AI with creative fidelity
By Trudi Barrow
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Keeping Creativity Human
Keeping Creativity Human
In design and technology education, there is growing excitement about what artificial intelligence can do. It can generate concept sketches, visualise prototypes, and offer design suggestions in seconds. Yet the essence of creativity has never been about speed or convenience. It has always been about exploration, meaning, and human connection.
As educators, we are responsible for ensuring that AI supports and extends those human qualities rather than replacing them.
What does 'creative fidelity' mean?
What does 'creative fidelity' mean?
Creative fidelity is about protecting the integrity of human creativity when using AI. It means ensuring that the human designer or design student remains in control of the creative process and that they are still the one making the decisions, interpreting the context, and defining the purpose behind their work.
When learners use AI, it should be as a means to enhance their thinking, not shortcut it. We should encourage them to question what the AI produces, to critique its outcomes, and to reflect on whether the results align with their intent. Creative fidelity reminds us that tools should serve thinking, not replace it.
Exploring Fidelity in Practice
Exploring Fidelity in Practice
Fidelity is crucial when using AI for creative purposes. I have been exploring various tools, and one of my favourites is NewArc, which excels in maintaining attention to the original sketch and prompt. Recently, I have been experimenting with their new model to enhance some thumbnail sketches I rediscovered from an old sketchbook.
These sketches, measuring only three to five centimetres in height, were created during a quick-fire costume design activity. Although they are very rough, the ideas are clear and can be communicated accurately through NewArc. (Free for education, by the way.)
Fidelity to the original concept and idea is essential when using AI tools within a creative process. The power and ownership of creativity must remain with the human; AI should serve as a support mechanism, helping to communicate and realise the vision.
AI does not diminish creativity if it is used thoughtfully and with fidelity.
The right tool must be chosen for the right task.
Without clear direction,AI can produce 'slop' – it needs to be steered, guided, and harnessed by the strength of our own imagination.
The Role of the Designer in the Age of AI
The Role of the Designer in the Age of AI
A designer brings understanding, sensitivity, and intent to every project. They make choices informed by materials, sustainability, and user needs. They interpret a brief, explore possibilities, and apply their own unique personal and cultural values. AI can generate outputs it struggles to determine what is appropriate, ethical, or meaningful.
In the classroom, this distinction is essential. When students experiment with AI image generation, product simulation, or data-driven design, they need opportunities to analyse the process as well as the product. What does the AI prioritise? What assumptions does it make? How might bias or lack of context affect the outcome? These questions are vital if we are to help young people develop as thoughtful and responsible designers.
Choosing Tools with Integrity
Choosing Tools with Integrity
If AI is to support learning, the tools we select must preserve opportunities for critical and creative decision-making. A good question to ask is whether the tool makes the design process transparent. Does it allow learners to control the parameters and understand how outcomes are produced? Does it invite reflection and iteration?
Tools that enable students to experiment, question, and refine their ideas will always be more educationally valuable than those that present a polished, automated result. Be wary of tools that 'fix' flaws in designs, over correct a-symmetrical shapes and homogenise outputs.
Used well, AI can act as a creative companion. It can spark ideas, suggest materials, or help visualise multiple solutions quickly. For learners who struggle with drawing or presentation, it can open new ways to communicate ideas. The key is that AI should support their thinking, not substitute for it.
In this sense, AI becomes a partner in learning: a tool that encourages exploration while leaving ownership with the learner. Teachers can model this by discussing how they use AI in their own work, as an aid to research, reflection, or inspiration, rather than as an answer machine.
Preserving Creative Fidelity in Education
Preserving Creative Fidelity in Education
Maintaining creative fidelity in design education is not just about tool choice. It is also about pedagogy. Teachers need to frame AI use within discussions about authorship, bias, and ethics. Students should be encouraged to document their decision-making, showing how they have used AI to test ideas and then developed their own responses.
By making the thinking process visible, we help students recognise the value of their creative judgement. This reinforces the idea that creativity is not defined by output alone, but by intent and reasoning — qualities that remain uniquely human.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the tools of design, but it does not redefine what creativity means. Our responsibility as educators is to ensure that the human element remains central. Creative fidelity is a reminder that the purpose of design education is not to produce perfect images or prototypes, but to nurture critical, reflective, and inventive thinkers.
When AI is used thoughtfully, to amplify creativity rather than automate it, it becomes a powerful ally in helping students understand not just how to make, but why to make.
Bringing some costume designs to life with render and animation tools
Safety and Responsibility
Safety and Responsibility
It is important to remember that safety in design education is not just about physical materials or equipment, but also about digital practice. Every AI tool, no matter how impressive, must be treated with the same caution we apply to any new technology in schools.
Before introducing an AI platform to students, check that it aligns with your school or trust’s AI policy and has been approved by your AI lead or data protection officer. Tools should comply with the Department for Education’s (DfE) product expectations, particularly regarding data privacy, transparency, and age-appropriate use.
Teachers should ensure that no personal data, photographs, or identifiable student work are uploaded to platforms without consent and that all AI interactions take place within a controlled, compliant environment. In other words, the creative process should always be safe, secure, and accountable.
AI is powerful, but it is still a tool - and tools must be selected, managed, and supervised with the same professional rigour as any other classroom resource.
CLEAPSS will releasing guidance on how best to select AI tools for the subjects we cover over coming months. I have also been part of the team that wrote the support materials for using AI in educational settings released by the DfE earlier this year. To see the materials click below.
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