The Creative Shift: Transformation, AI & Political Responsibility for the Creative Industries

Daniel KnöllJörn FreynickOlaf ZimmermannProf Lena FalkenhagenTamara Güçlü

The cultural and creative industries are a key driver of innovation, social cohesion and economic dynamism. At the same time, it is facing profound changes: Artificial intelligence is changing creative work processes, automating activities and giving rise to new job profiles, while others are disappearing. These shifts often remain invisible in the creative industries, as they are predominantly made up of solo self-employed workers whose burdens, uncertainties and transformation processes barely appear in statistics.

This is precisely why we need a political debate on how we can harmonise creativity and technology in a meaningful way. How do we create qualification and retraining programmes that effectively prepare employees in the sector for new tasks? How do we create framework conditions that promote innovation, enable fair working conditions and make the diversity of the creative industries visible as a common social force? And how can we succeed in positioning this heterogeneous sector politically in such a way that it receives the support that corresponds to its economic and cultural significance?

In this panel, leading voices from the industry will discuss how we can jointly develop a strong, sustainable political position - for an industry that is impressive in its diversity but still struggles to assert itself in public perception and political prioritisation.