What We Risk Losing When Creating Gets Easy: Friction, Judgment, and Critical Reflective Practice with Generative AI in Creative Work
arXiv:2608.07506
Abstract
GenAI in creative practice can help narrow the gap between intention and output, but in so doing changes the very nature of that creative process. In this position paper, we argue that the friction of making is not overhead to be removed, but essential to creative work: the resistance through which judgment is built and refined. Rejecting both outright refusal and uncritical adoption, we call for critical reflective practice: the deliberate, ongoing, and situated weighing of when to use or refuse GenAI in creative work, treating the formation of judgment as an epistemic virtue that design and pedagogy should (continue to) uphold. Two voices, the GenAI Skeptic and GenAI Enthusiast, drawn from our professional and personal experiences, argue with each other and with us throughout. We close with open questions for researchers, educators, and practitioners navigating the grey areas of GenAI in creative practice.
Accepted to the Reflection in Creative Experience (RiCE) Workshop, Creativity & Cognition 2026, London, UK