Bridge Conference 2025 has revealed details of its full programme ahead of the inaugural event in Croatia later this month.

Taking place from 20-22 May, Bridge will be hosted at the luxurious five-star Kempinski Hotel in Istria where organisers have persuaded some of the world’s most influential voices from the music and tech sectors to share their thoughts for an event they hope will “spark powerful new connections and unlock global opportunities.”

Among the speaker line-up will be Maria May (CAA), Indira Paganotto (ARTCORE), Matthias Strobel (MusicTech Germany), Steve Hogan (WME), Cindy Castillo (Mad Cool), Juan Arnau (Elrow), Dušan Kovačević (EXIT), Julie Pilat (FYI.AI), Ivan Milivojev (EXIT), Turo Pekari (MusicTech Finland), Ruud Berends (IFF), Nick Mathews (Wasserman Music), Jess Kinn (One Fiinix Live), and more.

Topics for the Bridge debates will include AI, blockchain, emerging technologies, global market expansion, artist booking strategies, sustainability, and new models of fan engagement.

A major highlight of the Bridge programme will be the two-part Data vs. Gut series

Presented by Serbia’s EXIT Festival, Bridge is aiming to unite some of the sharpest minds in music and tech to forge groundbreaking collaborations and tackle critical industry challenges, to ensure a sustainable, innovative future.

A major highlight of the Bridge programme will be the two-part Data vs. Gut series, examining how the music industry navigates between instinct and statistics in critical decision-making. In Data vs. Gut 1: Navigating Analytics and Instinct in Artist Selection and Booking, European festival bookers and execs will explore how programming decisions are made in a world increasingly driven by data. The conversation will continues in Data vs. Gut 2: Navigating Analytics and Instinct in Artist Positioning and Market Penetration, where agency heavyweights will unpack the strategies behind building artists’ global trajectories.

Expanding the conversation into the digital frontier, Limitless Capacity: Unlocking Global Audiences Through Digital Worlds will uncover how virtual platforms are transforming fan engagement and global reach. Meanwhile Quantum Leap in Audience Growth Through AI & Data-Driven Marketing promises to offer insights into how festivals, managers, and artists can supercharge their reach and engagement.

Conference keynotes will feature ITB co-founder Barry Dickins, and FKP Scorpio chief Folkert Koopmans

The conference’s keynotes will allow delegates to tap into decades of industry wisdom, when legendary agent Barry Dickins (ITB) reflects on his six decades in the business in conversation with Greg Parmley, while FKP Scorpio’s Folkert Koopmans (FKP Scorpio) will unpack the journey behind building one of Europe’s biggest live music companies in an in-depth conversation with IQ Magazine’s James Drury.

Festival innovation will be a key theme throughout Bridge, with the Festival VR Experience Activation – an immersive showcase originally launched at Expo Dubai – kicking off the programme with EXIT Festival’s bold vision for the future of live events. And Matthew Hoag of Interstellar.plus will lead the panel The Next-Gen Festival: How AI and Emerging Tech Are Revolutionizing Live Music Experiences, featuring creative pioneers from Sila Sveta, Arcadia Spectacular, and Elrow.

Full details for the three-day event are available on the Bridge website, while a limited number of tickets, which include a free pass to the 22-25 May Sea Star Festival in nearby Umag, are also still available.

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Sphere Entertainment and Google have announced a new AI partnership, billed as marking a “pivotal moment” in entertainment technology.

The companies are using generative AI to help bring an immersive version of The Wizard of Oz, originally released in 1939, to Sphere in Las Vegas from 28 August.

The presentation on the venue’s 160,000sq ft interior display plane will deploy Google AI alongside traditional VFX and film techniques to expand scenes and enhance characters to create a “never-before-seen” experience.

“The power of generative AI, combined with Google’s infrastructure and expertise, is helping us to achieve something extraordinary,” says Jim Dolan, Sphere Entertainment executive chairman and CEO. “We needed a partner who could push boundaries alongside our teams at Sphere Studios and Magnopus, and Google was the only company equipped to meet the challenge on the world’s highest resolution LED screen.”

Sphere is also using Google Cloud’s AI-optimised infrastructure to support the data and computational demands in building its immersive experiences, with The Wizard of Oz at Sphere processing 1.2 petabytes of data over the course of the project to date.

