A course promoted by Fondazione Fitzcarraldo and Sineglossa on artificial intelligence (AI) in the cultural sector for the development of strategies and actions aimed at enhancing digitized heritage. It is designed for young artists and cultural operators, fostering an exchange of perspectives and experiences.
Generative AI tools are revolutionizing the cultural heritage sector and our approach to digitized heritage, offering new perspectives for the management, enhancement, and enjoyment of cultural and artistic assets. Acquiring new skills to master these tools and understand their potential is essential, both for cultural project planning and artistic research.
The course stands out for its experimental teaching methodology and innovative approach, integrating sector-specific expertise (audience development), technical knowledge (AI), and soft skills to enhance project and managerial capabilities. Its highly practical structure enables participants to acquire concrete skills that can be immediately applied in the job market.
Training Program
MODULE 1: Digitization of Cultural Heritage and Digitized Cultural Heritage
This module explores the opportunities and challenges of digitizing cultural heritage. Beginning with a general introduction to digitization, it delves into the legal aspects (regulatory concepts regarding data use and protection) and ethical considerations (issues of distortion and information manipulation). A soft skills workshop encourages mutual understanding among participants and self-reflection.
MODULE 2: AI for Enhancing Digital Heritage
The second module introduces the relationship between artificial intelligence tools and the valorisation of digital heritage. Starting with an introduction to AI fundamentals, it explores recommender systems and generative AI, both technically and in terms of their potential applications for enhancing archives and collections, particularly in audience engagement. A hands-on workshop allows participants to experiment with concepts introduced in theoretical lessons, focusing on Large Language Models and Diffusion Models to understand how to effectively integrate AI into audience development projects.
MODULE 3: Designing Audience Engagement Experiences
The third module provides participants with knowledge and tools to understand the challenges, constraints, and objectives of cultural institutions in heritage enhancement projects. Beginning with an introduction to Audience Engagement principles (public mapping, goal setting), it explores design thinking tools for planning an Audience Development initiative in all its phases: defining the challenge, empathy, ideation, and prototyping principles.
4° MODULO: Project work
The project work phase involves participants in the practical application of the knowledge gained in previous sessions. Working in groups, participants develop an AI-based project aimed at enhancing the digital heritage of a MAB organization (Museums, Archives, and Libraries), covering all project phases: challenge analysis (examining a case study), project ideation (brainstorming), project development (planning implementation phases and expected impacts), and prototype creation.
Trainers
Federico Bomba
President of Sineglossa and researcher at the Human Technology Lab of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. After earning a degree in analytical philosophy, he directed shows staged at festivals worldwide until 2014, the year he founded Sineglossa, an international cultural research center. He works on creating physical and digital ecosystems where artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and artificial intelligences collaborate to generate economic and social development. He is the editor of the Nonturismo/Ediciclo series and the publishing project Mangrovia.
Luca Baraldi
For over twenty years, he has supported companies, foundations, and institutions in developing strategies for digital, strategic, and organizational transition, with a focus on the platform economy and cognitive enhancement systems. He has designed and coordinated cultural analysis and development projects internationally, integrating technological evolution, social analysis, and policy-making. He is currently a consultant for Hyperborea, AI policy advisor for Sineglossa, and scientific advisor for the Design Research Lab at the University of Trento and the European Association for Jewish Heritage. He is a guest lecturer in Data Ethics and AI Ethics at several universities and training institutions. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Joint Focus Group on AI created by EIT and the European Digital SME Alliance. He is also a member of the editorial board of Mangrovia and a columnist on geopolitics, culture, and technology for Atlantis Magazine.
Luna Bianchi
Immanence is a company that evaluates the impacts and ethical risks of technology. Luna is a legal expert with 11 years of experience as an intellectual property manager for a publicly traded multinational corporation. She is a digital human rights activist and, at Privacy Network, she coordinates activities for the Digital Policy department. Since July 2022, she has been a member of the World Economic Forum Working Group on Metaverse Governance.
Francesco D'Isa
With a degree in philosophy, Francesco D’Isa is an author of essays and novels published by Hoepli, effequ, Tunué, Newton Compton, and Edizioni Tlon. Over the years, he has gained extensive experience as a theorist and popularizer in the field of AI and creativity, as well as being a digital artist. His artistic production is distinguished by an extremely original aesthetic, the result of his extraordinary skill in prompt writing and generating images and figures whose unique style often arises from intentional errors guided by D’Isa himself. Recently, he published the illustrated philosophy novel Sunyata (Eris Edizioni) and La rivoluzione algoritmica delle immagini (Sossella Editore, 2024). He is the editorial director of the cultural magazine L’Indiscreto and writes and illustrates for various Italian and international magazines. His works are increasingly being exhibited in shows in Italy and abroad. He is currently a professor of Philosophy at the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute (Florence) and of Illustration and Contemporary Plastic Techniques at LABA Brescia.
Paolo Grigis
With a degree in the psychology of social, decision-making, and economic behavior processes, he is currently a PhD student in Human-Computer Interaction at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. Over the past eight years, he has explored the impact of new technologies on the social sphere. Recently, he has been documenting how large language models are used by creative writers. His doctoral thesis specifically aims to understand how AI-based fictional characters can be employed in fiction writing. Through his interdisciplinary approach, he seeks to combine insights from creativity psychology, user experience studies, and the literary arts sector.
