A Private Study #0007

Narrator/Moderator: Katie Toepel

A Private Study #0007: Creative Machines — Use of AI in Art, Literature, & Film

Overview

Throughout history, new technologies have always disrupted how art is made — from the invention of photography and film to digital editing and CGI. Today, AI presents the next great creative shift: it can compose, write, and design at speed and scale, blurring the boundaries between human and machine creation. Some see this as a powerful democratization of creativity, while others worry it undermines authenticity, labor, and emotional depth. As AI becomes embedded in every creative field, we’re challenged to reconsider what defines artistry, originality, and the uniquely human spark in creativity.

Key Concepts

  1. Authenticity & Intent: What defines “real” art when creation no longer requires human emotion, struggle, or experience

  2. Automation & Labor: How AI reshapes creative professions, authorship, and the economics of artistic work

  • Representation & Ethics: Bias, diversity, and transparency in AI-generated actors, models, and imagery

  • Cultural Value & Abundance: How limitless creative output affects our sense of talent, originality, and meaning

  • Human–Machine Collaboration: Balancing innovation and integrity when AI becomes both tool and co-creator

Suggested Reading

  1. AI is Coming For Culture (New Yorker) — 10 minute read

  2. Will AI put fiction writers out of work? (Financial Times) — 5 minute read

  3. ChatGPT May Be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills, According to a New MIT Study (Time) — 3 minute read

  4. How Generative AI Will Change The Jobs Of Artists And Designers (Forbes) - 3 minute read

  5. AI model in Vogue raises concerns about beauty standards (BBC) — 3 minute read

  6. How a UK prodco is building the first AI star (Broadcast International) — 4 minute read

  7. AI Actress Tilly Norwood Condemned by SAG-AFTRA (Variety) — 1 minute read

  8. The Brutalist's AI Controversy Explained (ScreenRant) — 2 minute read

Guiding Questions

Tool vs. Replacement

  • Do you view AI as a creative collaborator, competitor, or detractor?

  • Do you think using AI-assisted tools differs from using “traditional” creative tools, such as a camera, editing software, CGI, photoshop, etc?

  • Should movies, books, advertisements, literature, or art be explicitly labelled if they were created extensively with AI tools? What thresholds should there be for labelling as such?

Authenticity & Meaning

  • How do you define authenticity and value in the context of art, literature, film, culture at large? Can something created by AI be authentic?

  • If an AI model is trained on millions of copyrighted images or texts, do works derived from AI differ from works derived from human imagination?

  • Does knowing an artwork or poem was AI-generated change how you feel about it?

  • Would you pay to see an AI-generated movie or read an AI-written novel? Why or why not?

Economic, Ethical & Labor Shifts

  • Who benefits most from AI in the creative sector — independent creators, major studios, or the tech companies? Where do you think AI will have the biggest positive and negative impacts?

  • Should AI actors exist in Hollywood, or should acting remain “human-centered”? How do we balance artistic freedom with protecting creative human labor? What protections should be in place for human actors, and who should enforce them?

  • Should artists or actors whose likenesses or styles are used to train AI models receive compensation or credit?

  • If brands use AI-generated models in advertising, what responsibilities do they have toward diverse representation (body types, ethnicities) and transparency (AI labels)? What are the implications of using AI-generated models on beauty standards? Does using AI-generated models differ from traditional photoshop techniques?

  • Is it more “ethical” to pay real people (e.g. background extras in a film, make-up artists, models, actors, lighting technicians) rather than take advantage of AI efficiencies?

Culture, Volume & Value

  • As AI democratizes access to creativity and expands creative output, is there a value distinction between natural talent, deliberate talent (ie. practice), or AI-assisted talent?

  • When creative output becomes limitless, how do we determine what’s valuable or original? Does the flood of AI-generated content change our sense of what counts as talent?

  • Do you think the increasing use of AI in the creative sector will make human-made art more sacred or valuable?

  • As algorithms generate culture at scale, who or what do you rely on for taste and curation to sift through the “noise”? How do you think this may change in the future?

  • As AI tools begin to create entirely custom content—podcasts, news briefings, and videos made solely for one viewer—do you think this personalization deepens our existing echo chambers? Is this much different than our current algorithmic realities on Instagram, TikTok, and social media?