Artificial Intelligence, Creative Labor, and Social Choice: Power Asymmetries and Sociological Implications

Artificial Intelligence, Creative Labor, and Social Choice: Power Asymmetries and Sociological Implications | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Artificial Intelligence, Creative Labor, and Social Choice: Power Asymmetries and Sociological Implications Jung-Hua Liu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8837066/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping creative labor and other knowledge-intensive domains, raising fundamental sociological questions about power, inequality, and governance. This article integrates social choice theory, political economy, and labor sociology to examine how AI reorganizes labor and authority along three axes: Capital versus Labor, Global North versus Global South, and Human versus Algorithmic Creativity. Drawing on mixed evidence from labor markets, global patent trends, and creative industries, the study shows that AI outcomes are not technologically predetermined but mediated by institutional constraints and collective action. Using Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem as an analytic analogy, the paper demonstrates how competing stakeholder preferences generate unavoidable trade-offs between efficiency and equity, often reflecting underlying power asymmetries. Empirical analyses illustrate how unions, state strategies, and contractual governance can shape AI’s distributional effects. The article concludes that deliberate institutional design is essential to ensure AI augments human capabilities rather than exacerbating inequality. Sociology Media Studies Generative artificial intelligence creative labor social choice theory political economy AI governance sociological implications Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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