A page filled with abstract shapes can spark wildly different ideas depending on who is looking at it. For one person, a curve becomes a bird in flight. Another person sees it turn into something mechanical. For a generative AI system, that same shape may lead nowhere at all. That contrast sits at the center of a new study examining whether artificial intelligence can truly be creative, or whether it only appears that way. The research, led by scientists at the University of Barcelona and published in the journal Advanced Science, didn’t test whether AI could generate a convincing painting or mimic a famous style. It asked something harder: can AI produce genuinely original visual ideas on its own, without being told what to think? The short answer is no. Not yet. Not even close. From left to right, Silvia Rondini, Xim Cerdá-Company, Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells, Claudia Álvarez, Olivier Penacchio and Dan Dediu. (CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA What the Study Actually Tested The team used a standardized tool called the Test of Creative Imagery Abilities, which …