The digital co-author: how AI is reshaping the nature of creativity and meaning

Creative generation of meaning in the multiverse of contemporary culture

Abstract

This article explores the fundamental transformation of cultural meaning-making processes in the contemporary era, analyzing the transition from a stable cultural universe to a fragmented «multiverse» of parallel semantic worlds. The key thesis of the article is that generative artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving from a passive tool into an active «co-author» and interlocutor. This shift engenders a new paradigm of «dialogical co-creation» within the human-machine tandem, challenging traditional notions of authorship, authenticity, and the very nature of meaning. Structurally, the paper unfolds this thesis in three stages. First, it describes the «anatomy of the cultural multiverse» — a post-narrative environment where meaning is actively constructed by users through remix culture influenced by «algorithmic phenomenology». Next, it analyzes the emergence of AI as a full-fledged co-author that engages in dialogue with humans and gives rise to new practices like prompt engineering, fundamentally altering the concept of authorship. Finally, it examines the philosophical consequences of this symbiosis: the paradox of creative inflation, the threat of «semantic collapse» due to algorithmic control, and a crisis of authenticity caused by the «intentionality gap» between human and machine. In conclusion, the article argues that we are entering a new cultural paradigm that demands the cultivation of «cybernetic wisdom» and «semantic resilience». The future of creativity is envisioned not as purely human or machine-driven but as a complex, ever-evolving symbiotic process whose ethical, aesthetic, and existential implications have yet to be fully comprehended.