Research Brief

Generative AI and the media and culture industry

The brief explores the transformative impact of Generative AI (GenAI) on the media and culture industry, analyzing its effects on job exposure, skills demand, and employment conditions. It highlights the need for policy frameworks, ethical AI governance, and social dialogue to mitigate risks such as job displacement and ensure fair compensation and creative control for workers.

Key points

Technological Transformation: AI, particularly Generative AI (GenAI), is transforming how tasks are performed in journalism, music, film production, and other creative domains. Unlike previous technologies, GenAI influences not just production but also creative and decision-making processes, challenging traditional notions of human agency and oversight in creativity.
Occupational Impact: Media and culture jobs show varying exposure to GenAI. Physical and performance-based roles (e.g., dancers, choreographers) remain largely human-centred, while roles like those of journalists, writers, and translators face high exposure. GenAI augments some roles while automating others, potentially leading to evolving job profiles emphasizing oversight of AI-generated content rather than direct creation.
Employment and Skills: Traditional skills like critical thinking, creativity and ethics are becoming more essential, complemented by new competencies in AI tool management and digital literacy. Nevertheless, the increased use of AI in the sector may result in job displacement, revenue losses, and reduced demand for traditional roles, necessitating strategic adaptation.
Policy and Governance: The integration of AI calls for frameworks to address ethical concerns, workforce transitions, and labour protection issues, including fair remuneration and compensation models. Social dialogue, including collective bargaining, can play a crucial role in addressing concerns around the "3Cs" (compensation, control and consent) as well as improving working conditions. Collaborative efforts involving governments, industry stakeholders, employers’ organizations and trade unions can mitigate risks and foster a human-centred AI governance system.