The Devaluation of Creativity: Why Human Imagination Still Matters in the Age of AI

I’ve been forced to be alone with my thoughts these past few months. I’ve been speaking for a variety of cruise lines, sharing my filmmaking experience, our amazing natural planet, and, most recently, how our country came to be. (Look up General Daniel Morgan and Commodore Joshua Barney—true American heroes.) Since I’m traveling by myself, I spend my free time working on ideas in development and production.

I also think... a lot. Ponder. Ruminate.

Would this be a good idea for a documentary?

What’s a new way to tell this story?

Will Questlove continue to leave me speechless with his enormous talent across so many mediums? (Yes, of course.)

Most thoughts drift into the ethersphere. But one keeps resurfacing: the devaluation of creativity.

I see comments online asking, Why do we need artists anymore when an AI bot can do it for us? Now anyone can create! Not only can anyone with a keyboard create, but they can do so in the positive vacuum of reinforcement from a shamelessly sycophantic bot. You don’t need editors, animators, scriptwriters, illustrators, set designers, costumers, or anyone familiar with a color wheel anymore. Art is just data, organized in a way that supposedly replaces the creative spark.

Do you think I’m exaggerating?

I once heard that a major TV studio was contemplating getting rid of post producers and show editors and replacing them with an assembly line of generic editors because “all of these shows are the same.” Nothing is unique. Nothing is nuanced. Programming widgets.

Why do these tech barons turn their noses up at creativity? Did something bad happen in pottery class?

All kidding aside, it’s hard to quantify something when you only value data. Subscriber numbers. ROI. Unique visitors. Yadda yadda yadda.

If your only measure is data, you miss the things that elevate a creation from a widget to, well, art.

They’re called intangibles.

Take Naked and Afraid. On the surface, it’s a survival show demonstrating what people must do to stay alive in wild, parasite-infested environments. But it’s more than that. It’s a brilliant example of schadenfreude—the German word for deriving enjoyment from the troubles of others. Who recognized that quality? The producers. They understood they had struck gold with a show that elicited a strong emotional response from audiences.

The Traitors? A competition show that taps into our secret mischievous side.Ted Lasso? A sports series about community, compassion, and friendship without clichéd male bravado and testosterone-fueled action.

Huge successes.

Can data tell you these things?

I don’t think so, even if Claude is happy to stroke your ego. I do use AI but not for creativity. I use it as a tool for grammar and SEO optimization. For creativity, I personally look for the intangibles and not a program that is designed to spit out the average.

Intangibles are what make things great, and those intangibles come from human creativity and intuition.

If data provided all the answers, the Oakland A’s would have won the World Series again and again and again.

If data alone were the solution, we wouldn’t have the books, films, music, and art that inspire us every day precisely because they are unique.

Creativity makes us smarter.

It helps us see the world from different perspectives.

It fuels innovation, storytelling, and problem-solving.

And it remains one of the most beautiful things about being human.

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Shannon Malone-deBenedictis is a two-time Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker with over 25 years of experience leading global productions that illuminate the natural world, human resilience, and cultural complexity. Her storytelling spans from the Arctic ice to American wilds, crafting immersive narratives for Disney+, Netflix, National Geographic, and WB-Discovery. As founder of Padlin Creative, she continues to push the boundaries of creativity through public speaking, workshops and impact-driven filmmaking. Learn more at www.padlincreative.com.

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