Creativity in the Age of AI: Navigating Principal–Agent Problems in Human–AI Co-Creation
(A2026-131720)

AUTHORS

Jana-Verena Gerhart, University of Gothenburg; Ramona Riehle, University of Innsbruck; JOHANNA FRANZISKA GOLLNHOFER

ABSTRACT

As generative AI tools reshape creative practice, creative professionals increasingly co-create with systems they neither fully understand nor can entirely control. Conceptualizing this as a principal–agent relationship, we examine how creatives manage hidden information and hidden action when delegating creative tasks to AI. Based on participant observation and 21 in-depth interviews, we identify six strategies and reveal how creatives sustain authority and accountability in human–AI co-creation processes.