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Arts Council England has teamed up with Goldsmiths, University of London, to develop best practice guidance on using artificial intelligence (AI) in the cultural sector.

The work is being led by Dr Oonagh Murphy, Senior Lecturer in Digital Culture and Society at Goldsmiths, who has received a fellowship award from a three-year national research programme funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council called BRAID - Bridging the Responsible AI Divide.

Murphy will work with ACE over the next 18 months to explore how AI might be ethically and responsibly integrated into its work and the work of the organisations it supports.

The guidance will focus on harnessing the benefits of experimenting with AI, exploring the risks it might present to the intellectual property rights and livelihoods of people who work in the sector, and recommending ways to mitigate them.

Her research will involve interviews with ACE staff and other cultural sector professionals to understand how AI might impact their work, as well as reviewing emerging literature and good practices regarding the use of AI.

Murphy said: “This project takes a whole organisation approach, and the embedded nature of the research fellowship provides a unique opportunity to create new ways of thinking about how AI will impact on the work of Arts Council England today, tomorrow and into the future.”

The trustees of a museum in Worcestershire are considering plans to register a local building as an 'Asset of Community Value' to secure new premises for its collection.

Tenbury Museum has also launched a fundraising campaign for funds to aid the purchase of a nearby recently decommissioned Methodist chapel.

Trustee Tracey Morris told the Ludlow Advisor that the “deteriorating conditions” of the museum’s current site at Goffs School meant it was no longer fit for purpose.

After failing to secure alternative venues, the museum group offered the asking price on Cornerstone Chapel in February, requesting twelve months to raise the necessary funds.

However, plans for the building to be listed on the open market are moving forward.

As a result, the museum has launched a fundraising campaign to secure the chapel through a combination of National Lottery grants, existing funds, and donations from the local community. 

The group is looking at options that would allow them to put down a holding deposit and rent the buildings during their campaign.

They are also considering registering the chapel as an Asset of Community Value, which would enact a ‘community right to bid’ with a six-month moratorium to allow finances to be raised.

A three-year programme of musical support activities to help people with dementia will launch later this year after funding of £1m was secured.

A combination of awards from the Power of Music Fund, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and NHS Greater Manchester will fund three years of direct musical support activities across all of Greater Manchester’s 10 boroughs.

Manchester Camerata will partner with Alzheimer’s Society and the University of Manchester to run music cafes in a bid to help take pressure off frontline health and care staff.

The organisations intend to recruit and train a volunteer and community workforce of 300 ‘Music Champions’ to deliver the music cafes, helping to support over 1,000 people living with dementia in the area.

Bob Riley, Chief Executive of Manchester Camerata, said: “This is a colossal moment built on over 10 years of work and research in partnership with The University of Manchester. 

"We know it will bring much-needed support for people living with dementia and their carers. It will create new opportunities for our amazing musicians in the UK and bring about changes in the way we invest in music to bring the widest possible benefits to society."