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Creativity and AI skill demand in the post-ChatGPT labour market: evidence from UK job vacancies

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Hasan BakhshiORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

Drawing on over 182 million UK job postings from January 2017 to November 2025, we investigate how the association between demand for creativity and artificial intelligence (AI) skills evolves across UK occupational labour market areas following ChatGPT’s release. Our findings reveal a strengthened positive association between demand for these two skillsets post-ChatGPT, particularly in local labour market areas with a higher share of high-skilled roles and the presence of creative clusters. We conclude by emphasising the need for place-based interventions that reflect the differentiated demand- and supply-side priorities across regions in the era of generative AI.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Wang Z, Baksy A, Bakhshi H, Siepel J

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Regional Studies

Year: 2026

Volume: 60

Issue: 1

Online publication date: 08/07/2026

Acceptance date: 04/06/2026

Date deposited: 17/07/2026

ISSN (print): 0034-3404

ISSN (electronic): 1360-0591

Publisher: Routledge

URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2026.2688960

DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2026.2688960

Data Access Statement: The data for the study are not publicly available, although they are available from the authors upon request.

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