Creative Minds in the Age of AI. Personality Traits, AI Perception, and Creativity Tasks

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative technology, capable of reshaping production processes, professions, and domains traditionally regarded as uniquely human—such as art and creativity. This study examines the relationship between AI, creativity, and personality traits, with the goal of understanding how individual differences influence perceptions, attitudes, and the utilization of AI. A total of 260 participants completed a comprehensive questionnaire assessing AI usage and perception, personality traits, and multiple creativity tasks, including the Divergent Association Task, the Alternative Uses Task, and a constrained narrative task. Our results reveal that creativity increases with reflective, moderate engagement with AI, while both minimal and excessive reliance reduce creative performance. Cluster analysis identifies four distinct attitudinal profiles toward AI—Enthusiasts, Alarmed, Critics, and Cautious—differing in trust, perceived risks, and frequency of use. Openness to Experience and Agreeableness emerge as key traits that predict these profiles - openness is positively associated with the creative and balanced use of AI, whereas high agreeableness correlates with more cautious or risk-averse perceptions. Overall, creativity thrives when curiosity and critical reflection coexist, suggesting that human originality benefits most from mindful, selective interaction with AI rather than from full automation.