Adobe has released its 2026 Creators’ Toolkit Report, finding that the vast majority of creators using creative AI say it has accelerated the growth of their business or audience, and that they consider it as integrated or essential to how they work.
Based a survey of more than 16,000 creators across the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, South Korea, Japan, India and Australia, the report details how creators are using creative AI to grow their businesses, amplify their creativity and stand out in an increasingly competitive content landscape. Adobe’s interpretation of the findings: AI has become essential creative infrastructure for many creators, helping them grow audiences, compete more effectively and unlock opportunities. In addition, notes the company, the survey affirms that, as AI-assisted content becomes widespread, the qualities that help creators stand out — point of view, judgment and taste — are becoming more valuable.
“Adobe’s latest Creators’ Toolkit Report shows creative AI is opening new opportunities for creators and transforming how creative work gets done, but voice, taste and judgment remain what set great creators apart,” said Mike Polner, vice president and head of product marketing for creators at Adobe. “Eighty-seven percent of creators say creative AI has accelerated the growth of their business and follower base. As creative AI becomes more widely adopted, the creators who stand out will be those who use it to amplify their unique point of view. At Adobe, we’re building pro-grade tools that make the power of creative AI accessible to every type of creator while keeping creative decisions firmly in their hands.”
Among the results:
Creative AI is no longer a side experiment.
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- 87% say it has accelerated the growth of their business or follower base.
- 63% say creative AI has made them feel more confident as a creator, more professional in their creative work or more serious about their creative work.
- 75% describe creative AI as integrated or essential to how they work.
- Nearly half (48%) say creative AI makes them feel more secure about their future as a creator.
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When everyone can produce more, and output becomes easier, the advantage shifts from volume to voice, taste and point of view.
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- Among creators who say it’s harder to stand out today than a year ago, 53% point to sheer content volume as the culprit, while 42% say AI-generated content is making it harder for unique voices to stand out.
- 58% say their ability to compete with larger teams or studios feels stronger since using creative AI.
- As more creators use creative AI in their work, 85% believe that the work they create with AI still reflects their unique voice.
- 81% say human judgment remains essential to creative taste.
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93% of creators say creative AI helps them produce content faster, but speed is only part of the story.
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- Faster-to-draft is not the same as ready-to-publish: 57% say their creative AI outputs typically require moderate or extensive editing before they’re ready to share.
- Even so, creative AI is delivering additional value beyond efficiency: 35% say it gives them more freedom to experiment before pitching ideas and 33% say it gives them the confidence to pursue more ambitious ideas and projects.
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The issue of disclosure is unsettled.
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- 85% of creators say audience expectations around disclosure are increasing or holding steady.
- 75% believe their audience can already tell when creative AI was meaningfully involved in their work.
- Creators are still deciding what meaningful disclosure looks like in practice: 49% say they always or often disclose AI use, while 18% say they rarely or never do.
- Ownership is emerging as another important consideration for creators: 90% of creators say it’s important to be able to obtain copyright protection for work created with the assistance of creative AI.
A caveat: creators in the survey are defined as individuals who create and publish digital content several times per month to inform, entertain or engage an audience and generate income across digital platforms, with respondents comprising emerging and professional social-first creators — rather than individuals employed full-time in traditional creative businesses or industry roles.
