Abstract
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has transformed higher education by expanding opportunities for personalized learning, creative exploration, and digital innovation. Despite growing interest in AI in education, limited research has examined its role as a pedagogical tool for developing students’ creative thinking, particularly within creative disciplines and in emerging educational contexts. This study investigates the impact of generative artificial intelligence tools on the development of creative thinking among students of creative specialties in higher education institutions in Kazakhstan. Drawing on theories of divergent thinking and creativity, the research adopts a mixed-methods design integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches to examine how AI-supported learning influences students’ fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration of ideas. The study involved the use of generative AI tools, including ChatGPT, Midjourney, DALL-E, and AIVA within the educational process of students in creative disciplines. The findings demonstrate positive changes in key dimensions of creative thinking, particularly in idea fluency, cognitive flexibility, and originality, when AI tools are integrated with structured pedagogical guidance and reflective learning activities. At the same time, the results indicate that the effectiveness of AI depends on meaningful pedagogical mediation, as unstructured use may encourage superficial creative engagement. The study contributes to the literature by positioning artificial intelligence not merely as a technological innovation but as a cognitive and pedagogical partner that can support the development of higher-order creative competencies. Furthermore, the research expands empirical understanding of AI integration in the context of Kazakhstan’s higher education system and provides practical implications for the design of AI-supported creative learning environments in developing educational systems.