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Although we are renowned for our high-quality teaching, vocational education, and industry-focused solid preparation for graduate careers across many creative industries, we tend to refrain from shouting about our equally powerful academic research group, Futureworks Research. That is until now. Following a highly successful conference in June this year, we have launched a new YouTube channel featuring many of the insightful and inspiring talks at our AI in the Creative Industries Conference.
Founded in 2017, the Futureworks Research Group is the brainchild of Joe Darlington, Programme Leader BA (Hons) Digital Animation with Illustration, and several like-minded tutors interested in exploring academic research within the creative industries. During its formative years, Futureworks Research hosted two smaller conferences. The first, in 2018, entitled Work and Play, was a multi-disciplinary conference focusing on the differences, challenges and changes occurring in the world of work and how they affect and connect with various media strands such as music, film, literature, animation and games. The whitepapers presented at the conference were covered in a Special Edition Volume of the Journal of Information, Communication and Society in 2018. The second conference was focused on Technology and Tradition, which was hosted online due to the pandemic and has yet to surface as a publication. Now, with the post-Covid dust settling and the world slowly righting itself, it was decided that Futureworks should host a new conference and what better subject to discuss and debate than the industry-polarising topic of artificial intelligence.
The AI in the Creative Industries conference was a resounding success, a testament to the collective efforts of our Futureworks Research Group, staff and students, the twenty-eight guest speakers from all corners of the world and the engaging discussions it fostered. This dynamic in-person conference neither celebrated nor vilified artificial intelligence. Speakers flew in from universities, colleges and organisations as far afield as South Africa, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, the USA, and Canada, with online presentations from Australia and New Zealand. Presentations were diverse and captured varied and balanced perspectives on using artificial intelligence within various creative industries, providing a platform for open and constructive dialogue that engaged all attendees in the discussion.
Our Futureworks students were not just participants but key contributors to the conference’s success. They took on the responsibility of filming the event’s presentations and spent their summer editing the footage into a collection of professionally produced films. These films not only showcase the skills of our student filmmakers but also capture the wealth of knowledge and breadth of information demonstrated by our speakers at the conference. Over the next few weeks, we will upload these high-quality films to our new Futureworks Research YouTube channel.
With talks underway with Palgrave Publishing and eighteen of our speakers interested in contributing, Joe Darlington is currently negotiating a publishing deal for a book based on the conference. We’ll keep you updated on its progress. Due to the success of this conference, we are now working on the next one, and as for the subject, who knows? When we hosted our Tradition and Technology conference in 2019, Artificial Intelligence was a mote in the mind’s eye of Science Fiction authors, and yet today, it’s perceived as a tool in the toolkit of some and a threat to careers and livelihoods by others. Reasoned research, open discussion and healthy debate on both sides of the argument can help toward resolution. That’s where academic research groups such as Futureworks Research can support the future careers of our students, graduates, and alumni when challenging change affects our creative industries.
You can subscribe to and watch the presentations from our AI in the Creative Industries Conference on the new Futureworks Research Channel. Follow Futureworks on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay updated on Futureworks Research content as we continue to add to our exciting and insightful new YouTube channel.
If you’re interested in studying for a creative degree in Animation, Game Art & Design, Sound & Music Production, or Film & TV, then why not come along to one of our Open Days and discover how an education at Futureworks can set you on the path toward a rewarding creative career.
