Agentic Creative Intelligence Designing With AI to Reclaim Human Agency

Introduction.  Part 1: Creative Capabilities in the Agentic Era  1. Extended Engagement: Hands Form the Mind  2. Aesthetic Awareness: When Presence Reveals Clarity  3. Adaptive Coherence: The Thread Through Abundance  4. Expressive Influence: Catalysts of the Social Kind  5. Agentic Creative Intelligence: Creative Convergence  Part 2: Creative Disciplines in a Near-Future  6. The Fine Arts: Image as Witness  7. The Built Arts: Monumental Metabolism  8. The Tangible Arts: Object as Organism  9. The Moving Arts: Fluidity of Time  10. The Sensory Arts: Body of Mind  11. The Playful Arts: Gaming Agency  12. The Performing Arts: Constructing Shared Realities  13. The Reflective Arts: Where Thought Emerges  Part 3: Creative Complexities in Systemic Change  14. Changemakers: Preparing the Terrain  15. Innovators: Augmenting a Maker Community  16. Educators: Growing the Person  17: A Day of Creative Change  Conclusion: The Agentic Creative Path  Epilogue: Toward an Agentic Transhumanism

Biography

Joseph Press is a futurist, educator, and author. Trained as an architect, he embarked on a15+ year career in management consulting and 10+ years in applied foresight, before turning to creative education. He currently leads the Strategy + Management program at the School of Design at Shanghai University of Engineering Science, where he prepares the next generation of design leaders for the agentic era. He previouly held positions at China Academy of Art, Parsons the New School of Design, Politecnico di Milano in both the Management and Design programs. He has co-authored five books on design, digital innovation, and leadership-led transformation.

Yilin Wang is a designer and lecturer at Shanghai University of Engineering Science, where she joined in 2025. She holds a Ph.D. from the College of Design and Innovation at Tongji University and an M.A. from the Royal College of Art. Her work sits at the intersection of creative practice, community engagement and AI. She represents a new generation of Chinese educators and designers committed to shaping more sustainable futures.

“Press and Wang have written ACI the field has been waiting for, one that takes both meaning and machines seriously. Their notion of capability cultivated through resistance is a genuine contribution to how we lead innovation. Read it, then design differently.”

Roberto Verganti, Professor of Leadership and Innovation, Stockholm School of Economics

 

“A rare book that treats the agentic era as an invitation to cultivate human capability rather than surrender it. Press and Wang give practitioners a vocabulary and a practice for staying in the work as the tools grow more capable. This is foresight in its most useful form, turned toward what we can become.”

Bob Johansen, Distinguished Fellow, Institute for the Future

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“A thoughtful, rigorous account of how creative professionals can meet powerful tools without losing themselves. The forecasts are grounded, the scenarios humane, and the philosophy load-bearing. Essential reading for the years ahead.”

Sebastian Shaw, Strategy, Partnerships, and Growth for Enterprise in GenAI and Creative Software, Adobe

 

Additional endorsements (for the online profile)

“I have rarely seen the case for human creativity made with such clarity and such practical force. The dæmon is an idea I expect to borrow for years. Anyone building with AI should read this before their next release.”

Ibrahim Jackson, AI Thought Leadership, Forbes Business Council

 

“Here is a design philosophy for an age that badly needs one. ACI holds Eastern thought and frontier technology in the same hand, and lets each sharpen the other. It belongs in every design school confronting the question of what remains ours to make.”

Lou Yongqi, President, Shanghai University of Engineering Science

 

“Equal parts argument and toolkit, this book reframes the conversation about AI and creativity. Its insistence on embodied practice is both timely and quietly radical. I finished it wanting to make something with my hands.”

Richard Hsu, Founder and Curator, TEDxShanghai

 

“The authors recover ideas from the Chinese tradition as working instruments, not decoration. The result is a book that thinks across cultures as naturally as it thinks across disciplines. I will return to it often.”

Dajuin Yao, Professor, School of Inter-Media Art, China Academy of Art

 

“A clear-eyed map for practitioners who refuse the false choice between embracing AI and protecting their craft. The dæmon reframes the tool as a partner in development rather than a replacement. Practical, original, and deeply humane.”

Greg Demchak, Senior Director, Digital Innovation Lab, Bentley Systems

 

“An elegant synthesis of philosophy, neuroscience, and design practice. The writing is precise and the argument generous, leaving the reader with agency rather than anxiety. A vital contribution to the creative professions.”

Chantal Matar, Architect and Generative Designer, Studio Chantal Matar

 

“Few books about AI manage to be both rigorous and moving. This one earns its hope by grounding every claim in practice and evidence. It will reward anyone who creates for a living.”

Itay Schiff, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Figma Weave

 

“A bracing, generous book that refuses both the hype and the despair around AI. It hands creative professionals something rare, a practice for growing stronger as the tools grow more capable. I will be recommending it widely.”

Olivier Marin, Program Head, Humans+Machines, Shanghai University of Engineering Science