Yunus Emre Oztas

Email: Y.E.Oztas@leeds.ac.uk
Thesis title: AI-integrated Cultural Production: Visual Media Professionals’ Engagement with Generative AI Technologies
Supervisors: Professor Charles Umney, Professor Mark Stuart, Professor David Hesmondhalgh

Profile

I am a postgraduate researcher at Leeds University Business School (LUBS), starting on October 1, 2024, funded by the People, Work and Employment department. Since March 2025, I have also been a member of the Digit (Digital Futures at Work Research Centre) Doctoral Network.

In my ongoing PhD study, I critically examine how freelance visual media professionals engage with generative AI technologies. Rather than reproducing generalized discourses on automation or creativity, I focus on the situated, everyday practices of creative workers as they interact with these tools. I contextualize these engagements within the broader dynamics of big tech’s growing influence on cultural production and the changing working conditions across the cultural industries.

Research interests

Creative and Cultural Industries

Creative Labour

Generative AI

Future of Work

Qualitative Research

Qualifications

MA Media and Communication Studies
BA Communication Design and Management

Research groups and institutes

Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change