People see even a tiny bit of AI in art as 'contamination'—they'll devalue it just as much as if a machine made the whole thing.
SSRN · March 17, 2026 · 6302659
The Takeaway
We often assume that human-AI collaboration represents a middle ground in value. Instead, this research shows that people view human creativity as a binary 'pure' state; any amount of AI participation breaks the perception of exclusivity and causes a non-linear drop in what people are willing to pay.
From the abstract
GenAI has expanded the possibilities of artistic creation. However, the creative output of AI has both heightened anxieties amongst creative professionals and engendered dislike amongst viewing audiences. How and why do people value human creation versus AI-generated art? We find that the perception of human-generated art as inherently exclusive is a key component of its value. Even some AI involvement is enough to break this perception and devalue the piece. We ran two preregistered incentivize