Artificial intelligence in the cultural sector

How does Artificial Intelligence (AI) transform the creation, mediation and reception of art? What new possibilities does it offer artists, and how are concepts of creativity and authorship changing? These questions guide research on AI in art and culture at the Institute for Cultural Management and Media at the HMTM. 

The research brings together perspectives from the sociology of art and technology, Science and Technology Studies, and human–AI interaction. It focuses on the use of AI as an artistic medium and examines how generative AI transforms creative processes, professional roles and the conditions of cultural production. Particular attention is paid to how humans and technical systems interact in creative processes, and how control, chance and agency are negotiated within them. Further research explores AI, communication and the production of social meaning. Interdisciplinary collaborations across science, art and technology provide an important framework for this work. 

Established in 2022, the »Artificial Intelligence in Culture and Arts« (AICA) programme is a central platform for connecting research, teaching and artistic practice. This joint initiative of the University of Music and Theatre Munich and Munich University of Applied Sciences combines technical foundations with artistic experimentation and critical reflection. Through lectures, an introductory technical course and an AI Project Workshop, students develop the skills to engage with AI independently and critically. Working in interdisciplinary teams, they develop their own projects with guidance from experts in art, culture and technology. AICA is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts and coordinated by the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt). 

Collaborations with cultural institutions create further opportunities for research and exchange. AICA is a partner in »OUR BR00D«, a project by the artist collective OMSK Social Club at Haus der Kunst in Munich. Supported by the German Federal Cultural Foundation’s »Art & AI« programme, the project explores how relationships between humans and AI might develop through radical care. Artistic experiments, workshops and public discussions open up new perspectives on care, socialisation and coexistence with technical systems.