About the Observatory
A national research effort studying how artificial intelligence is reshaping creative practice, education, and the future of creative work.
The Arts and AI Observatory is a national research effort studying how artificial intelligence is reshaping creative practice, education, and the future of creative work.
Through cross-sector field scans and benchmarking studies, the Observatory surveys K–12 learning, higher education, and industry to understand how AI-ready competencies are being cultivated and how artists, designers, and creative professionals are contributing to innovation. The Observatory’s findings inform educational policy, institutional practice, and the development of training pathways that prepare future creative workers for an AI-shaped economy.
Approach
The Observatory’s research is interdisciplinary by design and cross-sector by necessity. It draws together arts educators, researchers, and creative professionals across three contexts that together form the pathway for training and innovation: higher education, K–12 formal and informal learning, and industry. The work proceeds in three phases.
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An initial survey of programmatic responses to AI in higher education arts institutions, examining institutional perspectives, curricular approaches, facilities, leadership, and outcomes — central to understanding what creative skills are being prioritised today and what skills will likely be available in the workforce in the near term.
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Broader engagement with K–12 learning and industry through surveys, interviews, and a series of cases that document how arts, design, and technology programs in formal and informal learning, and in industry settings, are engaging generative AI to create local and national impact.
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An analysis of the ecosystem for innovation in AI through and with the arts, connecting how AI-ready competencies are cultivated among learners with the contributions artists, designers, and creative practitioners are making to advancing innovation, training pathways, and economic impact.
Governance
The Observatory is housed at Carnegie Mellon University and supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts under the NEA Research Labs program. Its work is conducted in partnership with three organizations across arts education, research universities, and creative practice and industries, and informed by an interdisciplinary network of researchers and practitioners.