The Sextuple Helix Innovation Model. Understanding the Knowledge Production of Artificial Intelligence in Culture- and Creativity-Driven and Sustainable Innovation Ecosystems

This paper introduces the Sextuple Helix Innovation Model as a novel framework for understanding the role of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in culture- and creativity-driven as well as sustainable innovation ecosystems. Building on the evolution from the Triple Helix (university–industry–government) to the Quintuple Helix (including the media-based/culture-based public and the natural environment), the proposed model adds GenAI as a sixth helix. Unlike previous views of AI as a mere tool, this paper conceptualizes GenAI as an independent knowledge producer with its own knowledge economy, engaged in mutual exchanges with human and institutional actors. The argument is grounded in a constructionist epistemology and knowledge economy theory, validated through a scoping review of scholarly literature across creative industries, cultural policy, and innovation studies. The review reveals that while GenAI augments human creativity by enabling co-creation, ideation, and democratization of cultural production, it simultaneously raises challenges such as curatorialization of labor, reduced diversity of outputs, and threats to artistic autonomy. The framework of mutual creativity emphasizes reciprocal influences: human creativity shapes AI outputs just as AI reshapes human creative processes. By positioning GenAI as an epistemic agent, the Sextuple Helix Innovation Model reframes discourses beyond the dominant narratives of disruption and regulation. It highlights opportunities for transforming labor markets, enabling sustainable cultural practices, and expanding innovation ecologies through “phygital” recombination of digital and traditional forms. At the same time, it underscores the need for critical awareness of biases, cultural sensitivity, and ethical implications inherent in AI-driven knowledge production. Ultimately, the paper argues that recognizing GenAI as a helix in its own right not only deepens our understanding of knowledge economies but also paves the way for creativity- and sustainability-oriented innovation paradigms where human and non-human actors co-produce knowledge.