SMU SOE Seminar Series (November 8, 2024): AI and Creative Process

TOPIC:

ABSTRACT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly utilized to assist creative professionals in their work. With the emergence of Generative AI, more nonroutine and creative tasks previously reserved for human workers can now be automated. While existing research has focused on the effects on the final outcomes, there is a gap in understanding the impact on the creative process itself. To address this gap, we conducted an experimental study involving over 200 professional artists, designers, and art school students. Participants were tasked with creating two illustrations: one without AI assistance and the other with access to text-to-image AI technology. By employing a within-subject design, we were able to examine how AI influences the creative workflow, how creators leverage the technology differently, and how it affects the final output. Our results indicate that AI significantly reshaped the creative workflow, accelerating the process without compromising the quality of the output. Our findings have implications for the job design and worker skills in the creative industries.

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