ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the labour conditions of artificial intelligence (AI) performers in creative industries by developing the novel concept of “digital labour exploitation”, demonstrating the bidirectional ethical challenges arising from AI integration within creative sectors. Can virtual humans have “rights” despite lacking consciousness? What happens when a predominantly white male coding workforce develops and manages AI performers representing historically marginalized communities? Through critical analysis of global case studies, from Shudu Gram and Lil Miquela to various Asian AI news anchors, this research addresses a significant scholarly gap by showing how three mechanisms enable exploitation: complete creative control through identity appropriation without proper compensation, economic advantages flowing exclusively to developers while bypassing represented communities; and regulatory gaps, all creating conditions where AI representations can be developed, deployed, and discarded without ethical constraints. By drawing compelling parallels with Indigenous cultural protection frameworks, one of the main arguments of my work is that establishing ethical boundaries for AI performers ultimately strengthens protections for human creative workers while preventing the normalization of exploitative practices. This chapter delivers a necessary reconceptualization of labour rights for an increasingly AI-integrated creative landscape through a framework addressing representation integrity, performance boundaries, and ethical value distribution.
