In this episode of the Arts Management and Technology Lab, Hannah Brainard and Anuja Uppuluri explore two significant threats to artists and cultural institutions: the ethical and legal implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically its pre-training practices, and the impact of climate change on art and cultural heritage. They discuss how AI models often exploit artists' work without consent or compensation, leading to calls for dynamic consent systems, robust attribution, and fair compensation models. Concurrently, they examine how climate change amplifies natural disasters, posing existential threats to museums and collections, particularly impacting under-resourced and historically marginalized communities. The conversation emphasizes the urgent need for systemic change and equitable allocation of resources to ensure the long-term sustainability and preservation of creative works and cultural heritage in both domains. Transcsript and show notes can be found at https://amt-lab.org/podcasts-interviews/2025/7/ethics-ai-sustainability
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Digital Marketing in the Age of AI: Insights From Grapeseed Media's Bill Updegraff
In this episode of Tech in the Arts, Dr. Brett Ashley Crawford of the Arts Management and interviews Bill Updegraff, founder and CEO of Grapeseed Media, a programmatic digital advertising firm. Grapeseed Media, established in 2013, has grown into a trusted partner for brands and agencies in digital advertising, earning recognition on Inc.’s 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies. In this episode, Updegraff explains that Grapeseed Media's initial goal was to provide arts organizations with access to programmatic advertising, a concept he once thought was exclusive to larger corporations. The company's role has since evolved from introducing programmatic advertising to guiding clients through its complexities. He highlights three approaches to programmatic advertising: in-house management, managed service partnerships, or working with a single, agnostic programmatic partner like Grapeseed Media, which provides unbiased access to all programmatic channels and consolidated reporting. Updegraff also differentiates programmatic advertising from search and paid social media, noting that programmatic is more "open market" compared to the "walled gardens" of platforms like Google and Meta. He also discusses the growing integration of programmatic into digital out-of-home advertising, offering hyper-targeting and data collection capabilities. Of course, they also discuss the ethical uses of AI in marketing, particularly in data analysis and creative ideation. Show Notes Grapeseed Media Programmatic Marketing (Video) Bill Updegraff Brett Ashley Crawford, PhD Read the transcript at amt-lab.org.
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The Impacts of Big Data and AI on the Arts, Our Culture and Society
What are the implications of AI and algorithmic governance on culture and creative industries? To answer these and other questions, the Arts Management and Technology Laboratory gathered a panel of experts on campus at Carnegie Mellon University. Working across arts, media, data, and technology, panelists discuss frameworks for understanding how power flows within and between these industries. This episode of the Tech in the Arts podcast is a recording from the program, held in April. The discussion is moderated by Lead Researcher Ian Hawthorne, and features Eleanor Mattern, Director of the Sara Fine Institute and a teaching assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Computing and Information. Her teaching and research interests include archives and digital curation, community-centered information work, civic engagement, and information policy and ethics. Emma Slayton, Data Education Librarian at the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries. Emma is an expert in data and AI literacies, GIS, and data visualization, she helps researchers and students develop their own data stories for publication and sharing. As a social scientist, she focuses on using computer modelling to analyze big data. Samantha Shorey, Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Samantha is a design researcher who studies automated technologies — such as AI and robots — in the workplace. In her research, she seeks to highlight the labor and innovation of people who are often overlooked in media narratives about new technologies. See more at amt-lab.org
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Cinematic VR for Public Service with Eric Williams and Jordan Herron
Eric R. Williams is a Professor at Ohio University and the director of the cinematic virtual reality (Cine-VR) initiatives at the Game Research and Immersive Design (GRID) Lab. His work spans award-winning film, television, and interactive media, including screenplays for Universal Studios, Fox Online, and American Movie Classics, as well as numerous published books and podcast series on storytelling. Jordan Herron is an Immersive Media & Audio Producer at GRID Lab. Jordan began working at GRID Lab in 2018 as a student employee and now specializes in audio storytelling, immersive sound design, and Spatial Audio Production. At SONA, Eric and Jordan presented a series of cinematic VR projects designed to support public service training. Using 360° filmmaking, they aimed to evoke empathy and create shared, memorable experiences. See more at amt-lab.org
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Crafting Immersive Art with Amber Johnson at SONA Festival
Amber Johnson is an Associate Professor of Simulation and Game Development at Wake Tech Community College. She has worked in the game industry as an artist and level designer since 2007. She began teaching at Wake Tech in 2014, developing a curriculum that utilizes modern game asset creation techniques. She currently teaches courses in digital art, game programming, photogrammetry, tech art, and VR. On top of teaching, she does freelance work in photogrammetry and 3d renderings. At SONA, Amber presented her project “Crafting the Unreal”, which reimagines Edgar Allan Poe’s Ligeia as an immersive surrealist stop-motion VR experience by combining the tactile, dreamlike aesthetics of traditional stop-motion animation with the interactivity of VR. see more at amt-lab.org
This monthly podcast explores the intersection of technology and arts management through interviews, product reviews, humorous dialogue, and more! The Technology in the Arts podcast is produced by the Arts Management and Technology Lab, a research center of the Master of Arts Management program in Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University. The AMT Lab staff currently includes Dr. Brett Crawford (Executive Director), Lutie Rodriguez (Chief Editor of Research), Angela Johnson (Podcast Producer), B Crittenden (Technology and Interactive Content Manager), and Devyn Hinkle (Social Media and Marketing Manager).
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