Balancing human and artificial creativity: A paradox perspective on artistic production in the GenAI era

The relationship between creativity and artificial intelligence (AI) has attracted widespread attention from the public, corporations, and academia. Advanced AI-based examples of artistic production, such as AI generated music, poetry, and paintings, have started transforming the creative and cultural industries. This study analyzed the componential model of creativity through the lens of the Generative AI (GenAI) artwork produced by artists. A qualitative approach was employed utilizing data collected from interviews with various artists, critics, and technicians who worked with GenAI, thereby helping in identifying the creativity paradoxes in the AI era. The results suggest that the use of GenAI has created dualities in the components of creativity, including tensions between extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, artistic and technical skills, and creations by an artist and those generated by AI. Given that AI will continue to develop, the cultural and creative industries need to find ways to navigate these creativity paradoxes.