Joel Carnevale, Florida International University - The Reputational Cost of Creative AI

On Florida International University Week: Using generative AI in creative work may come at a cost.

Joel Carnevale, assistant professor of management, examines how your reputation could be affected.

Faculty Bio:

Joel Carnevale is an assistant professor of management in FIU Business’ Department of Global Leadership and Management whose research examines the interpersonal dynamics that shape how people think, feel and behave at work. His work focuses on leadership, behavioral ethics and, most notably, reputation — including how creative reputations are built, perceived and managed inside organizations. Carnevale’s research has been published in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, the Journal of Management, the Journal of Business Ethics and the Journal of Organizational Behavior, and has drawn media attention from outlets such as Bloomberg News, Forbes, Fast Company, Business Insider, Entrepreneur and TIME.

Transcript:

Generative artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of creative work, from music composition and advertising to design and content creation. But while AI may improve efficiency and even enhance creative output, our research suggests it can also change how creators themselves are perceived.

Along with my co-authors Anand Benegal and Lynne Vincent, I studied how people evaluate creators who use AI in the creative process.

In one experiment, participants evaluated the same piece of music written for a fictional video game soundtrack. Some participants were told the composer was Hans Zimmer, the well-known film composer associated with movies like Dune and The Dark Knight. Others were told the exact same composition came from a first-year college music student.

We then varied whether participants were told the music had been created in collaboration with artificial intelligence.

What we found was consistent across both high- and low-reputation creators: once AI use was disclosed, evaluations became significantly more negative. Participants rated creators lower in both creative competence and reputational prestige, even when the creator had an elite reputation.

In a second experiment focused on the workplace, we found similar results involving an employee in an advertising firm. The key driver behind these negative evaluations was authenticity. When people believed AI played a role in the core creative process, they became more likely to question whether the creativity felt genuine or human.

Our findings suggest that creators today must manage not only the work they produce, but also perceptions surrounding how that work was created.

As AI becomes more integrated into creative industries, understanding those perceptions may become increasingly important for organizations, managers and creative professionals alike.

Read More:

[Academy of Management] - Creative or Contrived? How AI Use Shapes the Social Evaluations of Individuals with Creative Reputations

[The Conversation] - Artists and writers are often hesitant to disclose they’ve collaborated with AI – and those fears may be justified

[FIU News] - AI may boost productivity — but it can hurt a creator’s reputation, new research finds