{
  "id": 72082,
  "title": "How to use AI to boost your creativity",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/03/how-to-use-ai-to-boost-your-creativity",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-03T05:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91580226/how-to-use-ai-to-boost-your-creativity"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the realm of work life, creative thinking is often overshadowed by the need for experience. The more experience one accumulates, the more readily they can solve problems due to prior encounter. However, this does not equate to true creativity. Creative problem solving comes into play when confronted with novel situations that don't trigger any familiar solutions. A practical first step in tackling this issue is to seek assistance from a more experienced colleague who might possess the missing knowledge. If everyone around is stuck, it's time to delve into creativity. As stated in \"Smart Thinking\", a key to fostering creativity lies in discovering an analogy for the current problem, which can provide valuable insights on how to address it. This is where artificial intelligence (AI) steps in to aid.\n\nTo leverage AI for boosting creativity, start by distilling the problem at hand. Leveraging a Large Language Model (LLM) like Claude, the first task is to deconstruct the problem into its core essence. Analogies are notoriously difficult to conjure due to the abundance of specific details related to the problem. These specifics often lead to a continuous cycle of drawing parallels with other known instances, making it challenging to shift focus. By stripping the problem down to its abstract form, free from the specifics of objects, people, and elements involved, a clearer path to finding an analogy emerges. For instance, while developing a weed killer, rather than focusing on killing the weeds specifically, one could concentrate on the concept of selective destruction, meaning elimination of only the weeds and not the surrounding plants. Presenting this abstract problem to the LLM and encouraging it to question and refine your description can lead to a satisfactory formulation.\n\nOnce a promising abstract description is reached, the next step involves brainstorming analogies. Analogies, in this context, serve as potential solutions or insights to the problem at hand. Returning to the weed killer example, one might draw a parallel between weed killers and oncology drugs, which are designed to target specific cells without harming the surrounding healthy tissue. Engaging in dialogue with the LLM about these analogies can yield valuable insights, and the LLM may suggest further analogies or even look up related articles to deepen understanding.\n\nIf no satisfactory solution has been found yet, the LLM can be prompted to generate additional analogies from the new domain. Each suggestion can be subjected to the same scrutiny, with the user exploring the implications of the analogy on the problem. By using AI in this manner, two significant benefits accrue. Firstly, AI provides a structured approach to finding and applying analogies, a critical tool in creative problem solving. Secondly, engaging with the AI model serves as a practice for one's own creative skills. The more an individual interacts with the LLM as a supportive tool, the better they become at generating analogies independently. The ultimate aim is to use AI not merely as a problem-solver, but as a partner in the development of more sophisticated thinking techniques. This approach benefits both the quality of the feedback received from the AI and the enhancement of the user's creative capabilities.",
  "summary": "Most of work life doesn’t involve that much creativity. Instead, it involves experience. The more that you have seen before, the more likely it is that you will have a ready solution for something that comes up at work, because you have previous experience to draw on. That is effective, but it isn’t really that creative. Creative problem solving is needed when the situation doesn’t remind you of…",
  "key_points": [
    "Strip problem to abstract form to find analogies",
    "Use LLM like Claude to deconstruct and refine problem",
    "Engage AI to generate and refine analogies for solutions"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}