Creative Labour and Artificial Intelligence: A Typology of Asymmetrical Relations

We believe that the benefits and harms of AI in the content and conditions of creative labour are not evenly distributed across the cultural industries and between cultural workers. In light of this, this article proposes a conceptual typology that allows for a more granular and nuanced analysis of the asymmetrical impact of AI in creative labour. To do so, this article develops a threefold conceptualization of contractual relations, forms of automation, and workflows. Regarding contractual relations, we differentiate between formal, informal, and platform-mediated creative labour. In forms of automation, we identify four dominant uses: automation as replacement, automation as augmentation, human-extended automation, and control. Finally, we define three types of workflows: artisanal, industrial, and informational. This typology is guided by the concept of distributed agency. As such, we attempt to overcome the dichotomic opposition between agency and control that characterises much of the research that examines the relationship between digital technologies and creative labour. Instead, we acknowledge that agency is distributed between practices, artifacts and social structures, and that this distribution is not evenly negotiated. Furthermore, the proposed conceptual typology can be operationalized for empirical research and we hope it will prove useful to better capture the conditions under which AI is shaping creative labour under late capitalism.