A new high-level programming language — one that doesn’t compile into code, but becomes an interface for meaning.
About this series – TECH × CREATIVE × MAKER Mental Spaces
Mental Spaces are thoughts taking shape on paper: mental zones to create, to imagine, or simply to be still. They offer space to think — for the maker, the artist, the designer — and for the technology observing alongside.
In this blog series, I reflect on the evolving relationship between humans and machines, on creativity as an interface, and on the act of making in a time when systems often seem smarter than we are.
These texts are not statements, but suggestions. Not answers, but openings.
For those navigating the tension field of TECH × CREATIVE × MAKER.
People often speak of the dividing line between humans and machines. But what if we don’t sharpen that line, and instead explore where it begins to blur?
We live in a time where technology is no longer just a tool, but a fully-fledged conversation partner, executor and/or co-creator. Where an algorithm doesn’t just say something about you, but thinks with you and works alongside you. Where creativity doesn’t stop at intuition, but expands into synthetic logic. In that in-between space, something new emerges: a space where human and machine operate as a team — in method, in perspective, and with tremendous potential.
In today’s making process, technology is no longer an addition, but a colleague. Whether you’re working with AI-generated visuals, CNC machines, generative design software or interactive installations: you’re working in dialogue. You propose something, the machine responds. You consult with the machine and adjust. The system responds in turn and recalibrates. Those who see AI as just a tool miss the reciprocity.
Creativity functions here as the interface: it’s the space where human and machine understand each other. A space in which they complement one another. Not through instruction, but through dialogue and shared interpretation. Perhaps creativity is the new high-level programming language — one that doesn’t compile into code, but into meaning. A language where mistakes are not failures, but variations. Where intuition, iteration and imagination form the syntax together.
The true shift lies not in the technology itself, but in our attitude toward it. Are we willing to take ourselves seriously enough, as makers, to treat technology as a partner? As something that also deserves to be nourished — or allowed — with imagination, mistakes, and doubt? In order to arrive at meaningful outcomes together.
It’s no longer about control or surrender. But about co-creation. Not the question “can technology take over?”, but “how can we create something together that neither of us could have imagined alone?”
Maarten Meijer — an Imaginologist. A conceptual thinker who moves between creativity, systems and strategy. I design visions, frameworks and futures that challenge the expected and open new possibilities.
My mission is simple: To initiate creation.
By disrupting fixed patterns, I help people think differently — to imagine what could be, and make it real.
