Boundary Work in Generative AI Platforms: How Platform Providers Manage Complementors’ Changing Role

Digital platforms increasingly integrate generative AI to dynamically create, optimize and adapt content with the aim to create novel opportunities for platform’s viability. However, the integration of GenAI into digital platforms fundamentally transforms complementors’ role as GenAI is able to autonomously generate content which was previously exclusively performed by complementors. To understand how platforms manage the changing role of complementors in response to AI generated content, we draw from an in-depth qualitative study of a digital learning platform. This empirical case allows us to explore which tensions arise between platform complementors and GenAI’s agency, and how the platform provider engages in different boundary work to manage the changing role of complementors to ensure the platform’s viability. Our study aims to contribute to the literature on GenAI and digital platforms.