Interview Study of AI Use by Creative Professionals - A Qualitative Study of Creative Professionals’ Perceptions and Experiences of AI

Sammanfattning

As artificial intelligence(AI) takes on an increasingly larger role in the work space, questions arise about the value of human creation. This study investigates how creative professionals perceive AI and how AI is integrated into their daily work practices, guided by the following research questions: How do creative professionals currently use AI tools in their work practices?, How do creative professionals perceive AI tools in the workspace? and How have AI tools reshaped the work practices of creative professionals? Previous research has largely focused on isolated professional domains or on the technical aspects of AI integration, leaving a gap in understanding how creative professionals across different fields experience and make sense of AI tools in their everyday work practices. The data collection method, semi-structured interview enabled collection of qualitative information about real thoughts, attitudes and experiences from eight subjects. For data analysis,thematic analysis was selected as the method for identifying and exploring patterns in the interview responses. This resulted in a thematic scheme of six themes, 16 sub-themes and 65 codes. Results show how the workflow of creative professionals is becoming faster when implementing AI as a tool. Since AI is cheaper than a human employee, creative professionals experience higher pressure to meet the expectations and compete with AI under the threat of being replaced. Rather than replacing human input, AI appears to reconfigure it, placing a greater value on skills that are difficult to replace algorithmically. These findings suggest it is essential to understand how AI tools influence practitioners and what ethical challenges their use may entail. The lack of regulation contributes to hesitation towards its adoption. There is a need for sensitivity on the matter as well as transparency regarding how it’s utilized. Future research should continue to examine the rapid development of AI technologies and their implications for creative work.