Michael Volkerling Memorial Lecture 2026

Artificial Intelligence, Memory and Culture: crossroads and cul-de-sacs

Professor Areti Galani, Newcastle University, UK

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are already embedded in the communication of culture. They impact how we discover information and how we share cultural content—they also shape how we generate new knowledge about cultures, how we create new cultural expressions and even how we ‘converse’ with people and objects from the past. In the face of this new communication paradigm, an intense debate is currently taking place in museums around the world: are AI technologies to be embraced and trusted or should they be approached with suspicion and resisted? This lecture attempts to unpick this dilemma by drawing on contemporary examples of AI use in heritage practices, in and beyond the museum. The lecture critically reflects on the opportunities and challenges of AI technologies and ‘synthetic’ media for memory institutions, the knowledges they care for and their audiences. It further asks what kind of ethics and institutional futures museums should strive for when attempting to navigate this fast-evolving techno-cultural environment.

Professor Areti Galani is Deputy Head in the School of Arts and Cultures, at Newcastle University, UK. After working in museums in Greece, Areti completed degrees in museum studies and computing science in the UK, and now teaches and researches Digital Cultural Heritage, including the role of technologies in intercultural dialogue, decolonisation and memory work. Areti has led theoretical, empirical and creative practice-based research on digital imaginaries of European heritage and she is a lead editor/author of the volume European Heritage, Dialogue and Digital Practices (Routledge, 2019). She is currently a co-investigator in the project Living Cultural Labs (LIL-ECHOES, 2026-30), which explores how virtual worlds and AI-enabled cultural environments can help Europe turn cultural difference into a shared resource for belonging.

This free public lecture marks the legacy of the late Dr Michael Volkerling, former Chief Executive of the Museum of New Zealand, who made a huge contribution to the local cultural heritage sector over 30 years and who was founding Director of the Museum and Heritage Studies programme at Victoria University of Wellington—Te Herenga Waka. This event is presented in partnership with National Services Te Paerangi and the Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies.