WP5: AI in the Creative and Cultural Industries

This work package is about AI in the creative industries: music, film, publishing, games, museums and more. Who owns what a machine makes? Who gets paid? Is it fair? We want to find answers that help both the people who make culture and the people who enjoy it.

This work package aims to produce new knowledge, inform policy and governance, and promote responsible, fair and forward-looking uses of AI in cultural life. It brings together research from law, the social sciences, the humanities and the arts, economics, informatics and technology studies, and sustainability research, with the experience of cultural institutions, rights organisations and other partners in the sector.

This WP aims to generate new knowledge, inform policy and governance and promote responsible, equitable and future-oriented uses of AI in cultural contexts. It will do so by integrating perspectives from interdisciplinary research—including law, social sciences, the humanities and the arts, economics, informatics and technology studies, and sustainability research—together with insights from cultural institutions, rights organisations and other sector partners.

Description

AI is changing how culture is made, shared and paid for. It raises hard questions: about copyright, about people’s faces and voices being copied, about jobs and money, about who has power, and about harm from bad data or biased results. At the same time AI can make it easier to track rights, credit the right people and reach new audiences.

We look at four things: the law and who is in charge; money, industry and work; how artists work and how audiences experience culture; and ethics, diversity and the environment.

AI is changing the creative and cultural industries at a structural level. It reshapes how cultural content is produced, distributed, governed and experienced. That raises questions in law, economics, the arts and society. AI tests established rights frameworks and brings new risks of identity misuse. It shifts business models, working conditions and the balance of power. It affects artistic agency and cultural diversity. And it raises safety concerns, from misuse of datasets and harmful output to cultural bias and environmental cost. At the same time it opens the way to more transparent and efficient governance and rights management, better attribution, new ways of engaging audiences, new creative possibilities and more sustainable innovation.

The work package examines these changes across four connected areas: law, rights and governance; economy, industry and labour; artistic practice and audience experience; and ethics, diversity and sustainability.

AI is transforming the creative and cultural industries at a structural level in terms of reshaping how cultural content is produced, distributed, governed and experienced. These developments raise complex questions across legal, economic, artistic and socio-environmental domains: AI challenges established rights frameworks and introduces new risks related to identity misuse; shifts business models, labour practices and power balances; influences artistic agency and cultural diversity; and raises concerns related to safety such as dataset misuse and harmful output, cultural bias and environmental impact. At the same time, AI enables more transparent and efficient governance and rights management, improved attribution, new forms of audience engagements, new creative possibilities and more sustainable forms of innovation.

This work package examines these transformations across four interconnected areas: (1) law, rights and governance; (2) economy, industry and labour; (3) artistic practices and audience experiences; and (4) ethics, diversity and sustainability.

Research Questions

How should laws and rules change to deal with AI that uses people’s work, data and likeness?
How is AI changing how money is made and how people work in the creative industries, and how do we keep it fair?
How is AI changing the way art is made, shown and experienced, and how do we protect variety and quality?
What are the risks to people, cultures and the planet, and how do we use AI responsibly?

RQ5.1 (Law, Rights and Governance): How should laws, regulation and governance develop to handle AI in the creative and cultural sectors? That includes how the systems treat human-made works, personal data and material tied to a person’s identity.
RQ5.2 (Economy, Industry and Labour): How is AI changing economic structures, business models and working life in the creative industries? What is needed for fair distribution of value and a sector that lasts?
RQ5.3 (Artistic Practices and Audience Experiences): How is AI changing artistic practice, cultural production, curation and audience experience across the whole system? How can cultural diversity, creativity and aesthetic integrity be protected?
RQ5.4 (Ethics, Diversity and Sustainability): What ethical, environmental, safety and socio-cultural risks come with AI in the creative and cultural sectors? How can responsible, fair and sustainable practice be built?

RQ5.1 (Law, Rights & Governance): How should legal, regulatory and governance frameworks evolve to address the use and impact of AI systems in the creative and cultural sectors, including their handling of human-created works, personal data, and identity-related materials?
RQ5.2 (Economy, Industry & Labour): How is AI transforming economic structures, business models, and labour dynamics in the creative industries, and what systems are needed to ensure fair value distribution and sustainable industry development?
RQ5.3 (Artistic Practices & Audience Experiences): How is AI reshaping artistic practices, cultural production workflows, curation and audience experiences at a systemic level, and how can cultural diversity, creativity and aesthetic integrity be safeguarded?
RQ5.4 (Ethics, Diversity & Sustainability): What ethical, environmental, safety and socio-cultural risks arise from the use of AI in the creative and cultural sectors, and how can responsible, equitable and sustainable AI practices be developed?

Approaches

Create new knowledge, practical guides and ways of measuring sustainability, so that AI in culture is open, fair and includes everyone.
Explore how AI changes law, money, art, society and the environment, through studies, experiments and practice.
Reflect on who gains power and who loses it, on bias and safety, and on what lasts.

Create new knowledge, practical guidelines, sustainability assessments and supporting frameworks. Together they make open, sustainable, fair and inclusive uses of AI possible in the creative and cultural sectors.
Explore how AI changes legal, economic, creative, societal and environmental conditions, through empirical, experimental and practice-based research.
Reflect critically on what AI means for governance, the economy, the arts and society: shifts in power and in creative agency, cultural bias, safety risks and what can last.

Create new knowledge, practical guidelines, sustainability assessments and supportive frameworks that enable transparent, sustainable, equitable, and inclusive uses of AI within the creative and cultural sectors.
Explore how AI transforms legal, economic, creative, societal and environmental conditions through empirical, experimental and practice-based research.
Reflect critically on the governance, economic, artistic and socio-environmental implications of AI, including power dynamics, shifts in creative agency, cultural biases, safety risks and long-term sustainability issues.

Sustainability

This work helps with two of the United Nations’ goals for a better world. Fair pay and clear rights for people who make culture support good jobs (SDG 8), and finding business models that last supports innovation (SDG 9).

The centre’s other commitments on sustainability, openness and reuse are on the open research page.

This work package contributes to two of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Work on artistic integrity, rights and revenue addresses decent work and economic growth in the creative sector (SDG 8), and the search for sustainable business and rights infrastructures fosters innovation (SDG 9).

The centre’s other commitments on sustainability, openness and reuse are on the open research page.