Generative AI (GenAI) has become increasingly integrated into marketing and communication careers, and even our daily lives, with the rise of various text-to-image, text-to-video, & text-to-text tools. As digital marketers find new and innovative ways to keep up with the trends, and specifically GenZ in a quick-changing popular culture scene, how are they reacting to the rise of GenAI?
Arts and cultural organizations are becoming increasingly aware of their climate impact, and many are taking action to reduce harm. Tracking, reporting, and offsetting emissions may seem like an overwhelming feat for small or mid-sized organizations, but emerging blockchain technology may help make the process more efficient and reliable.
As previously foreshadowed by Samantha in an article written in July of 2023, TikTok: Opportunity and Risk, TikTok has been under a microscope from governments across the globe for quite awhile. The analysis provided in her article is still relevant today given the recent vote to ban TikTok, and the United States House moving forward to force Chinese state-owned TikTok company ByteDance to sell their ownership of the U.S. version of TikTok, or lose access to the United States TikTok market. To fully understand the situation, this article will recap TikTok’s controversial Privacy Policy and the 2023 testimonies, and also discuss the current governmental situation surrounding the ban.
Digital strategy has become a buzzword after the explosion of AI in the last 18 months. Yet, it is not about AI. AI has been the tipping point for organizations and professionals to recognize that they must update or create a digital strategy for success. Digitally-forward arts organizations already have a digital component as part of their strategic plan. Read more to understand the need for technology to be a core component of strategic plans and operations.
This month, the United States federal government is placing increased scrutiny on big tech regarding privacy, security, and market competition. While the Department of Justice files an antitrust suit against Apple for its hold on the smartphone market, Congress makes a bold statement with legislation potentially banning TikTok in the U.S.. Meanwhile, Reddit’s initial public offering may signal a move for tech companies to go public. In the world of entertainment, innovative tech brings scent to the gaming experience, and artists explore blockchain to compete with music streaming platforms.
While researchers are working to develop sign language recognition technologies, there are no commercially available sign language recognition technologies (yet). As performing arts seeks to become a more inclusive and diverse space, one area that we can work to be more inclusive is with our language, by making our spaces accessible to those who speak many languages, even non-spoken ones.
Sustainability is important to every industry, especially film, as each production (with an average $70 million budget) produces a carbon footprint of 3,370 metric tons. TV and film productions create an abundance of carbon emissions, significantly affecting the atmosphere. However, carbon emissions are not the only aspect of sustainability the film industry must focus on. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provided by the United Nations (UN) show that practicing sustainability involves much more than climate change. While the film industry is making many strides towards greener productions, there are many issues that have yet to be addressed. Such issues include livable wages (SDG 8), gender equality (SDG 5), and responsible production and consumption (SDG 12). These are a few of the most prevalent ways that the film industry can follow the path of sustainability per the UN guidelines.
When thinking about sustainability the first thought that often comes to mind is climate action, net-neutrality, or carbon emissions. Sustainability, in fact, has many other aspects beyond the climate. The United Nations developed a list of 17 goals in 2016 with a goal for the world to reach in 2030. These goals address holistic sustainability – aiming to help increase the quality of life worldwide. As organizations become conscious of their environmental impacts, more approaches in greening the industry and a tangible plan to fight climate change will be more readily implemented by the film industry, while still producing new content for the world.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, one in eight people in the United States ages 12+ have hearing loss in both ears. Given the prevalence of hearing loss in the United States, it is in performing arts’ organizations best interest to include solutions to make their work as accessible as possible. Disability advocates have spoken out about the need for better accessibility in the arts. No matter the medium captionins is provided, whether looking off stage, at a handheld device, or directly through the lenes of AR-supported glasses, all techonolgies are ensure that the theatre is a welcoming place for all.
As our country comes face to face with its long-lasting racial and social injustices, it is important to consider how long term, institutional change can be made. The arts and technology sectors have the responsibility of providing equal access. We at AMT Lab are committed to doing better. We value knowledge and research and their power to create change.
Net neutrality died by the hand of the FCC in November 2017. The policy, to be implemented summer 2018, will be detrimental to the work and impact of arts institutions and artists. The following article provides an overview of what changed, why net neutrality is important to the arts, and what you can do to help reverse the policy, or, as AT&T's CEO has called for, ask for Congress to create a consumer Internet Bill of Rights.
This interactive map will take you on the journey of Palmyra's 2,000 year old Arch of Triumph, beginning in 2005, with Bassel al Safadi Khartabil's effort to virtually document the city, and ending in present day. Explore this excerpt of the arch's history, and begin to understand the ways in which digital technologies have impacted it's destruction and it's digital reconstruction.
