The year 2025 has quietly become the year artificial intelligence embedded itself into everyday life. No longer a futuristic concept or a tech-world obsession, AI now operates in the background—suggesting outfits, drafting emails, resolving workplace dilemmas and even shaping how people present themselves on dating apps. Without much resistance, many of us have begun handing over small but constant decisions to machines, hoping to reduce stress and mental clutter.
Over the past year, AI has appeared across stories on culture and living, often without being the central subject. There were bots designed to make people sound sharper and more charming online, digital assistants employed to organise the wardrobes of the wealthy, and AI companions that began as casual conversation but gradually created emotional dependence, especially among teenagers. Some platforms promised playful services like fortune-telling, while others ventured into ethically grey territory by offering people the chance to digitally “revive” deceased loved ones for brief interactions.
In daily life, AI now acts as a personal assistant for the ordinary. It softens the tone of emails, helps navigate awkward office situations, turns leftover ingredients into meals and plays stylist on rushed mornings. Each individual use feels helpful, even harmless. Together, they raise an important question: what happens to everyday creativity when instinctive choices—once shaped by trial, error and imagination—are increasingly outsourced?
Handing over decisions can undoubtedly feel liberating. Fewer choices can mean less anxiety and more time. But dependence carries its own cost. Creativity thrives in uncertainty, in the space where people experiment, make mistakes and arrive at ideas slowly. When algorithms provide quick, polished answers, that process risks being shortened—or bypassed altogether.
This is not a rejection of AI’s potential. Its ability to expand creative possibilities is undeniable. Used thoughtfully, it can free people from routine tasks and open space for deeper, more meaningful work. But that promise holds only if humans remain in control. Understanding how these tools influence thinking, choice and behaviour is essential if they are to be used responsibly.
Questions around creativity and human agency continue to shape cultural conversations. At the International Film Festival of Kerala, love stories reminded audiences of emotions that resist automation. In Mumbai, the Aarey Music Festival reconnected visitors with nature through sound and space. Meanwhile, the Mahindra Kabira Festival in Varanasi brought the teachings of the 15th-century mystic Kabir to life through music and reflection, offering timeless insights into humanity.
As AI becomes inseparable from modern life, the challenge is not to reject it or surrender to it, but to use it deliberately—embracing its strengths without losing imagination, judgement and human agency.
(By arrangement with livemint.com)
