Asked & Answered: How Creative Teams Are Navigating AI

Updated: June 24, 2025

In one of our most popular recent episodes, we explored how AI is changing the way we design, collaborate, and tell stories. We had so many thoughtful questions from our podcast audience that our guests—Matthieu Lorrain (Creative Lead, Google DeepMind) and Savannah Kunovsky (Managing Director, IDEO’s Emerging Tech Lab)—graciously agreed to share more insights with us.

In this special Ask and Answered edition of the Creative Confidence Podcast, Matthieu and Savannah respond to questions from the IDEO U community. From co-design and accessibility to storytelling frameworks and nature as a collaborator, they offer insights into how AI is shaping the next era of creativity.

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How is AI enhancing collaborative brainstorming and co-design?

How do we make sure personalized content challenges us, instead of reinforcing our biases?

How can AI benefit accessibility and neurodiverse communities?

How can nature be a co-creator in generative systems?

How is AI enhancing collaborative brainstorming and co-design?

AI is enhancing brainstorming by helping teams move faster, prototype ideas in real time, and generate unexpected creative input. Here's how Savannah and Matthieu are seeing it used in practice:

Savannah shared a story from IDEO, where a designer used AI tools to personalize toy prototypes in real time with kids during research sessions. They generated videos and scripts mid-session using ChatGPT, Runway, and ElevenLabs helping kids see their ideas come to life instantly.

Matthieu added that AI can also serve as a structure for critique and divergence. He uses frameworks like the Six Thinking Hats and the Hero’s Journey not just to guide ideas, but to run them through multiple lenses using AI.

Instead of relying on AI for ideas, use it to interrogate and stretch the ones you already have.

Try This: Instead of a prompt, give AI a method, like “take this idea and apply the Hero’s Journey structure to it.” It won’t give you “the answer,” but it can unlock a new way of seeing your idea.

How do we make sure personalized content challenges us, instead of reinforcing our biases?

One of the most resonant concepts from the first episode was “liquid content”; content that dynamically reshapes itself based on context or audience input. But this raised an important question: If content adapts to our preferences, how do we avoid just reinforcing confirmation bias?

Matthieu shared his experience experimenting with interactive video and VR, where giving viewers control often reduced engagement. Sometimes people want to be guided instead of choosing their own adventure.

Matt and Savannah agreed: personalization has limits. In their view, the best creative systems still offer structure. Think of it like game design—the creator builds the world, but the player explores within it.

“ Not all content should be personalized. The creator still needs to define the world..”
Matthieu Lorrain, Creative Lead for AI and Creativity at Google DeepMind

Savannah also noted the potential for smarter systems to nudge us out of our content bubbles, instead of feeding us more of what we already like. Matt suggested we introduce “chaos” as a creative parameter, ensuring that AI doesn’t just reinforce biases but actually stretches what we see and imagine.

Try This: When designing adaptive content, ask: Where could I intentionally introduce “chaos” or friction to surprise or stretch the audience?

How can AI benefit accessibility and neurodiverse communities?

Can AI improve accessibility for neurodivergent people? The answer was a clear yes.

Matt described a future of emotional design, where systems adapt to a person’s cognitive and emotional state, just as a thoughtful teammate would. Rather than creating a single universal interface, AI can help tailor experiences based on how someone processes information, reacts to stimuli, or engages with a task.

Savannah reflected on a past IDEO project designing radically accessible voting booths, which worked even for people who could only interact with a breath tube. The lesson? Designing for inclusion isn’t a constraint. It’s a catalyst for better systems.

Try This: In your next prototype, ask: What new sensory or emotional signals could this experience respond to? How might that increase inclusion?

How can nature be a co-creator in generative systems?

One of the most thought-provoking questions came from Cecilia, who asked: How can nature be a co-creator in the evolution of AI-generated content?

Savannah shared a powerful example: a friend who’s building a way to tag nature as an artist on Spotify. When people stream that music, part of the royalties go to environmental causes. It’s a small shift with big implications, reframing nature as a stakeholder, not just a subject. It’s a take on creative ownership that could inspire new economic and ethical models.

Matt pointed to DeepMind’s research into decoding dolphin communication using AI, and recalled an art installation that adapted its visuals based on environmental cues like nearby water. With AI, he said, we can begin designing with nature as context, inspiration, and even collaborator.

Try This: Think beyond human-centered design. How might your product or service recognize environmental signals, or even direct resources back to ecosystems?

Missed the First Episode?

These four questions came directly from our community’s response to the original episode with Savannah and Matthieu on AI and Creativity in the Age of Emerging Tools.

In that conversation, they explored how AI is becoming a collaborator in the creative process—augmenting how we tell stories, iterate on ideas, and work together across teams. It set the stage for everything you read here.

If you haven’t listened yet, we highly recommend it.