Art & Tech: Protecting artists and enabling creativity

In a rapidly changing environment, how do we ensure the artist is supported and their rights are protected?

DACS organised a panel to discuss the wide-reaching impact of new technologies on artistic practice and how we experience art.

The event took place at Shoreditch Arts Club on 25 June, 2024, in partnership with ArtReview, in partnership with ArtReview, as part of our 40th-anniversary events programme. A recording of the panel will be available soon.

How are artists and rightsholders navigating the challenges presented by AI, and how is AI informing artists’ practices? What models can we draw on to help us navigate these challenges, and what principles should be upheld?

The rapid evolution of AI technologies has brought artists’ rights into sharp focus, and raised existential questions about creativity and ownership. Exploring how artists and creative practitioners are engaging with AI through their work, and what the wider implications of AI on artists’ rights may be, this panel will examine how we can maintain artists’ rights as new technologies develop.

Panellists: Beverley Hood, Artist & Researcher; Alasdair Milne, Serpentine Gallery Creative AI Lab; Rodrigo Esmela, Chief Commercial and Product Officer, Arcual; Reema Selhi, Head of Policy and International, DACS

Chaired by Fi Churchman, ArtReview

Speakers

Alasdair Milne is a PhD researcher with Serpentine’s Creative AI Lab and King’s College London, working across the philosophy of technology and curatorial R&D. He is a co-author of Serpentine's most recent strategic briefing, Future Art Ecosystems 4: Art x Public AI. The Serpentine Creative AI lab is a research programme for cultural institutions, artists, engineers, and researchers with an interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). It is a partnership with the Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College.

Beverley Hood is an artist and Reader in Technological Embodiment and Creative Practice, at the University of Edinburgh. Since the mid-1990s, she has interrogated the impact of technology and science on the body, relationships, and human experience through the creation of digital media, performance art projects, and writing. Her work is interdisciplinary and research-led, undertaken in collaboration with a range of practitioners, including medical researchers, scientists, writers, technologists, dancers, actors, and composers. Her work has been performed, screened, and exhibited at international galleries, museums, conferences, and festivals. She is currently a Co-Investigator, on the UKRI BRAID (Bridging Responsible AI Divides) programme, leading the Inspired Innovation theme focused on the creative arts. BRAID is a six-year research programme funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), led by the University of Edinburgh in partnership with the Ada Lovelace Institute and the BBC.

Reema Selhi is the Head of Policy and International at DACS. She advocates on behalf of visual artists to champion their vital contribution to the UK’s creative industries, and on the importance of their intellectual property rights. She supports DACS’ policy and public affairs work including the establishment of the APPG for visual arts and the Smart Fund. She has worked on international implementation of the Artist’s Resale Right, including its introduction into New Zealand. Reema regularly speaks on sustainable policies for artists in the UK and internationally. Reema is a UK-qualified lawyer and sits on the Board of a-n, the Artist’s Information Company; is a Trustee of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA); and holds the role of Vice Chair at the Alliance for Intellectual Property. She holds a BA (Hons) from UCL and studied at Central St Martins, University of the Arts London.

Learn more about the other events in the series

• Artists' Rights: Sustaining artists now and in the future
• Collectives: Reshaping the art world