Styx’s article, “How are museums using AI, and is AI the future of museums?” poses some interesting thoughts and examples of how AI can be used in museums meaningfully. One that I found particularly intriguing was the use of Pepper in the Smithsonian museums. Knowing that Pepper is available to help visitors navigate the museum and answer any questions visitors have can be beneficial to the ease of navigating the museum. But I wonder—knowing that most museums have attendants around exhibits and galleries, is Pepper really necessary? What does Pepper offer that museum attendants cannot? The main thing that comes to mind for me, in that case, is that I assume Pepper is more able to process and deliver information in multiple languages, where not all museum attendants may be able to offer that. This could be especially helpful in busy, international museums, such as the Smithsonians.

As I’m reading this article, I’m thinking about the latest developments in AI and wondering how the use of more recent updates will be utilized in museum spaces. I’m sure it exists somewhere, but I’d love to see how/if museums are using AI art generators to spark conversations about ethics and art, or engaging visitors in creative processes using AI art generators, such as Dall-e.

Brock’s article, “A Museum’s Experience with AI,” seems to echo one of the takeaways from Styx’s: AI in museums can increase accessibility for visitors. Brock explains this in the insights when he points to the generating of alt-text for images or translation of museum materials. It seems as though much of the ideas around the use of AI in museums, from both Brock and Styx, point to the use of AI in less user-centered areas, such as museum databases, as well as the use of AI to increase visitor accessibility.