EU Commission | Report on Opportunities and Challenges of Artificial Intelligence for the CCS

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The study explores existing and potential business opportunities for AI in the CCS


March 23, 2022

This study aims to inspire creative entrepreneurs as well as policy makers with concrete use cases and recommendations for the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in ten cultural and creative sectors: Music, Film, Video games and immersive content, News media/journalism, Book Publishing, Architecture, Museums and heritage, Visual arts, Performing arts and Fashion and design.

With the recent rapid development of AI technologies and the exponential increase in available data, there are new and transformative opportunities in various sectors, including the Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS). AI technologies have the potential to help manage catalogues, forecast trends, support decision-making and assist with tedious tasks of content production and save time for more human creation.

In this context, the European Commission Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG Connect) and Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) commissioned Technopolis Group, together with its partners RISE, DTI and BOP Consulting to analyse challenges and opportunities.

The study explores existing and potential business opportunities (so called “use cases”) for AI in the CCS, and examines some of the new challenges that need to be addressed, taking into account the needs of each sector, and in particular the needs of small European players.

The concrete objectives of the study are the following:

  • to identify technologies that are currently being used and/or will/can be deployed in the near future;
  • to examine the challenges and opportunities that AI and related technologies raise for the promotion of, and access to, a culturally diverse offer of European works;
  • to examine how AI can contribute to the growth, resilience and consolidation of Europe’s cultural and creative sectors;
  • to recommend support measures with strong European added value to be implemented by the EU or by the sectors themselves.

The study is based on desk research, literature review, 66 interviews, three focus groups and a one-day workshop that took place on 30 September 2021 with over 100 attendees, including sectoral representatives and experts from the ten sectors.

The study provides recommendations to counter challenges in five areas, notably access to data, access to skills, transparency, collaborative ecosystems and access to finance,; taking into account the wide diversity of needs across sectors, including small players.

Among others, the study highlights the importance of data interoperability, calls on creative sectors to identify common goals and explore data standards, and recommends policymakers to foster knowledge exchange between tech startups and creative sectors.

Read the full study here.