While the uses of generative artificial intelligence (AI) are vast, one capability it lacks is true creativity. This requires originality and surprise, neither of which is possible without the human process. Yet students and others increasingly rely on AI, so it seems likely to shape public discourse as well as everyday life. Social-media groupthink and insular academic communities have already narrowed the range of intellectual discourse. AI stands to exacerbate the trend, filtering out unconventional prose and content in languages and dialects that are not widely spoken. Yet AI companies have limited motivation to enlighten consumers about its shortcomings. As with other sweeping technological innovations, complacency and overreliance on AI appears inevitable absent intervention. Without proper guidelines, AI could distil writing and idea formulation into a few predicted outcomes and extinguish true creative thought.