Austrian organisations defining tech’s influence on arts and culture
The speed at which tech, like AI, is changing the world of art and culture is alarming. Two Austrian organisations are looking to drive awareness in a big way around it by launching an award and possibly opening an ‘AI for culture’ research and competence centre in Austria.
The topic of what social impact is resulting from tech influencing the fields of arts and culture will be put into focus at this year’s Ars Electronica Festival when the ‘CultTech and Ars Electronica Award for Social Impact Projects in Culture and Technology’ is handed over to the winner, Art Meets – a South African app that connects visual art ecosystems and creates jobs in Africa.
“While many feel intimidated by the effect tech is having on our societies and what we create in our society, we at CultTech are looking to embrace the empowering effect tech is having in the arts and culture realm,” says Dmitry Aksenov, Founder of the CultTech Association.
The award ceremony will take place at the Ars Electronica Festival happening between 6-10 September in Linz, when attendees will also have the opportunity to engage with experts in the field of AI and culture.
A CultTech-hosted session – ‘AI for culture. Strategies for growing businesses’ – will take place at the Ars Electronica on September 7th as part of the festival and will include ‘key impulses’ and panel discussion on legal, business and ethical perspectives of using AI for the good of culture.
Ars Electronica and CultTech are in serious talks regarding the opening of an ‘AI for culture’ research centre in Austria that is dedicated to advancing understanding and awareness in the field of AI in culture and the arts. The decision and details about the research centre will most likely be released after the Ars Electronica festival.
The next batch of the Vienna-based CultTech Startup Accelerator program – an incubator program that helps take startups in the realm of culture and tech to the investor-ready phase – will also be announced and kicked off at thpe Ars Electronica festival on the 6th September.
“The CultTech Accelerator programme has already facilitated in empowering CultTech startups to a level where they are influencing how we consume, create and distribute culture and arts. We intend to be a driving force that have a positive impact on this important space in our societies,” says Aksenov.
