The impact of artificial intelligence on cultural organizations

January 19, 2024

Generative artificial intelligence is certainly the hot topic of the moment in the cultural field. Not surprisingly, it was discussed at the 10th national meeting of the Réseau ADN, hosted by the Projet collectif team on November 28 in Montreal. For the occasion, Jonathan Durand Folco, co-author of the book Le capital algorithmique, and Éric Desmarais, general manager of Sporobole, were invited to discuss the upheavals that this new development is likely to cause in Quebec’s arts and culture scene.

Here’s a look back at this highly interesting cross-fertilization.

The economic and social impact of generative artificial intelligence

Jonathan Durand Folco, Associate Professor of Social Innovation at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, calls himself an “intellectual, researcher and interdisciplinary professor”. With Jonathan Martineau, he is co-author of the book Le capital algorithmiquee, which presents 20 theses on, among other things, “the impact of AI on democracy, on work, on the environment and on issues of international relations”.

From the outset, he points out that “technologies cannot be analyzed in their full concreteness solely as technologies, since they have economic and social impacts”. It’s interwoven with power relations”, he adds.

If we take the example of ChatGPT and its proximity to Microsoft, or consider the tools recently launched by Google and Meta, we can quickly imagine that generative AI will enable the net giants to solidify their hold on the global economy.

This is not necessarily the case yet, argues Jonathan Durand Folco. Just because some companies control technologies doesn’t mean we can’t do something with them,” he says. We can appropriate them and use them for potential emancipation”. In short, he says, “we shouldn’t be abstainers and refuse all forms of algorithmic digital tools”.

We do, however, need to exercise judgment in their use. In this respect, he defends a “techno-soft” approach. We need to be wary of promises of “growth, wealth and prosperity for everyone”, and avoid letting the biases of artificial intelligence “adversely affect certain population groups”.

Impact organisationnel de l’intelligence artificielle générative 

“Who among you can say that your organization is in excellent financial health?”

This was the hard-hitting question posed by Éric Desmarais, General Manager of Sporobole, to the thirty or so digital cultural development agents present at the event.

“Do we have the means, as a cultural milieu, to miss out on this revolution?”

The man who describes himself as a non-practicing artist anticipates that the changes linked to AI will be even greater than those that took place following the development of the Internet and the emergence of collaborative tools.

To illustrate his point, he draws a parallel between the situation prevailing today and that which prevailed when Napster first appeared. Back then, there was “a long chain to transfer music to consumers”. Éric Desmarais remembers that “the industry got up in arms” about piracy and copyright infringement. But the damage had already been done. Consumption habits had changed. This paved the way for online distribution platforms. Since then, royalties offered to artists have plummeted. In his view, by sticking to its guns, the music industry has been unable to develop or appropriate its own economic system.

In the same vein, he recalls how there was a new outcry when Google’s cloud-based office suite arrived. Many organizations didn’t want to store their documents online because of security fears. However, these tools have enabled significant productivity gains by allowing multiple users, and multiple organizations, to work together simultaneously. Collaborative software has led to a digital transformation, on which the existence of the ADN community of practice depends.

He sees the arrival of AI in the general public as part of the same trend. Many administrative tasks will soon be automated within organizations. However, these changes won’t come for free. “It’s maybe 25%, 40% or 50% of tasks that we’re going to automate.” Which leads to some important questions… “Who will own these gains? To us? Or will we have to buy them from American platforms?”

Image credits: Microsoft Copilot optimized by Dall-E 3, The impact of artificial intelligence on cultural institutions

How can we prepare for this wave of transformation?

During the discussions that followed the speeches by the guest speakers, one overriding question was put forward: “How can we prepare for this wave of transformation?”

Jonathan Durand Folco believes in experimenting with tools, without putting on rose-colored glasses.

He favors the use of software that doesn’t come from the net giants. He encourages potential users to create an “ecosystem of democratic tools” and choose ethically developed software. He admits, however, that this is “much easier said than done”.

For his part, Éric Desmarais believes that time is running out. On the subject of the adoption of AI tools by cultural organizations, he maintains that “it needs to happen as quickly as possible, with people who are ready to take the lead on this”.

To bring together the resources needed for this new phase in the digital transformation of organizations, he believes the solution lies in strength in numbers. “There’s no other way than to tackle these issues collectively.”

Learn more:

Réseau ADN: https://wiki.reseauadn.ca/wiki/Accueil
Sporobole: https://sporobole.org/
Projet Collectif: https://projetcollectif.ca/
Le capital algorithmique: https://ecosociete.org/livres/le-capital-algorithmique