Linto Thomas, V. Vijay Kumar, Lalatendu Kesari Jena
ABSTRACT As organizations navigate the emphasis on human‐centric innovation in Industry 5.0, understanding artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in creative domains is crucial for organizational success. While established technology adoption models effectively explain AI integration in conventional business contexts, they insufficiently address the unique considerations of creative industries, where technological decisions involve complex negotiations between technical capabilities and artistic values. This study addresses this research gap by developing a comprehensive framework specifically designed to explain and facilitate AI adoption by creative professionals. The integrated framework combines established technology acceptance constructs with novel artist‐centric variables that account for the symbolic, identity‐based, and aesthetic dimensions of technology use in the arts. Through qualitative phenomenological analysis of 42 music professionals from the Indian film music industry and synthesis of multidisciplinary literature, we demonstrate how this framework addresses the limitations of current technology adoption models when applied to creative contexts. A key finding is that partial adoption represents an optimal stable endpoint rather than a transitional state, with 78% of successful adopters maintaining deliberate boundaries between AI assistance and human creativity control. The proposed model offers significant theoretical contributions by expanding technology adoption research beyond utilitarian organisational contexts and provides practical value for businesses seeking to implement human‐centric AI solutions that respect creative values while driving organisational excellence in Industry 5.0.