Academics from Royal Holloway will lead a new research project as part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s (AHRC) Bridging Responsibilities AI Divides (BRAID) programme.
Professor Jen Parker-Starbuck from the Department of Drama, Theatre and Dance, and Professor Will Saunders MBE from the CoSTAR National Lab are to lead a research project that will investigate how responsible AI tools can create more equitable opportunities in the creative sector and build environmental resilience.
AHRC’s BRAID programme has funded £3.5 million to three new projects, including Performance, Participation, Provenance and Reward in Responsible AI (P3R), which will be led by PI Professor Parker-Starbuck, and CoStar National Lab’s Professor Saunders.
P3R will galvanise new and developing musical talent around access to the next generation of responsible AI tools and services. It will explore new technologies, new business models and new approaches to data provenance in pursuit of an equitable future in live music.
With the support of artists, audiences, venues, and other industry stakeholders, P3R will develop a demonstrator that puts new responsible tools into the hands of musicians to help them find audiences in new places and seeks to address the increasing erosion of grassroots music venues across the UK.
P3R is delivered by Royal Holloway, University of London as part of the CoSTAR National Lab for Creative Industries, with academic partners Abertay University, University of Surrey / Institute for People-Centred AI and The National Film and Television School.
The BRAID programme was launched by the AHRC in 2022, with a total of £15.9 million in planned funding through to 2028.
In partnership with the Ada Lovelace Institute and the BBC, BRAID’s multidisciplinary team is led by co-directors Professor Ewa Luger and Professor Shannon Vallor at the University of Edinburgh.
BRAID seeks to enrich, expand, and connect a mature, sustainable and responsible AI ecosystem by leveraging the power of the arts and humanities to enable more humane, inspired, equitable and resilient forms of AI innovation.
