What is the Creative Value of AI Hallucinations? Insights from Generative AI use in Educational Contexts

As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) systems become increasingly incorporated into creative processes, they present both opportunities and challenges in terms of redefining creativity. This article provides a perspective on the dual nature of AI hallucinations from a divergent thinking perspective where GenAI creates something unexpected when given a prompt, and examines its role as both a facilitator and an inhibitor of the creative process. Although AI hallucinations can yield new ideas and break from established patterns of thinking to generate creativity, they can also create a dependency which could result in the stalling of creative output. This study uses a qualitative research approach based on the experiences of master’s students who incorporate GenAI and engage with it in their creative work. The findings from the study reveal a relationship between divergent thinking and AI-generated responses, showing GenAI can work both as a collaborator and a disruptor in the creative context. In addressing the duality of hallucinations produced by AI, this research contributes to the larger dialogue surrounding the changing relationship between AI and creativity, highlighting ways in which AI might both promote and disrupt human creativity.