Adapting to generative AI in creative work: a technological frames perspective on creative advertising

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is transforming creative work, yet creatives do not respond uniformly. To explain this variation, we draw on the concept of technological frames, three years of netnographic research in online advertising communities, and interviews with advertising creatives. Our analysis identifies competing interpretations of GenAI—regarding its level of agency in the creative process, its impact on jobs, and its role in shifting how value is created in outputs—that converge in distinct narratives about its implications for creative work. These narratives, in turn, drive distinct adaptive responses among creatives: AI skilling, reskilling, and deep skilling—the latter involving deliberate cultivation of human capabilities that GenAI cannot readily replicate. The findings inform both research on GenAI in creative work and managers navigating its adoption.