How can museums build audience trust in the age of doomscrolling and fake news? Explore the technology sessions shaping the debate at the Museums + Heritage Show
As artificial intelligence floods the internet with generated content and social media platforms struggle with misinformation, museums are asking a pointed question: what do they have that the algorithms don’t?
It is one of several pressing digital questions on the agenda at this year’s Museums + Heritage Show, taking place on 13–14 May, where a packed programme of technology-focused sessions reflects just how urgently the sector is grappling with its digital future.
The most timely of these is a panel discussion titled Doom scrolling, fake news and AI slop: is authenticity the key to successful social media?, bringing together Florence Symington, director of brand and audience at the Royal Armouries, Connor Murphy, head of communications and marketing at Manchester Museum, and Ultan Moran, digital marketing and heritage officer at Glasnevin Cemetery.
The panel is expected to examine how museums can make more of their reputation for accuracy and authenticity as social media becomes increasingly difficult to navigate, and whether that gives cultural institutions a natural advantage in building audience trust online.
The social media question is just one strand of a wider technology conversation running through the show. Museums, Heritage and Culture Consultant Linda Spurdle will chair a theatre at the event leading technology-focussed sessions.
Elsewhere on the programme, Leeds Castle will present its creation of an AI avatar of Queen Eleanor of Castile, developed for an experience called Pilgrimage of Love. The session will cover the curatorial and technical process behind the project, as well as the challenges of AI-driven heritage interpretation.
The National Gallery will share how it has reimagined its digital visitor experience through expanded content creation and large-scale digital infrastructure. And Wellcome Collection’s head of digital experience and insights, Jsonathan Cates, will outline the organisation’s approach to applying emerging AI technologies to its diverse collection.
On the exhibition floor, avatar technology company Ailias will demonstrate how museum displays can be transformed into interactive, visitor-led conversations through AI presences capable of multilingual interaction.
For professionals attending the show, the programme offers plenty of space to explore what the right relationship with new technology looks like for their institution.
The Museums + Heritage Show takes place on 13–14 May at Olympia London.
It’s free to attend.
