GenAI and the Crisis of Creative Labor: Automation, Augmentation, and the Artist’s Role

This paper discusses how generative AI (GenAI) is reshaping creative labor through three interrelated transformations: the automation and platformization of creative tasks, the redistribution of economic value and authorship, and the redefinition of creative skills and competencies.Rather than framing GenAI as either a threat or a tool, the analysis foregrounds its role as a structural force that reorganizes workflows, market dynamics, and professional norms.The paper highlights how creative work is increasingly governed by digital infrastructures and algorithmic interfaces, raising urgent questions about recognition, attribution, and sustainability.These developments are analyzed within the broader context of how computing can simultaneously exacerbate and alleviate crises, arguing that GenAI exposes deep institutional and economic tensions in creative industries.