The association between perceived usefulness of AI-generated art tools and self-reported creative design performance:...

The rapid expansion of AI-generated art tools has transformed creative production, yet its psychological mechanisms in shaping design outcomes remain underexplored. This study examines the associations between perceived usefulness of AI-generated art tools and self-reported creative design performance through three parallel mediating pathways: artistic perception, cognitive engagement, and aesthetic judgment.

Guided by aesthetic processing and cognitive engagement theories, a questionnaire survey was administered to Chinese university students enrolled in design-related programs, generating 387 valid responses. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The results show that perceived usefulness of AI-generated art tools is positively associated with all three mediators, each of which is positively associated with self-reported creative design outcomes. Cognitive engagement emerged as the strongest mediator, followed by aesthetic judgment and artistic perception. A significant direct effect also remained, indicating partial mediation. The overall model explained 53.2 percent of the variance in self-reported creative design performance, demonstrating both strong explanatory power and meaningful predictive relevance.

These findings highlight the multifaceted ways in which perceived usefulness of AI-generated art tools is associated with the perceptual, cognitive, and evaluative processes that underpin creative design, offering valuable implications for design education, digital creativity research, and the integration of AI tools in creative industries.