“Our partnership with Sphere on The Wizard of Oz at Sphere is a great example of pushing the boundaries of generative AI”

The project involves “first-of-its-kind” engineering work and thousands of creators, coders and VFX artists. Google Cloud and Google DeepMind are working together to enhance the film’s resolution, extend backgrounds, and digitally recreate existing characters who would otherwise not appear on the same screen.

The firms say the production will represent a leap forward for the future of visual storytelling “akin to The Wizard of Oz’s use of Technicolor nearly 90 years ago”.

“Our partnership with Sphere on The Wizard of Oz at Sphere is a great example of pushing the boundaries of generative AI to deliver exciting new experiences for audiences – and new opportunities for studios and filmmakers,” adds Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian. “We are honoured to play a role in such an ambitious project to bring a classic piece of Americana to an entirely new generation of audiences.”

Since last autumn, Sphere Las Vegas has presented an exclusive “cinematic experience” based around U2’s groundbreaking show at the 20,000-cap next-gen venue, while Postcard from Earth, a nature film from director Darren Aronofsky, has been a Sphere staple since launching in October 2023.

Meanwhile, the Eagles have added a batch of shows to their Sphere residency this autumn. The run will now feature a total of 44 shows from 20 September through to 8 November. Tickets start at $175. Other ongoing and upcoming artist residencies at the venue include Dead & Company, Kenny Chesney and Backstreet Boys.

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AI-assisted video surveillance was tested at concerts by French police ahead of their deployment at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The authorities tested six AI-enabled cameras at Depeche Mode’s two-night stand at Accor Arena earlier this year in the run-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will be held from 26 July to 11 August.

Biometric Update reports the system runs on software platform Cityvision, developed by Paris-based Wintics, with the tools trained to detect eight types of suspicious or potentially dangerous activity.

According to the Telegraph, weapons, fire, bodies on the ground and abandoned packages will send alerts to surveillance operators, as will crowd behaviours including mass movement, trespassing in restricted zones, overcrowding and traffic that goes against the flow, abandoned packages, weapons, a body on the ground and fire.

Once an incident has been flagged, operators will decide whether or not to alert authorities and request police action.

The French parliament passed a law in May last year authorising the use of AI for the security of sporting and recreational events following the chaotic pre-match crowd management scenes that marred the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final at the Stade de France. However, the law bans the use of algorithmic facial recognition.

“Algorithmic video surveillance is inherently dangerous biometric technology”

The measures have raised the ire of privacy group Quadrature du Net, which says: “Algorithmic video surveillance is inherently dangerous biometric technology. Accepting it opens the way to the worst surveillance tools.”

ASM Global announced a partnership with Evolv Technology, a leader in weapons detection security screening, in 2022. ASM’s AO Arena (cap. 21,000) in Manchester became the first arena in Europe to use AI-based threat detection screening system, Evolv Express, to screen guests as they arrive at the arena for events, without the need to stop or remove items from their pockets or policy-compliant bags.

Madison Square Garden Company previously caused controversy in 2022 when it emerged it was using facial recognition technology to prevent anyone who works for a firm that is suing it from entering its venues.

The ban covered venues including New York’s Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre and the Chicago Theatre.

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The transformative potential of artificial intelligence’s (AI) on the live music and entertainment sector was analysed in detail at the International Live Music Conference (ILMC).

Hosted by Cliff Fluet, founder and MD of Eleven, yesterday’s Artificial Intelligence: Moving at Light Speed session featured guests Sammy Andrews of Deviate Digital, Pulsar’s Fran D’Orazio, Observatory’s Ben Sheppee, AXS’ chief strategy officer Marc Ruxin, and aurismatic’s Richard Kurka, who joined the panel via satellite.

Fluet reckoned that AI’s impact makes it “comparable to steam or electricity” in a bygone era.

“Pretty much every innovation from a technological or business perspective is, in some way shape or form, going to be AI-powered going forward,” said Fluet. “Unlike a lot of innovations, 85% of the planet has a device that’s powered and enabled by AI. It’s probably likely to be one of the last ever human inventions.”

In terms of how AI can be incorporated into live performance, the opportunities are bountiful despite the industry’s heavy reliance on the human aspect. However, despite its continued improvement at a rapid rate, Andrews believes such advanced technology still needs a “human eye”.

