Arts, culture and AI

The arts and culture sector stands out with a high proportion of freelancers and self-employed workers, where one consequence can be vulnerability in terms of a lack of social benefits and unpredictable income.

At the same time, digitalization creates both new opportunities and increased pressures: Platforms like Spotify, HBO, and Storytel provide access to a global audience but have also transformed the sector's income structures.

AI has introduced powerful tools for creating images, music, and text, raising complex questions about copyright, data use for algorithm training, and competition between AI-generated and human-created content. AI has the potential to reduce demand for human creativity and exert downward pressure on prices, which may result in job losses and changes to working conditions in the sector.

Despite these challenges, there is little research on how Norwegian artists and cultural workers experience and respond to these developments. This project seeks to fill that gap by addressing key questions, including:

• How do AI and other digital technologies affect workers' daily tasks?
• Does new technology lead to changes or losses in job roles?
• How do key industry stakeholders envision the future use and scope of AI in the coming years?
• What potential do collective agreements hold as regulatory mechanisms?