Dr. Sara Pinto-Bastos will work for two years at the Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions postdoctoral fellowship program.
The researcher will lead the “Aurora” project, which focuses on the application of artificial intelligence in cultural organizations to increase audience engagement, resilience, and accessibility. The project will explore how small and medium-sized cultural organizations can responsibly use artificial intelligence while preserving artistic authenticity, promoting inclusion, and fostering cultural diversity. Professor Edmundas Jasinskas is overseeing the project at the Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University.
“I’m delighted to be in Kaunas and to begin my fellowship at Vilnius University. Over the next two years, I’m looking forward to discovering the city’s cultural life, meeting the people who shape it, and becoming part of the academic community at Kaunas Faculty,” says S. Pinto-Bastos.
The researcher will investigate in which areas of the daily activities of cultural organizations artificial intelligence could be useful and how its application is perceived by staff, artists, and audiences. The project team will organize seminars and collaborate with cultural organizations in Kaunas and Porto (Portugal). Prototypes will be developed and tested to meet the needs of the organizations’ staff and the artists who collaborate with them.
The project is expected to yield three main outcomes: evaluation criteria to help determine how artificial intelligence affects audience engagement in the cultural sector; prototypes demonstrating how cultural professionals and audiences could collaborate using artificial intelligence; practical guidelines to help cultural organizations decide when and how to responsibly implement these tools. The study’s findings will inform discussions on the application of artificial intelligence in the cultural sector.