[Media Alert] Inaugural Adobe Creators' Toolkit Report: 86 Percent of Global Creators Use Creative Generative AI, See it Boosting Creator Economy

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — October 28, 2025 — Today at Adobe MAX, the world’s creativity conference, Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) released the findings of its inaugural Creators’ Toolkit Report, a global study exploring how content creators are integrating creative generative AI and mobile tools in their workflows, and what they expect from the next generation of AI, including agentic AI. Creative generative AI refers to models specifically designed to support creative expression—helping creators ideate, generate, and edit content such as images, video, audio, and design. The report surveyed over 16,000 creators across the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, South Korea, Japan, India, and Australia to uncover the mindsets, behaviors, and expectations shaping the future of creative work and creator economy.

“Creators today aren’t passively using creative generative AI, they’re intentionally curating the tools they trust,” said Mike Polner, Vice President & Head of Product Marketing for Creators at Adobe. “The results of our global Creators’ Toolkit Report are staggering: 76 percent of creators say creative generative AI is positively shaping the creator economy, helping them reach new audiences, scale their businesses, and amplify their creative expression. That’s exactly what we’re building at Adobe, AI tools grounded in flexibility, control, and trust, where creative decisions remain firmly in the creators’ hands.”

KEY FINDINGS

From Experiment to Essential: Creative Generative AI Is Powering the Creator Economy

What began as a creative experiment has gone mainstream for creators everywhere. Creative generative AI is now deeply embedded in creators' workflows, helping them ideate, improve quality, and unlock new creative possibilities that help them stand out.

• 76 percent report it has accelerated the growth of their business or follower base
• 81 percent say it helps them create content they otherwise couldn't have made
• 85 percent believe it has positively impacted the creator economy

With 86 percent of creators now actively using creative generative AI, it’s no longer confined to a single task, it’s integrated across their workflow.

• Top uses of creative generative AI include editing, upscaling, and enhancement (55 percent); generating new assets like images and video (52 percent), and ideation and brainstorming (48 percent).
• Creators aren't putting all their eggs in one basket: 60 percent of creators report using more than one creative generative AI tool in the past three months to improve output quality, experiment with different capabilities and match the right tool to the right task.

Creators Are Actively Exploring New Creative Generative AI Tools But Trust and Transparency Remain Essential

• 69 percent of creators are concerned about their content being used to train AI without permission.
• Creators are actively scouting and testing new creative generative AI tools through personal research (58 percent), social media trends (57 percent), and recommendations from other creators (41 percent).
• But not every AI tool makes the cut. Top barriers to adoption: high cost (38 percent), unreliable output quality (34 percent), and uncertainty about how the AI model was trained (28 percent).

Agentic AI: Creators Want Speed and Creative Control

Agentic AI is emerging as the next major leap—AI tools that proactively assist, suggest, and take multi-step actions on a user’s behalf. Creators are intrigued by its potential to accelerate creative workflows, but they’re clear on the boundaries: they want a human-in-the-loop experience where AI speeds up the process, but creative control stays firmly in their hands.

• 70 percent of creators are optimistic or excited about the potential of agentic AI.
• 85 percent would consider using AI that learns their creative style
• Top desired use cases: automating repetitive tasks (51 percent), brainstorming content ideas (50 percent), and surfacing content performance insights (44 percent).

The Mobile Device Is Now The Creative Studio

Mobile tools are no longer just for quick captures and edits—they're now the creative starting and end point for many creators. From planning to capturing to editing to publishing, creators are using their mobile devices as full-fledged production studios.

• 72 percent of creators say they frequently create content on mobile today.
• As mobile tools grow more powerful and intuitive, 75 percent of creators expect to produce more content on mobile in the next year.

Methodology: Adobe partnered with The Harris Poll to survey over 16,000 content creators across the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, South Korea, Japan, India, and Australia in September 2025. For this study, creators were defined as individuals who create and publish digital content at least a few times per month with the intent to inform, entertain, or engage an audience on social platforms. The survey focused on emerging and semi-professional creators—predominantly Gen Z and Millennials—rather than those working full-time as creative professionals or in formal creative industry roles.