Anna Maria Marras
Anna Maria Marras, PhD in archaeology, is a researcher in Library and Archival Science at the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Turin. She collaborates with various MAB institutions. Her main research fields include digital transformation, digitalization, communication, and digital accessibility of cultural heritage. She coordinates the Digital Technologies for Cultural Heritage Commission of ICOM Italy and is a board member of the Europeana Network Association.
Simona Martini
Head of the Capacity Building Area at Fondazione Fitzcarraldo and expert in support programs for the sustainability and growth of cultural organizations. From 2007 to 2009, she collaborated with the Cultural Observatory of Piedmont, participating in various studies on museum and festival audiences and monitoring the publishing and audiovisual sectors. Until 2014, she was the project manager of ArtLab, a networking and debate platform on cultural policy and practice innovation. Over the past ten years, she has focused on designing training activities, with particular attention to sustainability processes, audience development, and change management.
Daniele Solombrino
Daniele Solombrino is a PhD student in Computer Science at Sapienza University of Rome, where he is part of the GLADIA research group, a multidisciplinary and dynamic team funded by an ERC Starting Grant and a Google Research Award. His research focuses on machine learning for audio editing, music generation, and model fusion. Previously, he earned a master’s degree in Computer Science at Sapienza University of Rome, where he applied AI to solve problems in the medical, sports, robotics, and music fields. He has also explored theoretical AI topics, such as understanding AI decision-making processes and knowledge transfer. He is currently a teaching assistant for the courses Deep Learning and Applied Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Introduction to Programming in Python at Sapienza University of Rome. He has been invited to speak at universities and companies on topics ranging from AI for business innovation to its applications in biology (University of Tuscia) and cinema (University of Minnesota), as well as advanced research in artificial intelligence (Sapienza University of Rome).
Giulia Taurino
Giulia Taurino, PhD, is a Metadata Integration Specialist at the Getty Research Institute and an associate researcher at Northeastern University. Her research focuses on methods for organizing collections in digital archives, the impact of algorithmic technologies in the cultural sector, and AI applications in museum and archival management. She is part of the NULab for Digital Humanities and Computational Social Science research group and the AI & Arts Interest Group at The Alan Turing Institute. From 2019 to 2022, she developed a series of computational art projects, exploring the intersection of AI and curatorial practices in museums. She holds a PhD in Visual, Performing, and Media Arts from a joint program between the University of Bologna and the University of Montreal.
Gaia Tedone
Gaia Tedone is a researcher, curator, and digital humanities scholar exploring the impact of artificial intelligence on co-creation and co-curation processes, both within and beyond the boundaries of art. She earned a PhD in 2019 from the Centre for the Study of the Networked Image at London South Bank University. She teaches at the University of Bergamo, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, and the Milan Polytechnic School of Design. Additionally, she conducts training and outreach activities on Generative AI in the educational field.
Alessia Tripaldi
Sociologist, certified trainer, and storyteller (author of the novel Gli Scomparsi, published by Rizzoli, and the podcast The Horror Podcast, produced by Chora Media). She is co-founder of Sineglossa— a cultural organization that applies contemporary art processes to today’s challenges to build virtuous models of sustainable development—where she leads Training and Research. She has developed various educational methodologies, with a specific focus on the STEAM approach and the enhancement of life skills.
Gabriella Giannachi
Published numerous books, including: Virtual Theatres (2004); The Politics of New Media Theatre (2007); Performing Presence: Between the Live and the Simulated, co-authored with Nick Kaye (2011); Performing Mixed Reality, co-authored with Steve Benford (2011); Archaeologies of Presence, Co-edited with Michael Shanks and Nick Kaye (2012); Archive Everything (2016 and, in Italian translation, 2021); Histories of Performance Documentation, co-edited with Jonah Westerman (2017); Moving Spaces: Enacting Dance, Performance and the Digital in the Museum, co-edited with Susanne Franco (2021); Documentation as Art: Expanded Digital Practices, co-edited with Annet Dekker (2022) and Technologies of the Self-Portrait (2022 and in Italian translation, 2023). Currently working on 3 artificial intelligence projects with institutions such as The National Gallery, The V&A and The National Archives.
Matilde Altichieri
She works as a cultural worker at the Fondazione Gramsci Emilia-Romagna where she deals with design in the field of protection and enhancement of historical heritage and dissemination of the history of the ‘900.
Matteo D'Ambrosio
Head of the library from 2005 to 2014 and then Program Manager. He coordinated the integration project Archives and Libraries of the Polo del ‘900, where he was responsible for the Area Cultural Valorization and Audience Development from 2017 to 2023. He is Lecturer in various master’s degrees in cultural goods and activities at the Universities of Turin and Milan. He is a member of the board of directors of the Polo del ‘900 Foundation.
Paola Asproni
Project Manager of Ama Gramsci – Ask me anything Gramsci, from the Fondazione Istituto Piemontese Antonio Gramsci. Graduate in Archival and Library Sciences at the University of Pisa, since 2008 archivist at the Associazione Culturale Vera Nocentini in Turin. From September 2017 until September 2023, he was part of the Communication Area of the Polo del ‘900 and held the role of manager in 2021-2023.
Credits
GENERATIVE HERITAGE is a training course promoted by Fondazione Fitzcarraldo and Sineglossa, supported by Compagnia di San Paolo, as part of the “Guidelines for Training and Professional Development in the Cultural Sector.”
