Not Quite an Artist : A Sensemaking Study of Generative AI in the Swedish Cultural Sector

Sammanfattning

This cross-sectional qualitative study examines how actors within the cultural sector in Sweden make sense of generative AI in relation to artistic creation and organisational practices. It explores how cultural practitioners and their representative organisations interpret the impact of generative AI on their sector, and how they attempt to negotiate room for manoeuvre, legitimacy and protection in a context characterised by limited market influence, legal power, and political traction. The study draws on 13 semi-structured interviews conducted with government agencies, industry associations and creative practitioners in Sweden. The findings show that generative AI is primarily understood as challenging copyright, remuneration, and artistic identity rather than creativity itself. While often accepted as a supportive tool, it is largely rejected as a source of artistic meaning, as it is perceived to lack intention, imperfection, and process. These interpretations reflect ongoing sensemaking processes in which actors navigate ambiguity by relating the technology to existing understandings of creative work. At the same time, actors develop organisational responses such as licensing initiatives and advocacy efforts, while navigating regulatory uncertainty and structural inequalities. The study contributes to the ongoing debate by providing timely empirically grounded insights into how meaning, value, and governance are constructed and negotiated in practice within a rapidly evolving technological and cultural policy environment.