05/02/2026 (Thursday) 13:00-14:00 E21-G002
Policy, Production and Platforms: Media Workers’ Conceptions and Adoption of Generative AI in Japan’s Content Industries
Abstract:
The rapid emergence of generative AI has profoundly reshaped creative industries and intensified global debates about the future of cultural production. In this context, media industry workers and media artists encounter both new opportunities and significant challenges, as they renegotiate creativity, authorship, and entrepreneurial practice in the age of generative AI. Focusing on Japan’s content industries, this presentation examines how generative AI is being understood, adopted, and contested across three interrelated layers: national policies that regulate and promote AI in media production; the everyday practices of media workers who critically experiment with, adapt, and evaluate generative AI technologies; and platform and audience responses to AI-generated content that influence market dynamics and value hierarchies. Empirically, the study draws on 20 semi-structured interviews with media industry professionals and digital media artists in Japan who actively engage with generative AI, alongside document analysis of policy papers and industry association reports. Methodologically and conceptually, the presentation makes two contributions. First, it demonstrates the analytical value of examining generative AI through the dynamic interconnections between policy frameworks, production practices, and platform-mediated audience responses, rather than treating these domains in isolation. Second, it shows that the cultural meanings and industrial impacts of generative AI vary significantly across geographical and cultural contexts, underscoring the need to conceptualise “AI culture” in plural, context-specific terms.
Bio:
Takao TERUI is a Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Global Cultural Industries at the University of Glasgow. Before joining Glasgow, Takao served as an Assistant Professor in Cultural and Creative Industries at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. He also works as a research expert at Doshisha University and the Arts Council Saitama (Japan). His research adopts an international and comparative approach to examine the impacts of new technologies on state-market-civic relations in creative industries and cultural policies. Takao’s work has been published in leading journals, including Media, Culture & Society and International Journal of Cultural Policy. His current research focuses on the implications of generative AI for cultural production, approached from an East-West comparative perspective.
