulate tacit knowledge, emotional depth, and ethical intuition in their engagement with AI systems. The study aligns these creative reflection approaches with the non-cognitive categories of the Inner Development Goals Framework, this is being, relating, collaborating and acting (IDG 2025)—particularly focusing on integrity and authenticity (intra-personal competences), empathy and compassion, communication (inter-personal competences), and creativity (implementation competences) (Neuhold & Borghoff, forthcoming 2025). The findings argue that creative reflection is not only a methodological tool but also a holistic, transformative practice that creatively bridges the human and the technological, fostering resilient and ethically grounded innovating linguistic ecosystems (for ecosystems see e.g. Theodoraki et al., 2022; Theodoraki, 2018; Theodoraki & Messeghem, 2017; Tabas et al., 2025). The presentation concludes with an exploration of how creative reflective practices can be implemented in applied linguistics education, AI-enhanced translation workflows, and content creation strategies. By fostering non-cognitive competences, reflective spaces emerge as vital arenas for preserving human agency, ethical responsibility, and emotional intelligence in AI-mediated linguistic landscapes. This contribution is positioned at the intersection of creativity, technology, and creative reflective praxis, offering actionable insights for linguists, translators, educators, and researchers navigating the complexities of human-machine collaboration.