The EU-funded preparatory action ‘European Heritage Hub’, whose remit is to contribute to better policy-making in the field of cultural heritage in Europe, organised an online policy discussion on 29 September 2026 on how cultural heritage can help to realise ‘Public AI’. More than 500 people registered to the event in which numerous key stakeholders from the Europeana Commission, the European Parliament, UNESCO, Europa Nostra and the Europeana Foundation presented their ideas and visions, and a high-level dialogue discussed the shaping of public AI in Europe (for full further details see the programme). In this article, we summarize the key points and the expert dialogue.
The cultural heritage sector has often been a pioneer in the adoption of new technologies. And in this era of radical technological change, the cultural and creative sectors are once again facing challenges. It is important to strike a balance between viewing artificial intelligence as both a challenge and an opportunity. The European Commission is endeavouring, through its existing legislation and strategies on AI (e.g. the EU AI Act, Culture Compass for Europe), to ensure that AI becomes a service that complements human creativity and agency and facilitates access to cultural heritage data. As a further step, the European Commission plans to publish a new strategy addressing these issues in spring 2027.
Many questions concerning AI still remain unanswered: How can we safeguard cultural and linguistic diversity, avoid bias, demonstrate transparency and prevent the risk of being denied access to funding, technologies and tools? Technology does not, in itself, make knowledge more democratic or diverse. Knowledge must be used in context and accompanied by references. And what about knowledge that has not yet been digitised? To address these questions, we need strong global connections and partnerships. Otherwise, we run the risk of losing control over how data is used, the visibility of all data will not be guaranteed, and our technical infrastructures will be subjected to enormous strain.
INNOVATE
● Treat cultural heritage and other public knowledge institutions as AI actors, and fund the required infrastructure that enables them to play that role.
Cultural and natural heritage institutions are trusted sources of knowledge and they have heavily invested in metadata, digitisation and infrastructure in the past. A balanced approach must therefore be found to the use of these resources, as well as to their appropriate recognition and remuneration. ‘AI should not be a race that we have to win, nor should it be optimised solely for private gain.’ To shape the technology in line with public values, cultural heritage stakeholders have to be part of the EU’s AI strategy groups and should also be provided for under a dedicated budget line.
PROTECT
● Make reciprocity a condition of EU support for AI development.
With regard to new policy recommendations, the participants in the high-level dialogue proposed a financial policy for public AI that focuses on the demand side and the connecting of existing resources. Cultural heritage institutions should be involved as early as possible so that negotiations can take place before the data is used. Furthermore, these institutions should be able to evaluate AI tools and be recognised as co-creators. In this context, it is important that long-term relationships and collaborations develop which also support small organisations and give them a voice.
EMPOWER
● Invest in the capacity to govern AI systems, not the capacity to adopt them.
The European AI infrastructure currently being established by the European Commission could help to create communities and provide cultural heritage stakeholders with environments in which they can process their data, test applications and explore how AI can support their needs and practices. All investments should aim to help cultural heritage institutions not only to expand their capacity to utilise, evaluate and critically engage with AI, but also to provide the means to govern AI systems. And since the exchange of information will be key, there is also a need to collaborate on adapting licences (Guidance on CC Licensing in the Age of AI) for the use of data by AI.
Finally, it was agreed that a bottom-up approach that involves local communities would contribute to a fair exchange of value between stakeholders in the fields of cultural heritage and artificial intelligence.
For more on this, read the new Policy Paper on The case for Public AI issued by the European Heritage Hub, which sets out a vision of how AI can be used in the cultural heritage sector and how the cultural heritage sector can work with AI.
And join the campaign to put cultural heritage at the heart of Public AI in Europe!
Event materials:
