<p>The use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) demonstrates considerable potential for fostering creativity; however, the associations between GenAI use and everyday creativity, along with the potential pathways linking them, remain underexplored, particularly from college students’ perspectives. Drawing on social cognitive theory, the study employed a mixed-methods approach integrating partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), to examine the pathways and configurations associated with high everyday creativity, based on a sample of 634 college students. The PLS-SEM results showed that GenAI use was not directly associated with everyday creativity but was indirectly linked through creative self-efficacy and creative process engagement, both independently and sequentially. The fsQCA results for the full sample further revealed two equifinal pathways associated with high everyday creativity, with creative process engagement emerging as a core condition across configurations. Discipline-based subsample analyses suggested that the role of GenAI use was contingent on disciplinary contexts: High everyday creativity among STEM students could emerge even without GenAI use when creative process engagement was present, whereas GenAI use played a more salient role for non-STEM students. These findings highlight the central role of creative process engagement in AI-assisted everyday creativity and suggest that the value of GenAI use is conditional rather than universal, providing educational insights into nurturing future creative talents for the GenAI era.</p>