The Future of Museums - Building Cultural Value through a Creative Use of Data and AI

Museums have played an integral role throughout my life - from my university days, when I was challenged to explain how museums could evolve into sensory experiences, to the present, as I explore the intersection of culture and technology.

This journey has deepened my fascination with museum architecture, the rise of “museum brands,” and how institutions have shifted from mere repositories of objects to immersive, multi-sensory experiences.

As a young mother in London, museums became a lifeline. I spent countless hours with my children at the V&A, the Wallace Collection, the Tate, The Serpentine Galleries, and Leighton House (the list is too long), marveling at the exhibits and how these spaces welcome young families - not just in family spaces but also within exhibitions, allowing touching, crafting, drawing and inventing. Later, a visit to Berlin’s Jewish Museum left a profound impact—walking on an installation of faces with my daughters clinging to the walls to avoid stepping on the haunting images below.

Now, with years of professional experience - including as a board member of Visit Britain - I reflect on the future of museums in a world increasingly shaped by #data and #AI.

What if we could use AI to build cultural value?

Tailoring Museums for Lifetime Value

One issue that cultural places such as Museums face is their "one-visit mentality" - they’re often seen as a one-stop attraction for travelers. Yet, why do we frequent neighborhood pubs regularly but visit local museums only once a year? Cultural places must rethink their value proposition across a person’s lifetime.

• What is Lifetime Value? While many institutions have successfully started engaging young children, they could do more to foster lifelong connections: for instance, high school internships, affordable space to rent for local community events (have you ever been invited to a wedding in a museum?!), co-working areas, and learning programs for older citizens are all opportunities to strengthen the bond between museums, citizens and local companies.?
• Create more opportunities for visits: When I can work remotely in London, I feel much more inspired to work from museums (tips: check Room 121, Clore Study Area at the V&A) rather than in soulless co-working spaces. And yes, I might buy a sandwich and a gift for someone at their amazing gift shop. When visiting friends in Abu Dhabi, I prefer to walk & chat at the Louvres because it ignites thought-provoking conversations. When I was based in London, I would check which exhibitions would fit my current work and run clients meetings on-site - I still remember the excitement from the team at the Serpentine Gallery discussing our next hackathon while admiring the tongue & cheek work from Simon Dennys and his thoughts on management practice.
• Harnessing Museums' local landscape: by understanding their cities' shifting demographics and the evolution of the broader urban landscape of transport systems, public/private space, and socio-economic behaviors, museums can harness data to create lifetime value. Building long-term relationships rather than merely selling tickets for the latest exhibition is about using data and AI creatively.

Harnessing data to create lifetime value should be a key focus for museums today.

The Power of Socratic Questioning: Harnessing Invisible Data via LLM ?

Curators have always excelled at storytelling, weaving disparate elements—video, sound, painting, writing—into cohesive narratives that captivate audiences. The integration of generative AI could radically accelerate this process.

• Imagine curators quickly interacting with vast databases of art and cultural artifacts in natural language, generating connections between works across time and medium. This would transform how exhibitions are conceived, allowing faster, more innovative storytelling. The experience would be very different from building an Excel spreadsheet, connecting to different museums’ databases, and researching what is available when and according to which conditions.??
• The V&A’s groundbreaking exhibitions on subjects like video games and the opera are a testament to the power of imaginative curation. It was fascinating to see how the exhibitions analyzed the impact of those topics through many different lenses (I loved the “Passion, Power and Politics” for the Opera one) and created links with historical, sociological, design, and political artifacts. Now I wonder how long and tenuous the work from the curators has been.

Historically, museums have struggled with limited budgets and data expertise, but generative AI can change that by modernizing access to analytics and enabling a dialogue with data.

Thanks to GenAI (check Dataiku Answers), you have the opportunity to question your knowledge and artifacts. This is true data democratization. Curators could converse with data - it is Socratic maieutic. That will never replace anyone, as talent is about asking the right questions!

From Data Scientists to Data Artists: we all must question the value we create through data.?

I often must discuss #ROAI (return on Investment of AI). By clarifying the meaning of value, I work with the C-suite to challenge the current measure of success. If we focus on economic value, we often concentrate on the short term and efficiency. By adding sustainability and social lenses, we can use data more creatively.

That's why I am delighted to launch our WiDS chapter in Dubai with Ekta Sehgal Matta , Nasim Bano , Adela Deanova and Umut ?ATIR GüRBüZ to challenge organizations to think through multiple value lenses.

Given that we will be working at the stunning Dubai Opera, what would it mean to build cultural value? What would be the role of Cultural spaces, such as Operas and Museums in driving it? What could be the best way to measure success? In which way could data and AI help?

• Cultural Value could mean Conservation and restoration: As we use data and AI for anticipated maintenance in many industries, they will also play a growing part in preserving historical buildings from increased climate risks or helping plan conservation strategies for artifacts…?
• Cultural Value is also Enhanced Accessibility: From making art easier to consume (text-to-speech applications, for instance) within museums to ensuring LLMs use different languages, cultural spaces have a leading role in the future of thinking. (Logos means language AND thinking in Greek)
• Finally, Cultural Value is also about fostering dialogue between cultural organizations themselves

Join us at WiDS Dubai (13th & 14th November) to brainstorm how to deliver lasting cultural value. Thanks to Wipro Geetika Sood for making this possible!

As András Szántó highlights, museums stand at a pivotal moment. In the 21st century, those who harness technology and data, reimagining themselves as inclusive community hubs and lifelong learning spaces, will lead the cultural revolution.

As data experts, we have a role in building economic but also cultural and social value. After all, if LLMs are only developed in English, are we not limiting our understanding of the world’s diverse cultures and perspectives?