Earticle

This essay explores various aspects of creativity in AI-assisted translation, focusing on how generative AI systems are reshaping long-held assumptions about creative agency and expertise. The discussion is structured around six interrelated themes: (1) whether AI can be regarded as creative in comparison with human beings; (2) whether translation creativity and productivity can coexist under conditions of automation and efficiency-driven workflows; (3) the concepts of “satisficing creativity” and “creative post-editing” as both practical and theoretical responses to AI-mediated translation; (4) two case studies of poetry translation that illustrate the emergence of “co-creativity” through AI-human interaction; (5) the “multi-cycle evolutionary process” through which human translators and AI tools collaborate in accomplishing tasks that require creative solutions; and (6) pedagogical suggestions for addressing creativity and AI literacy in translation courses. These discussions clarify changing modes of creative practice in the AI era and broaden the conceptual scope of creative translation in translation studies.