Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Safeguarding of Living Craft Intangible Cultural Heritage: Applications and Boundaries — A Case Study of the National ICH "Paper Stationery Processing Technique"

Abstract

Paper stationery processing technique is a national-level intangible cultural heritage (ICH) that embodies artisanal value and traditional literati aesthetics, yet it faces structural challenges including transmission discontinuity, fragile material carriers, dispersed craft resources and insufficient endogenous viability. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) opens a new technological pathway for the digital safeguarding of living craft ICH, but existing research has largely focused on image restoration and digital exhibition of tangible heritage, while micro-level case evidence and ethical boundary analysis for living craft ICH remain underdeveloped. Taking the national ICH "Paper Stationery Processing Technique" as its object, this study adopts a single-case study method and literature analysis to examine four application dimensions: rescue preservation, resource governance, assisted transmission and dissemination activation. It focuses on the "AIGC pattern generation–3D-printed mold–manual application" composite chain, assessing both its value for expanding paper stationery processes and its applicable boundaries. The study identifies structural risks of technological intervention: erosion of authenticity, ambiguous copyright attribution, weakening of craft subjectivity and the digital divide. Findings indicate that generative AI can significantly improve the efficiency of ICH archival construction and broaden cultural dissemination; 3D-printed molds can serve as a new craft intermediary for pattern processing. However, the legitimate application boundary is confined to the resource infrastructure layer and the tool-assistance layer, and must not intrude upon the epistemological layer of craft. Algorithms and digital molds can undertake externalizable technical tasks such as pattern conception, material retrieval
and model formation, but cannot replace the embodied perception, situated judgment and manual practice that artisans develop through material engagement. Grounded in the principle of "bearer-led, technology-assisted", this paper proposes four governance strategies—tiered labeling, authorized training, practice priority and inclusive tools—and distils generalizable implications for the digital safeguarding of comparable living craft skills.