Mapping artificial intelligence research in the cultural and creative industries: A systematic bibliometric review

Artificial intelligence is reshaping creativity, labor, and authorship in the cultural and creative industries (CCIs), yet management and innovation scholarship on this transformation remains fragmented and theoretically underdeveloped. This bibliometric review addresses two interrelated gaps and maps the intellectual structure and thematic evolution of AI research in CCIs from a management and innovation perspective. Empirically, prior reviews focus on technical performance or ethical issues without integrating organizational perspectives. Conceptually, research on creativity, authorship, labor, and ethics remains fragmented and lacks frameworks linking technological capabilities to organizational and cultural implications. Following PRISMA 2020, 135 peer-reviewed journal articles from Scopus and Web of Science (2014-2025) were analyzed using performance analysis, science-mapping techniques, and text-mining-assisted content analysis. Five major clusters were identified: Art and Digital Creativity, Technology and Innovation, Creative Industries Practice, Legal and Intellectual Property, and Cultural Heritage. Output increased sharply, with more than half of the articles published in 2025. Art and Digital Creativity dominates the field, Legal and Intellectual Property shows disproportionate influence, and Cultural Heritage remains underexamined. Bibliographic coupling of 75 connected papers yielded 24 subclusters, indicating conceptual fragmentation and limited theoretical integration. Current scholarship draws heavily on copyright economics and deep learning foundations of generative AI, but remains weakly connected to organizational aesthetics, reflexivity, and identity theory. This review consolidates the knowledge base and provides a roadmap for future research on human-AI co-creativity, ethical governance, and aesthetic labor transformation. • First bibliometric map of AI research across cultural and creative industries. • 135 peer-reviewed articles analyzed from 2014 to 2025. • 52% of publications appeared in 2025, showing reactive scholarship. • 24 clusters across 75 connected papers reveal strong fragmentation. • Research agenda links artistic, legal, organizational, and ethical issues.