Harvard Art Museums Tested Out Using Generative AI to Animate 18th-Century Painting as Part of Marketing Campaign

The Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, Massachusetts, tested a generative-AI marketing concept that animated François Boucher’s 1750 portrait Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour and paired it with a conversational chatbot. The experiment was discussed on the Harvard Business Review podcast Open Call by Harvard Art Museums marketing director John Connolly and Harvard Business School assistant professor Julian De Freitas, whose case study was published earlier this year. The beta test split participants between different AI versions, and the museum has not publicly launched the campaign or made it accessible on its website or social media. Connolly reported mixed feedback, while De Freitas said the project showed museums need heightened sensitivity to concerns that AI may feel performative or like cost-cutting rather than adding value.

Read the full article at ARTnews.com