“Though every platform that we use to advertise live music already has AI embedded into it, there’s sometimes a ‘hit or miss’ element to it”

“Though every platform that we use to advertise live music already has AI embedded into it, there’s sometimes a ‘hit or miss’ element to it,” she explained. “We’ve seen a couple of platforms that will remain nameless, checking random music, altering the copy your artist took weeks to approve, and so forth. But we’re halfway there when it comes to correctly identifying audiences and being able to show them the right sort of content. It’s only going to get better.”

The panel soon segued from marketing to ticketing, and AI’s potential to optimise pricing strategies for live events to guarantee maximum profitability and accessibility.

“Dynamic pricing has been around for some time,” said Ruxin. “The reason it hasn’t been broadly adopted in the live performance sector in the way that it has been accepted by consumers is because of two factors: you have artists who want actual fans to be paying appropriate prices for tickets to their shows, and then you have a business mechanism that involves the need to optimise prices and seats.”

Ruxin further discussed the potential of AI to detect counterfeit tickets. “It’s only a matter of when and not if,” he said, with emphasis on how facial recognition technology is a template for AI to discern which tickets are real or otherwise.

Having talked about using aurismatic as “essentially a Shazam alternative for live music using AI”, Kurka added that one of his company’s main goals is to establish something that he firmly believes is “missing in the live music sector”.

“It could work well in smaller gigs that operate on smaller budgets”

On the topic of “predictive analytics”, D’Orazio believed that AI provides those without technological and data expertise the chance to “emulate someone like [Mad Men character] Don Draper in the 1950s”.

“Trend forecasting can now go back in the hands of the people that don’t have technical or scientific backgrounds,” D’Orazio said, noticing an irony in advanced AI technology encouraging a throwback to an “older method of creative thinking and advertising”.

When asked on whether there is a general misconception that AI is a cheaper method of creating something, Sheppee answered in the affirmative.

“There are costs when creating visual elements with AI,” he said. However, he admitted that AI can also be used to circumvent the possibility of copyright infringement. “Last year, we had consulted a band who wanted to use an image they either didn’t have rights to, or the rights were really expensive. We managed to generate a piece of content that was broadly similar, which rendered it a cost-saving exercise.”

He added that while AI isn’t feasible to use in large-scale arenas like Las Vegas Sphere, “It could work well in smaller gigs that operate on smaller budgets.”

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Talent giant Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has signed AI and metaverse technology and content company Futureverse.

Deadline reports that the businesses will collaborate to create new opportunities for talent and IP, “spanning web3, the metaverse, virtual games, worlds and experiences, AI, and beyond”.

The strategic partnership will enable Futureverse to “bolster its strategic entertainment efforts to accelerate the creation of technology experiences in collaboration with well-known IP”.

“We are thrilled to be working with Futureverse, who are establishing themselves as leaders in the technology and entertainment space,” says Phil Quist of CAA. “This relationship is not just a meeting of minds, but a fusion of capabilities that will accelerate our shared vision for a smarter, more connected world.”

Co-founded by Shara Senderoff and Aaron McDonald, Futureverse announced the close of a $54 million Series A funding round in July 2023, led by 10T Holdings, LLC, and including participation from Ripple.

“Futureverse’s strategic collaboration with CAA has forged a strong alignment in fostering the development of mutually beneficial business models”

In the last year, Futureverse has linked up with the likes of Warner Music Group, FIFA, Authentic Brands Group (ABG), Mastercard, Wimbledon, Death Row Records, Wētā Workshop, Snoop Dogg, Timbaland, Keanu Reeves and Alexandra Grant. It launched AI-powered game AI League in cooperation with FIFA on iOS and Android and has partnered with ABG, IP Rights holders of the Muhammad Ali Enterprises, to release the first AI-powered boxing game, Muhammad Ali – The Next Legends.

In August meanwhile, it announced the publication of research in the advancement of music AI with the launch of JEN 1, an “unprecedented universal high-fidelity model for text-to-music generation”.

“At a substantial moment in the evolution of technology, it’s critical to architect a thoughtful and creative approach to the integration of both talent and IP into the dynamic landscape of innovation,” says Senderoff. “Futureverse’s strategic collaboration with CAA has forged a strong alignment in fostering the development of mutually beneficial business models that empower creators with groundbreaking tools and lucrative revenue opportunities.

“As pioneers in AI, web3 and metaverse infrastructure, driven by a deep appreciation for art and humanity, we see an incredibly bright future for the world of entertainment. Joining forces with CAA amplifies and accelerates the dialogue and partnerships that reinforce and expand our shared vision.”

