Title Pending 7436

This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.Industry discourses regarding the increasing influence of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) tend to position the technology as “inevitable.” At the same time, actors and writers are among those media workers who have raised alarm about what it could mean for creativity, authorship, and intellectual property rights. On the one hand, Tom Hanks has praised artificial intelligence’s ability to allow him to play younger characters, while a new podcast features interviews by presenter Michael Parkinson, who passed away in 2023 but whose work has been used to train a large-language model (LLM) that now can be used to interview celebrities in real time. On the other hand, Scarlett Johansson is one of many celebrities who has called for stricter regulation of artificial intelligence after her likeness and voice were used without her consent. Furthermore, activists and commentators have noted generative AI’s considerable impact on resources, including water and electricity, as well as the exploitation of laborers in the Global South. Consequently, generative artificial intelligence appears poised to be as disruptive and transformational to the media industries as the arrival of synchronized sound and of digital technologies. Navigating the enthusiasm and anxieties surrounding generative AI, this special section hopes to model how to historicize, critique, and interpret generative AI’s ongoing effect(s) upon media industries as well as the industries’ embrace and rejection of its potential. This special section welcomes original critical essays that examine the implications and impact(s) of generative artificial intelligence so far, drawing on historical precedents as well as contemporary case studies to provide approaches and frameworks for studying its continuing development, adoption, and opposition. Articles that situate these developments in global contexts are especially welcome. In so doing, this section seeks to continue the conversation of how this potentially disruptive technology has been discussed, understood, employed, even rejected by various stakeholders, including media workers, executives, unions, developers, regulators, and audiences. Possible articles may cover the following topics: · historical contexts and precedents for generative AI · case studies of its development, promotion, adoption, or rejection · analyses of its impact on specific sectors and/or laborers (i.e., animators, actors, visual effects artists, writers) · implications for natural resources and the environment · media workers’ and unions’ handling and tactics · impact on labor, including in the Global South · incorporation into the production process and impact on storytelling · regulation and policy at state, national, and global levels · intersection and convergence of technology and media industries · audience responses and reactions to generative AI in media production Interested scholars should submit a proposal of up to 500 words to Pete Kunze at [email protected] by April 15, 2025. Invited essays of 5,000-7,000 words will be due November 1 in anticipation of publication in 2026. Questions can be directed to the email address above. Plan to Solicit Interest I intend to disseminate this CFP across listservs, professional organizations, and social media to attract a diverse group of critical media industries scholars working within and across different contexts. I do not anticipate any interviews, but rather a mix of historical and contemporary case studies that can provide a foundation for future work in this emerging area of our field.