LEVI TRUONGBACK

Case study · Research synthesis

AI’s role in innovation, creativity, and legal challenges

Six expert sources on one spectrum, from AI as a collaborator to AI as a disruption, and the question they leave behind about originality and ownership.

6

expert sources mapped from collaborator to disruption

Format
Reader’s guide
Sources
Six, 2023–2024
Focus
Creativity, authorship, IP

01

Perspective map

Six experts, one spectrum: where each source sits between AI as a collaborator and AI as a disruption.

Where each source sits, by theme

Collaboration

  • Mollick · 2024

    Optimistic collaborator

    10 on a scale from 0, AI as collaborator, to 100, AI as disruption

  • Zhu · 2024

    Benefits with guardrails

    34 on a scale from 0, AI as collaborator, to 100, AI as disruption

Creativity

  • Gero et al. · 2023

    Divided writers

    44 on a scale from 0, AI as collaborator, to 100, AI as disruption

  • Elkins · 2024

    Questioning authorship

    72 on a scale from 0, AI as collaborator, to 100, AI as disruption

Legal and ethical

  • Ducru et al. · 2024

    Proposes a fix

    52 on a scale from 0, AI as collaborator, to 100, AI as disruption

  • Crawford & Schultz · 2023

    Sounding the alarm

    84 on a scale from 0, AI as collaborator, to 100, AI as disruption

02

Six sources, three themes

Collaboration

Mollick

Optimistic collaborator · 2024

Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI. The Wharton professor argues AI should enhance human capability, not replace it. His principle: be the human in the loop. AI can lift creativity and efficiency, but bias and misinformation are real risks.

  • Human-AI collaboration. Humans and AI cooperating for better outcomes.

Zhu

Benefits with guardrails · 2024

The Impact of AI-Assisted Teaching on Students’ Learning and Psychology. AI tutoring personalizes learning and reduces stress, yet raises privacy, over-dependence, and ethical-implementation concerns, including reduced critical thinking.

  • AI-assisted teaching. AI tools used in education for personalized learning.

Creativity

Gero et al.

Divided writers · 2023

Social Dynamics of AI Support in Creative Writing. Some writers use AI to brainstorm and beat writer’s block; others worry it homogenizes writing and lacks creative understanding. AI should enhance, not substitute.

  • AI support. Tools that help writers generate ideas and refine text.

Elkins

Questioning authorship · 2024

AI Comes for the Author. Asks whether AI truly creates or only remixes, weighing the “stochastic parrot” view against emergent intelligence, and what that means for ownership and artistic integrity.

  • AI-generated content. Text, art, or media made by AI without direct human authorship.

Legal and ethical

Ducru et al.

Proposes a fix · 2024

AI Royalties: An IP Framework to Compensate Artists and IP Holders for AI-Generated Content. Proposes licensing and royalties so creators are paid when their work trains AI, letting development continue while making the relationship more equitable.

  • AI royalties. Compensation for creators whose work trains AI models.

Crawford & Schultz

Sounding the alarm · 2023

Generative AI is a Crisis for Copyright Law. AI makes content without a clear human author and is trained on copyrighted works without consent, creating dilemmas over ownership and fair use.

  • Generative AI. AI that creates new text, images, or music.

03

The inquiry, evolved

Initial guiding question

How does AI impact the role of human creativity and authorship?

New guiding question

If AI-generated content becomes indistinguishable from human-created work, how do we protect originality and intellectual property?

Questions to carry forward

  • How can AI be integrated responsibly into education and professional fields?
  • What skills will be most valuable in an AI-driven workforce?
  • Will AI create more jobs than it replaces, or lead to mass unemployment?
  • How do we keep AI-generated content ethically and legally sound?

04

Key terms

Human-AI collaboration
Humans and AI cooperating for better outcomes.
AI-assisted teaching
AI tools used in education for personalized learning.
AI support
Tools that help writers generate ideas and refine text.
AI-generated content
Text, art, or media made by AI without direct human authorship.
AI royalties
Compensation for creators whose work trains AI models.
Generative AI
AI that creates new text, images, or music.

05

References

  1. Crawford, K., & Schultz, J. (2023). Generative AI is a crisis for copyright law. Issues in Science and Technology, 39(1), 45–53.
  2. Ducru, P., Raiman, J., Lemos, R., Garner, C., He, G., Balcha, H., Souto, G., Branco, S., & Bottino, C. (2024). AI royalties: An IP framework to compensate artists and IP holders for AI-generated content.
  3. Elkins, K. (2024). AI comes for the author. Poetics Today, 45(2), 1–25.
  4. Gero, K. I., Long, T., & Chilton, L. B. (2023). Social dynamics of AI support in creative writing. Proceedings of CHI 2023, 1–14.
  5. Mollick, E. (2024). Co-intelligence: Living and working with AI. Portfolio/Penguin.
  6. Zhu, Y. (2024). The impact of AI-assisted teaching on students’ learning and psychology. Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, 38, 111–116.

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