Survey on generative AI highlights the growing impact of new technologies on creative careers, and an urgent need for ethical development that works within copyright laws

Throughout January 2024, the Society of Authors (SoA) ran a survey of its 12,500 members and other authors, receiving nearly 800 responses on respondents’ experiences of generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems, and their views and concerns about the future impact on creative careers.

The findings demonstrate not only the deep uncertainty about the future role of generative AI in the profession, but also the impact it is already having on careers and livelihoods.

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Sky Arts has renewed its partnership with the National Theatre as Headline Sponsor of NT Live as it approaches its 15^th anniversary next year. National Theatre Live films and distributes world-class theatre straight from UK stages to cinema screens around the world. Sky Arts has been a key partner and headline sponsor of NT Live since 2017, supporting the National Theatre’s aim to widen access to the best of British theatre nationwide.

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The UK theatre industry’s two leading membership associations, Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, today announced a unique partnership with data and insight specialists Baker Richards to develop a new ‘Evidence Centre’.

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Courtesy of Pippa Samaya.

Cryptocurrency has ignited the imaginations of many, a form of digital currency created online with transactions stored on a blockchain (a database recording transactions made), the currency was introduced in 2009, Bitcoin the pioneering brand of coin and perhaps most well known of its kind. Years on from the currency’s creation, Non-Fungible Tokens have also gone onto encourage curiosity – a non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain and one that can be sold and traded at the owner’s discretion. Inspired by this recent development within the tech world, dance company AΦE (AE), comprising of founders Aoi Nakamura and Esteban Lecoq combine their technological and choreographic know-how to introduce the initial stage of @Lilith.Aeon – a story based NFT (Non-fungible token) comprising of seven videos exploring concepts of life, death and what lies beyond this. In order to access the project, viewers are asked to purchase $Aeon (AE Coin), AΦE’s brand of social token that can then be traded to access it. Aoi and Esteban tell us more about exploring the project’s existential themes, exploring NFTs and the metaverse and what it means to be apart of this pioneering project.

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Two years on from the start of the pandemic and the impact of 2020 has started to emerge, the arts one of the most hardest hit as venues and institutions were forced to closed. With a lack of understanding as to when services could resume, an industry typically dependent on its live aspect, would find that adaptations would have to be made to continue to reach their audiences. A prominent adaptation that has started to emerge from the sector post pandemic is a digital strand of work, one where works are either pre-recorded and streamed or performances are live-streamed. Marking a new chapter within their over 200 year history, The Old Vic introduced the ‘OLD VIC:IN CAMERA’ initiative, allowing for over 108, 810 households in 94 countries to access live streamed performances from the comforts of their own homes, during such an unpredictable time period. Their online work as a result has seen them celebrated at both the inaugural Digital Culture Awards established by the Digital Culture Network with a win for ‘Content Creation and Distribution’ and at the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards with a win for ‘Exceptional Theatre-Making During Lockdown’. Elizabeth Charlesworth, The Old Vic’s Head of Communications tells us more about what both awards mean to the team, working digitally and the venue’s hopes for the future.

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An idea had before last year’s lockdown and born out of her role as OffWestEnd Award Assessor, Caroline Friedman has recognised a need for an online theatrical platform showcasing the work staged at Off West End, Off Broadway and Fringe theatre venues. A platform committed to making the arts more accessible to audiences, the resource has partnered up with the Black film and Theatre Directory and Stagetext to ensure that this becomes a reality, the site also free for viewers to subscribe to and access, as well as being a crucial lifeline for artists to showcase their own work and generate an income. The site also hosts the Theatre Club, a great way to ensure international connection with their New York contingent, the OffWestEnd/OnComm Awards who are vital to highlighting the great work staged within the fringe theatre scene, amongst various theatre festivals and self produced work. Caroline tells us more about the ambitious resource!

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Exploring her own personal experiences of being misunderstood for her learning disability, writer and performer Charlene Salter, in collaboration with Access All Areas present The Interrogation, a bespoke interactive audio experience also drawing on real life cases of learning disabled people unfairly criminalised. Having already toured Greenwich + Docklands International Festival, The Marlowe, The Lowry, Tobacco Factory Theatres, the experience will also show at Battersea Arts Centre and Rich Mix. Charlene tells us more about exploring this important topic via audio technology.

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Courtesy of Ami Robertson.

Power forms a significant part of our lives on both an individual and collective level, a fascinating entity shaping our daily interactions with one another. Born in 2016, after reading a piece in which the topic of power appeared to form the full stop of a larger conversation, cultural thinker and researcher Suzanne Alleyne was inspired to draw on this phenomenon further. Her ongoing research project The Neurology of Power, focusing on the neuroscience behind power. Feeding into this research project, Suzanne, alongside the Barbican Theatre present talk series Can we talk about Power?, a series comprising of various discussions with a distinguished panel of neuroscientists and creatives. Ahead of the event, Suzanne tells us more about what to expect.

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With theatres returning to live audiences again, we emerge from the pandemic with a new hybrid approach – shows becoming increasingly accessible to watch online. Recognising a gap in the market for theatre online, Marquee TV was launched in 2018, a platform showcasing dance, opera, theatre, music and live performance from some of the world’s most recognised organisations including the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. Currently available to access online, as well as on App Store, Google Play, Apple TV, Fire TV amongst others, co-founder Simon Walker tells us more about what to expect from the platform.

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Nicola T. Chang &Isabella Leung

An audio experience formed last year during the pandemic as a way of connecting with listeners, season 1 of Written on the Wavesby 45 North has already received over 5000 listens across 40 countries – showcasing the project’s reach. Soon to release season 2 of the series, the platform will showcase the works of 6 creatives, including Mooncake created by Nicola T. Chang and Isabella Leung. An audio drama revolving around conversations and events had around the delicacy typically enjoyed during the Mid Autumn Festival, Mooncakeplaces the stories of the South and East Asian community to the fore. Ahead of the release, Nicola and Isabella tell us more about what to expect. Continue reading