Aspects of Creative Industries 4.0
This short article is the result of a search for relevant sources that examine, describe and forecast the development of the creative industries. This, in turn, is motivated by our participation in the implementation of the XD Media Hub project under the Erasmus + Program, which is the object of the collective efforts of several international partners.
At its core, the article builds on the report Creative Industry 4.0 - towards a new globalized creative economy, examining the implications for the creative economy of the rapid changes in automated technology and advanced internet communication that have come to be known as Industry 4.0.
The contribution of this economy to the global gross domestic product is about 3 percent. However, this contribution is expected to be increased under the influence of digitization and advanced technologies, and especially under the influence of the acceleration of technological transfer, globalization, which removes market restrictions and stimulates the emergence of new market niches.
New technologies provide new tools for the creative industries to use individual talents or to share and develop new ideas. They also open up new channels to reach consumers, but at the same time they are also challenges for some segments of the creative industry. In summary, below we present the two aspects of influence of Industry 4.0 on the creative industries:
Industry 4.0 - accelerator of creative activities
Many of the technologies that paved the way for Industry 4.0 were born in the workshops of the 3D augmented reality video games. New tools encourage the emergence of new ideas - for example, experiments with digital technologies at the end of the supply chain, through new forms of delivery of the product to the end user, from augmented reality to motion capture through sensors. Currently, artificial intelligence and facial recognition techniques allow the creation of "deep fakes", based on deep learning and imitation, with almost perfect reproduction of the images of the actual actors. With this technology, creative industries can "reanimate" dead characters by replacing their faces and using a well-coordinated synthetic language.
Industry 4.0 is practically a base and framework for the creative economy, as it is used to integrate and expand the processes of design, production and distribution at the internal and inter-organizational level. As UNESCO (2018) acknowledges, cultural industries are increasingly hyperlinked, multimedia and interactive. New technologies are opening up access to digital content, reducing production costs and increasing exposure. For example, the prototyping required to test a new design or product is greatly facilitated and accelerated by using 3D printers. Based on the digital economy, crowdfunding was born - an innovative and successful approach to financing small and micro projects. Activities related to the preservation of traditions also draw strength from technological advances in various aspects of their production cycle, from training and knowledge sharing to delivery and commercialization.
Industry 4.0 - a threat to some creative activities
At the same time, certain aspects of Industry 4.0 are a serious challenge for some segments of the creative industries, for example handicrafts. New technologies make it possible for almost all handmade uniques to be mass produced. Design and modeling software can integrate traditional patterns or shapes into a new design. Through the ability to imitate the work and feelings of people, craft products are now produced indistinguishable from the original, imitating even the small variations and imperfections allowed by individual craftsmen.
This is particularly important when considering the policy options and implications of the struggle to achieve the UN's Sustainability Goals (SDGs). Thus, for example, the "natural monopoly" that artisans enjoyed could be quickly destroyed by a new generation of advanced robots controlled by artificial intelligence capable of reproducing massively unique works of art created by the traditional artisans.