Artémis, an investment firm led by billionaire French businessman Francois-Henri Pinault, acquired a majority stake in CAA in September this year.

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AI startup Afterparty has raised a further $5million in funding to bring its seed capital to a whopping $12m amid plans to launch an app that it believes will transform the relationships between fans and artists.

Afterparty will use the money to develop its platform, which will leverage artificial intelligence to allow fans to have one-to-one interactions with their favourite singers or sports stars or celebrities, while allowing those creators to monetise the service.

Among the investors backing the enterprise are Acrew Capital, Act One Ventures, Red Light Management, Tamarack Global, Vinny Lingham and Wilson Sonsini. The involvement of Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media, and Kygo’s Palm Tree Crew has also generated interest in the media.

The Afterparty platform already offers livestreaming, chat facilities, and collectibles such as NFTs. The new funding round will enable developers to integrate AI voice, photo and video functions that the company says will allow artists “to infinitely scale personalized fan interactions.”

“With Afterparty AI, we have developed a proprietary system from the ground up to scale creator-fan interactions”

Those interactions will allow fans to create unique images and videos with their favourite stars. That content can then be turned into one-of-a-kind collectibles, which will be verified on Afterparty’s blockchain.

“The all-new ability to turn one-to-one AI experiences into fan-generated content takes interaction to an entirely new level,” says David Field, Afterparty’s founder and CEO. “Creators retain control over their content, revenue, and fan relationships. Fans get the opportunity to become content creators and participate in the growth and success of those who inspire them.”

Afterparty’s AI technology is designed to solve the problem of creators not having the time for personal interactions with all the fans who want such an experience, according to Afterparty co-founder Robert Graham. “We heard from many of our creators in the Afterparty community that DMs were their fans’ most-valued experience. However, with thousands of messages coming in at any given time, they have found it impossible to respond in a more personal way both creators and fans crave,” he adds.

“With Afterparty AI, we have developed a proprietary system from the ground up to scale creator-fan interactions. We work closely with creators to ensure that the AI experience is truly authentic to them in the same way we built our creator tools and IRL experiences.”

Launched in 2021, Afterparty first hit the headlines as “the world’s first NFT ticketing platform for artists.”

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AXS has partnered with Satisfi Labs to launch a generative AI-enhanced chat feature that will “elevate customer service offerings”.

The AEG-owned ticketing company believes the integration, which will launch in North America, Europe and Australia, is the first to market.

The AI chatbot feature, powered by Satisfi’s patent-pending Context Large Language Model (LLM) Response System, is said to immediately answer questions such as ‘How do I transfer my tickets?’ or ‘Can I sell my tickets?’.

AXS said it has seen a reduction in customer service wait times and increased satisfaction since implementing the system, which leverages enhanced intent routing, automated answer generation, intent reporting, and language capabilities.

“Quickly resolving inquiries, particularly during major event on-sales, is critical to the overall fan experience,” says Tom Andrus, chief operating officer for AXS.

“Quickly resolving inquiries, particularly during major event on-sales, is critical to the overall fan experience”

“For three years, Satisfi Labs has helped us quickly and easily service our customers and address their inquiries. We look forward to continuing our integration and improving together as we deliver the best customer experience in the industry.”

“We are incredibly proud to support AXS in their mission to improve the customer experience,” said Don White, CEO of Satisfi Labs. “Ticket service providers like AXS are embracing the current moment and the technology that will allow them to take the customer experience to new heights, understanding the positive impact that it has on both the customer and the provider. We look forward to continuing this partnership and seeing what we can accomplish together.”

Satisfi Labs is an AI platform for sports, entertainment, and tourism, that has received major investments from Google, Major League Baseball, Techstars, and Florida Funders.

AXS is the ticketing partner for over 500 premier venues, sports teams, and event organisers across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia including First Avenue, USGA, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Crypto.com Arena, Coachella, Stagecoach, The O2, and BLeague in Japan.

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The controversy over the use of artificial intelligence within music intensified this week when a song that simulated the voices of Drake and The Weeknd was removed from streaming services due to a copyright claim. Here, in this feature from our latest issue, IQ delves deeper into the rise of AI and its implications for the live music business…

For anyone unfamiliar with OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool, the artificial intelligence chatbot has been making the headlines for some time now, most recently when one of the company’s founders, Elon Musk, became one of 1,000 signatories of an open letter that calls on labs around the world to immediately cease “for at least six months, the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.”

