Blog from Creative Informatics, as they launch new Creative AI Demonstrator project exploring the potential for Creative AI in Scotland

Are you working in, or interested in, exploring the potential for Creative AI? Creative Informatics has launched a new Scotland-wide project to scope and understand the needs of creative individuals and organisations working with AI, specifically Creative AI, in the creative industries in Scotland. There are several ways to get involved, from applying for up to £5,000 in funding for a Creative AI Music and Audio Pilot Project, through to taking part in networking events and completing an industry survey.

Like many working in the creative industries, the team at Creative Informatics has been tracking the development of Creative AI – which rests upon the use of data and data-driven innovation – for some time. Over the past six months, Creative AI has been much more visible through media coverage and through coming into widespread public use due to the availability of Large Language Models like ChatGPT, and generative AI tools such as the text to image platforms DALL:E 2 and MidJourney. These tools raise challenges for the creative industries around human creativity, originality, intellectual property, and ethics. However, when used in an ethical and appropriate way, AI, including generative AI, also has huge potential as a tool for creative work, for experimentation or as part of an ideation process.

The new Creative AI Demonstrator project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), expands on some of the fantastic work produced over the last five years of Creative Informatics. The programme has seen some great examples of Creative AI through exploratory projects like Martin Disley’s Resident Entrepreneur project with the National Library of Scotland, the fantastic artworks emerging from The New Real, as well as innovative start-ups emerging from the cluster, such as DataMind Audio’s ground-breaking music production work (as recently showcased on Mr Bill’s Podcast #120), and through the lively improv AI session run by Abandoman (aka Rob Broderick) at the most recent CI Lab 23: Festival Futures. There is further potential to develop AI and machine learning in creative work, and the Creative AI Demonstrator has been designed to help shape and secure future support for ideas and innovations from the creative industries working with AI.

Music and audio production is an area where creatives in Scotland have particularly strong expertise and start-up ideas – whether they are coming from music production, filmmaking, gaming, work with voices and speech, work with audio archives, and wider perspectives. This is the background to the new Creative AI Music and Audio Pilot Projects call with up to £5,000 to support a rapid turnaround R&D project covering both initial development of new products and services, as well as new kinds of creative experiences using Creative AI in the context of music or audio work. The team at Creative Informatics is happy to discuss an application at any stage – from your initial idea through to support on the application.

Creative Informatics’ Creative AI Demonstrator project needs your input and support so please get involved in whatever way you can. You can do this through applying for funding or taking part in the soon to be released scoping survey that seeks to understand the interest and the potential for Creative AI in Scotland - what the concerns are and where future support is needed.

Over the summer, workshops and networking events in Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow will connect people working in these areas and there will also be an online version for those who are unable to attend in person. Follow the progress of the project by signing up to the Creative Informatics mailing list, or following on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

If you’d like to discuss the project, contact creativeinformatics@ed.ac.uk

About Creative Informatics

Creative Informatics is an ambitious research and development programme based in Edinburgh, which aims to bring the city’s world-class creative industries and tech sector together. Based at the University of Edinburgh, the programme offers funding and development opportunities to enable creative individuals and organisations to explore how data can be used to drive ground-breaking new products, businesses, services and experiences.