Generative-AI, the media industries, and the disappearance of human creative labour

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article addresses the transformative role of Generative-AI (Gen-AI) in the creative media and arts industries, focusing on concerns about the disappearance of human creative labour. It critically examines the discourse of the 2023 Writers’ and Actors’ strikes, which replicates prevailing assumptions of the superiority of human creativity over Gen-AI. This discourse emphasises a ‘replacing tasks’ model, anticipating a future where AI assists human creatives in a limited capacity. Against this background, the article applies the ‘meaningful work’ framework to provide an approach to human-AI coexistence which values amplifying human creativity rather than merely supplementing (or supplanting) it. This framework is a conceptual shift which more convincingly recognises and values human contributions in the media industries. Drawing on historical parallels, such as the transition to digital visual effects during the production of Jurassic Park (1992), the article demonstrates how transformational technologies can transcend mere task simplification. The article underscores the importance of creative artists actively finding ways to begin clearly articulating the specific details of human creativity that comprise their artistic agency, and therefore the article advocates an approach that theorises the intrinsic value of human contributions to the media industries while accommodating Gen-AI.