Underlining their concerns, the scientists, academics, and tech pioneers who added their names to that of Musk, stated that the six-month pause on development, “should be public and verifiable and include all key actors. If such a pause cannot be enacted quickly, governments should step in and institute a moratorium.”

While many observers have criticised the letter, which to add to consternation was instigated by the alarmingly named Future of Life Institute, the call has been taken seriously by many others. The Italian government has moved to temporarily ban ChatGPT, blocking its citizens from access to the service by citing OpenAI’s failure to verify the age of its users while arguing that the mass processing of personal data to train the chatbot is also questionable under European law.

“ChatGPT is [Google] on steroids”

Other EU nations are apparently also considering blocking ChatGPT, while China has also banned the tool, labelling it an instrument of Western propaganda. However, Chinese tech giants such as Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent are known to be developing their own AI chatbot platforms.

However, with chatbots now a common and accepted (if sometimes frustrating) part of customer relations, the use of AI is undoubtedly here to stay, with ChatGPT and other systems such as ChatSonic, Playground, Bard, and numerous others soaking up billions of dollars in research, set to revolutionise the way we all conduct business and other aspects of our lives.

“Remember when Google first appeared, and people thought it was weird that you would want to ask your search engine questions to get results? Well, ChatGPT is that on steroids,” observes musicologist and founder of The Online Recording Studio, Joe Wadsworth.

“By using ChatGPT, I can access the sum total of human knowledge in a way that’s perfectly curated to the question or task at hand”

Also using Google as a reference point is author David Boyle, who has written three books on the subject of AI, including PROMPT FOR MUSICIANS: A practical guide to brand growth using ChatGPT, co-written with Richard Bowman, to provide a guide for people working in music to sharpen their ChatGPT skills.

“If you ask Google a question at the moment, you’ll find a very small subset of answers that we can use to help make decisions,” observes Boyle. “AI massively amplifies that. If we devoted our whole life to reading about the live music industry, we’d still only read a tiny, tiny percentage of what was online. But ChatGPT can access everything that is available online, summarise that, and deliver a comprehensive document within minutes, in whatever style you request.

In other words, it can access the sum total of human knowledge in a way that’s perfectly curated to the question or task at hand. “For instance, if I’m interested in researching the future of concerts, without AI, it would take me days to find all the right stuff, and I would not be able to interpret it – and I wouldn’t be able to understand the information in foreign languages that I don’t read. But by using ChatGPT, I can access the sum total of human knowledge in a way that’s perfectly curated to the question or task at hand. It’s awesome!”

“AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity”

One of Boyle’s golden lessons is that experts should always judge, refine and enhance ChatGPT’s output. So, how did it do this time? “Not great,” says Boyle. “With some rewording, 1, 4 and 5 are ok, but 2 and 3 aren’t likely to be valuable avenues to explore. For marketing, concentrate on understanding an artist or genre’s target audience, devising content and messaging strategies, and rapidly producing marketing materials. Legal tasks, such as converting brief notes into contracts and vice versa should be added.

“Enhancing communication is another big area of opportunity, quickly transforming rough emails into concise, clear, and well-structured messages. However, in all use cases, it’s essential to have experienced professionals evaluate, refine, and improve ChatGPT’s output, as it was with this list [for IQ] .”

However, in their ‘Pause Giant AI Experiments’ letter, Musk et al protest, “AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity, as shown by extensive research and acknowledged by top AI labs.” The letter adds, “Should we automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones? Should we develop nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete, and replace us? Should we risk loss of control of our civilisation? Such decisions must not be delegated to unelected tech leaders.”

“With something that has the potential to be as powerful as this, taking a minute to look at the implications from a sort of societal level, is no bad thing”

Wadsworth tells IQ, “I think what [Musk and others] are saying is absolutely right. Just taking a minute to say, ‘Hang on, let’s do the smart thing here and just really look at this,’ seems a really measured way of doing it. Culturally, the capitalistic approach is to go fast and develop and grow and grow. And we’ve seen these big crashes where that gung-ho attitude often ends in disaster.

