AI’s impact in the commercial sector is already well underway with 62% of business leaders stating that they have already invested in AI and automation tools for their employees. What’s more, 65% of survey respondents believe AI innovations will be comparable to the industrial revolution.
OK, you may not agree about the industrial revolution. But I am convinced that AI in museums and galleries can (and will) ultimately mean that staff members will have more time to focus on higher-impact tasks, such as curating exhibitions and creating engaging educational programs.
Using artificial intelligence to automate the more tedious tasks like data entry and analysis, staff members will have more time to concentrate on more creative and innovative work. Ultimately, I believe that this will lead to Museums & Galleries offering richer and more immersive visitor experiences, as well as enabling them to optimise their collections and exhibitions to better meet the needs and interests of their audiences. So…
How could AI revolutionise the future of Museums & Galleries?
1. AI will enable you to focus more on visitors (online or offline).
In this hybrid world, Museums & Galleries are exploring novel methods to engage with visitors, both online and on site. However, due to limited budgets, they are often forced to resort to piecemeal solutions that do not effectively integrate their customer data in a smooth and efficient manner.
By leveraging AI, museums and galleries can consolidate data from various sources into a single, reliable source of insights about their customers. For example, combining Google Analytics data with information from email marketing platforms, ticketing systems etc. This technology offers a unique opportunity to uncover valuable information that may have been previously overlooked. Perhaps most importantly, AI frees up time for organisations to refocus their efforts on customer-centric strategies.
2. Speed up and improve marketing
AI assistance has a wide range of possibilities when it comes to marketing, especially with regards to content marketing as a strategy. For example, AI can be used to generate new marketing content from previously generated blog posts, events etc, creating website images, writing product descriptions and blog posts, repackaging existing content into a full campaign, and translating ideas into different languages.
2. Deliver a more personalised immersive experience
When combined with other technologies, such as Near Field Communication (NFC) AI could analyse visitors’ interests and behaviours, such as what exhibitions or objects visitors spend more time looking at, then provide those who are most interested with an increasing level of information.
Alternatively, AI could offer personalised recommendations for other pieces or exhibits that they may enjoy. This can help visitors discover more about the collections and engage with the museum or gallery in a more meaningful way.
3. Improved Accessibility
AI can provide new ways to make museum and gallery exhibits more accessible. For example, image recognition could be used via an app to provide audio descriptions for visually impaired visitors. Or, to offer translated text in multiple languages to make exhibits more accessible to non-native speakers.
Online, AI can be used to offer frontline support to the majority of users, giving teams the ability to focus on more complex challenges of visitors with special needs.
4. Enhanced Curation
AI can help museums and galleries curate collections in a more efficient and effective way. For instance, AI could analyse the popularity of different exhibits and suggest changes to the layout or display to improve visitor engagement. It could also help identify items that are at risk of damage or deterioration and alert curators to take appropriate action.
Online, AI can be used to personalise the experience for visitors based on their interests and preferences. This can include recommendations for exhibits or collections that match their interests, as well as customised virtual tours or itineraries.
5. Virtual Exhibits:
AI can be used to create virtual exhibits that can be accessed by visitors from anywhere in the world. This could include 360-degree views of exhibits or interactive experiences that allow visitors to explore different aspects of the collection in a more engaging way.
2. AI will automate data analysis for better decision-making.
AI can analyse visitor data, such as how long they spend in different exhibits or what times of day are busiest, to help museums and galleries better understand visitor behavior and make data-driven decisions about exhibit planning, staffing, and resource allocation.
One of the most time-consuming aspects of any leader’s job is wrangling the right data. It can take hours for a business leader, analyst, or marketer to analyse customer data and uncover meaningful insights, leaving less time to actually use it to make critical decisions. Not to mention, a manual data analysis process is inherently prone to human error.
Fortunately, predictive analytics — which uses machine learning algorithms, data mining, and statistical techniques to analyse large amounts of data and make powerful predictions about future trends or behaviours — can help streamline and supercharge your analytics processes.
There are three main benefits to leveraging AI for data analysis:
- AI algorithms can discover patterns that might not be obvious to humans.
- AI can learn from your data and improve its predictions over time.
- You don’t have to do it yourself.
Smarter data ultimately means a more personalised customer experience. Truly understanding your customer data helps you improve how you engage with each individual prospect.
Additionally, predictive analytics can help each organisation expand its reach. Sales leaders, for instance, can leverage AI-based insights to formulate reports, develop key account strategies, and build more powerful forecasts on their pipelines.
My bet? The best leaders of the near future will see AI as an indispensable part of their reporting and analytics processes.
3. AI will reduce business costs and improve efficiency.
In today’s difficult economic climate, museums and galleries need to do more with less.
There are innumerable ways AI can help organisations save money – For one, it will help automate time-consuming, manual tasks. For instance, many customer support reps need to spend extensive time responding to recurring questions from customers. By leveraging AI, you can automate responses to commonly asked questions, which frees up your support reps for more complex issues.
