National Youth Theatre and Microsoft team up on AI workshops

The National Youth Theatre (NYT) is partnering with Microsoft to offer a national programme of free workshops to help young people use generative AI to make creative content.

A total of 45 free Digital Accelerator workshops will be held for people aged between 18 and 30 in Greater Manchester, the South West and London.

The programme began with a pilot at the NYT”s Creative Production House in London in September.

The workshops will explore how AI is currently used in making film, TV and other media, and how it can be used alongside other new “extended reality” technologies.

The sessions will also address how new technologies can make storytelling more inclusive and accessible.

New technologies explored will include generative AI tools such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, as well as augmented reality and virtual production techniques.

The workshops are intended to help young people use these tools responsibly to make “ground-breaking new digital creative work”, NYT said.

They will be delivered by practitioners including creative technologists, motion capture performers, performers, and directors.

Participants so far include performers, lighting and sound designers, filmmakers, and gaming enthusiasts.

Paul Roseby, National Youth Theatre’s chief executive and artistic director, said: “We’re looking for young creatives from around the UK to discover the future of storytelling with us and create original innovative new content.”

He added that the new skills learned by participants would equip them to “respond to the opportunities and challenges new technologies present”.