Responsible Creative AI for Arts, Heritage and Culture

Purpose and Need

Arts, heritage and cultural organisations are under increasing pressure to adapt to rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI). While AI offers significant opportunities for creative interpretation, research, access and operational efficiency, the sector faces clear gaps in provision.

Most available AI tools are generic, commercially driven, or highly technical. They do not adequately address the ethical, interpretive and public trust responsibilities unique to cultural and heritage organisations. As a result, organisations either adopt AI without sufficient safeguards or avoid it entirely due to lack of confidence, skills or resources.

There is a clear need for a sector-specific service that enables responsible, evidence-led and inclusive use of AI, particularly for small and medium-sized organisations that lack in-house technical capacity.

What a MYTHOS Partnered Project Will Do

This project will provide a specialist creative AI service focused on six areas of high relevance to the sector:


• Image and video


• Historical and cultural reconstruction

• Research and analysis

• Avatars and digital interpreters


• Scripts and narration


• Audio, music and dialogue

MYTHOS combine AI capability with curatorial expertise, research standards and ethical frameworks. All outputs will be human-reviewed, transparent and clearly contextualised for public audiences.

Alongside creative production, the service will support organisations to:


• Understand when and how AI should be used

• Manage legal, ethical and reputational risks

• Build staff and volunteer confidence and skills


• Communicate clearly with audiences about AI use



Why This Matters

This project addresses multiple, interconnected gaps in the current cultural AI landscape:


• A lack of ethical frameworks for creative and interpretive AI outputs


• Limited access to evidence-led AI reconstruction and visualisation


• Insufficient support for AI-assisted research that maintains scholarly integrity

• Absence of culturally responsible approaches to avatars and synthetic voices


• Unequal access to AI innovation for smaller and volunteer-led organisations

• Limited public engagement with how AI is shaping cultural knowledge

By addressing these gaps, the project supports organisations to innovate responsibly while protecting public trust, cultural value and intellectual integrity.

Alignment with Funding Priorities

The project directly contributes to funder priorities including:


• Digital transformation and innovation


• Public trust, ethics and accountability


• Access, inclusion and accessibility


• Skills development and organisational resilience


• Research-led interpretation and learning

• Reducing inequality across the cultural sector

It enables organisations to unlock the value of their collections and expertise while ensuring that innovation remains inclusive, ethical and sustainable.




Outcomes and Impact

Funded support will enable:


• New, high-quality creative and interpretive outputs grounded in research


• Increased access to heritage through visual, audio and digital interpretation


• Improved digital skills and confidence among staff and volunteers


• Stronger ethical governance around AI use

• Greater transparency and public understanding of AI in culture


• Wider participation in digital innovation across the sector

In the long term, the project will contribute to a more resilient, informed and trusted cultural sector that can engage critically and creatively with emerging technologies.

 

Contact MYTHOS