Dealing with inventory issues? AI could help predict when or if inventory is running high or low to help prevent excess storage costs or other business waste. Ultimately, AI will improve efficiencies across the business – all while enhancing the customer experience. On average, AI already saves the average employee 2.5 hours per day.With all that extra time, your business and employees can scale a stronger human connection.
6. AI can help organisations build better products.
In the future, we’ll also see the sector leverage AI to uncover new product and revenue opportunities. For instance, software engineers can use AI tools to sift through feedback, engagement, or other product usage data to determine which features they should improve on an existing product, or discover new product ideas based on gaps in their offerings.
But it goes beyond that. AI algorithms can also help you design your product.
Yep – you heard that right. AI will be able to analyze data on customer usage patterns, feedback, and preferences to provide you with invaluable insights necessary to create more user-friendly, engaging, effective products for your customers.
It will also help you speed up the product development process start-to-finish with rapid prototyping. AI algorithms can seamlessly and instantly provide different design options, so your team can quickly identify the most promising option and iterate in real-time.
What are the limitations of Generative AI?
The potential of Generative AI is still being explored. As such, it has some limitations that should be considered while using it at this stage. Perhaps the most important thing to note that any AI system’s performance is dependent on the quality of the data it processes. Consequently, there may be biases or errors present in the generated content. This highlights the essential role of human creators, and why AI should never be seen as a substitute for a writer or editor. AI can do a lot, but here’s what it cannot do (at least right now):
1. AI doesn’t do original research
AI can assist in creating content, yes! But, it is not capable of conducting original research or analysis. Typically, AI-generated content tends to be shallow in depth, which makes it essential to provide substantial research to enhance the quality of the piece. Thus, AI should be viewed as a tool to support the creation process rather than a substitute for human creativity and research skills.
2. AI cannot check facts
When it comes to fact-checking AI relies heavily on the accuracy of the data it is fed. If the data or sources used to train the AI contain inaccuracies, biases, or errors, then the AI’s fact-checking abilities are compromised. Additionally, AI may struggle to interpret context, which can lead to incorrect conclusions being drawn.
Another challenge is that AI may not have access to the most current or up-to-date information, particularly in fast-changing news environments. In these cases, human fact-checkers may be better equipped to verify information and ensure accuracy. Therefore, a combination of human and AI fact-checking approaches may be the most effective solution.
3. AI doesn’t have ‘lived’ experience
While AI can mimic human language, writing styles, even drawing styles, it lacks the personal touch that comes from lived experiences. Therefore, content creators should draw from their own experiences to bring depth and authenticity to their work.
4. AI does not provide quality assurance
Quality assurance is a critical component of content creation, and while AI can generate text, it lacks the ability to account for taste and quality. As a result, it is imperative to have humans involved in the content creation process. AI can help to streamline the content creation process, allowing you to spend more time on higher-level tasks such as idea generation, quality control, and editorial strategy. By combining the strengths of AI and human expertise, we can ensure that content meets the highest standards of quality and relevance.
People create, AI accelerates.
The role of AI is to boost human creativity, serving as a tool rather than a replacement. It is humans who act as the true creators.
Does Google penalise AI Generated content?
The short answer is No. In 2022, Google updated its content algorithm to discourage excessive use of automation in content creation. While some wondered if using AI for writing would lead to poor rankings, it was clarified that there is no penalty for using AI itself, only for using it poorly. Low-quality content, whether created by humans or AI, is penalised by Google. Readers can easily detect shallow writing, so writers should not solely rely on AI and instead use the extra time gained from AI assistance to invest in research, original ideas, and quality substance behind their words.
Can Generative AI Lead to Plagiarism?
Yes, there is technically a risk of plagiarism with generative AI. Since generative AI uses existing content to generate new content, there is a possibility that it may generate content that is similar or identical to existing content – But the risk of plagiarism is actually low.
To comprehend why generative AI poses a low risk of plagiarism, it is necessary to grasp its mechanism. This technology is trained by ingesting substantial portions of the internet, but it doesn’t simply copy phrases and reproduce them. Instead, it employs its understanding of natural language to place likely words sequentially.
This Is Just the Beginning. What next…
Throughout history, the removal of barriers to idea generation and communication has often resulted in a surge of productivity. Although there is much to be learned and improved regarding this technology, its use cases are setting new standards. As a result, The potential of Generative AI to transform the creative process for content creators is immense.
Preparing for an era of AI disruption
AI is poised to disrupt virtually every industry, and the Museums & Galleries sector, is no exception. But, it’s not something we need to fear.
The key to long-term growth and success is to evolve quickly with AI and accept it’s here to stay.
In the early stages of AI, you’ll want to remain focused on your highest priorities, and how your business can get the most out of AI. If you’re interested in learning more about how you can use AI on a tactical level…
Will AI steal my job?
So the question on everyone’s mind is: Is AI going to steal my job? The short answer: no. AI is more likely to optimise the impact of existing roles and create room for additional opportunities.
On Google Trends, the term “prompt engineer” — which was practically non-existent at the start of 2023 — has risen rapidly, hitting peak popularity in early April.
This number will only increase.
Let’s create a sector wide task force across Museums & Galleries with the specific purpose of identifying how AI can be implemented into processes across sector organisations.
