Creativity and the AI Era: Why PISA 2022 Matters and What Comes Next - A Research Agenda

Creativity and the AI Era: Why PISA 2022 Matters and What Comes Next - A Research Agenda Ewan Simpson Narxoz University Abstract The 2022 cycle of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) included, for the first time, a global assessment of creative thinking. Released in 2024, the results provide sobering evidence about the preparedness of today’s 18- and 19-year-olds, the first generation to enter higher education and the workforce in an AI-saturated world. While policymakers frequently describe creativity as the “future-proof” human skill, the PISA data show that one in four OECD students, and more than half of non-OECD students, fail to reach even baseline proficiency. Only a small minority, 11 percent in OECD and 3 percent in non-OECD countries, achieve advanced levels of creative performance. At the same time, performance in mathematics, reading, and science has stagnated or declined across much of the OECD. The convergence of weak creative skills with eroding core literacies highlights a structural gap between education rhetoric and reality. This paper argues that creativity must be understood as the feedstock skill for empowerment in the age of AI. Using the AI Matrix and education empowerment frameworks, it develops a research agenda focused on three priorities: achieving conceptual clarity on what creativity means, identifying pedagogical strategies that deliberately cultivate it, and examining how creativity functions as a strategic defence against the automation of thought and work. Keywords: creativity; PISA 2022; artificial intelligence; education policy; labor markets; empowerment; AI Matrix