“With something that has the potential to be as powerful as this, taking a minute to look at the implications from a sort of societal level, is no bad thing.” Boyle has a slightly different take. “It’s a bit like climate change: we’re all worried about it, but if I have to be in America tomorrow, I’m getting on a plane, even though I know it is destroying the climate and it might end mankind,” he states.

“The same is true with AI. It absolutely might end mankind. Terminator is my favourite movie, and one possible end state of where this is going is 100% the end of the world. But I’m using AI every single day. And I’m getting on a plane next week. However, for both AI and air travel, we should work to avoid the long-term downsides at the same time as using the tech in the short term.”

“Personally, ChatGPT makes me quicker and better at doing the things I was already doing”

According to those already using the technology, rather than something to be feared over beliefs that AI capabilities will see humans being replaced on payrolls, ChatGPT should be embraced as a way to speed up certain tasks. In other words, running creative writing assignments through the ChatGPT software can save valuable time, albeit the human factor may still be required to check any AI-generated script for factual errors. Boyle cites his own personal experience of being an early adopter of ChatGPT to highlight the positives.

“Personally, ChatGPT makes me quicker and better at doing the things I was already doing. And it feeds me ideas I would never have thought of,” he explains. “I’m not that good at writing, but now, using AI, I send reports that have coherent sentences, that are thoughtful, and use nice analogies. I have more fun doing it, and I work less hours work per week, so I have more time with my friends and family. But I actually do more work because I can take on more projects and write more articles than I otherwise would have done – it allows me to take on projects that I never would have accepted before because it was too much work for me or slightly out of my expertise. But I know I can do that now because of this AI tool at my disposal.”

Wadsworth, who is currently raising capital to take his OnlineRecordingStudio.com artist services venture to the next level, notes that AI tools for music have evolved from some of the nefarious voice replication programmes that hit the headlines during the US political campaigns of 2015/16, where audio manipulation could make it appear that candidates were saying words that they had never actually uttered.

“If you’re writing to sell your songs, for example, you might want to know what it sounds like to have a certain artist singing them”

“In the years since, people have used the technology on social media to create comedy things – here’s Ozzy Osbourne singing Call Me Maybe,” he says. “But now, I can use ChatGPT to request, ‘write me a song about going to the shops, in the style of Kanye West,’ and it will just do it. It won’t be perfect, but it’s 75% of the way there, and you can then go through and edit stuff as needed.”

Wadsworth adds, “There are huge positives that are going to come out of this. If you’re writing to sell your songs, for example, you might want to know what it sounds like to have a certain artist singing them. Traditionally, you wouldn’t have been able to do that. Now I can say, I’ve written this song for a Taylor Swift-type artist and hear how it sounds with her voice. There’s also monetisation opportunities for artists to license their voice – not necessarily for release but for personal use.”

In terms of the applications for people working in the live side of the business, both experts promote ChatGPT’s benefits when it comes to communication-based tasks. “If you’re pitching something to somebody, [ChatGPT] is really good,” says Boyle. “At worst, take a pitch you’ve already written, submit it to ChatGPT and ask, ‘How can I improve this?’ It might suggest tidying up the wording, improving punctuation: ‘In paragraph three, you can make a more compelling case for why it benefits the recipient.’ Or better still, get it to rewrite the pitch.”

“t just seems a bit scary because we’ve had some 100 years of sci-fi talking about how the robots are going to take over”

Wadsworth says, “Anything that’s a repetitive task or doesn’t require a huge amount of creative skill – and when I say ‘creative,’ I mean actually coming up with new things as opposed to just regurgitating things – then that’s something that can be done by an AI. I don’t think there’s any issue with that – things like generating chord patterns can be automated if you know how to use it properly. I don’t see that as being any different from any other tool, honestly. It just seems a bit scary because we’ve had some 100 years of sci-fi talking about how the robots are going to take over.”

But the duo also flag up limitations. “It’s not only about how you ask ChatGPT the question; it’s also about whether it’s the right question or not because there’s some questions that it can’t answer,” says Boyle. “It’s not very good at recalling specific facts – so a person’s biography or a news story or a stat. So in general, that’s not a good use case. Another thing it’s not very good at is analysing big, structured data tables, so using it to help with tour routing might not be great.”

Wadsworth agrees. However, he notes that as AI systems are trained and develop, those kinds of tasks might quickly become part of its skillset. “There are definitely strong use cases within marketing,” continues Wadsworth. “Want a new bio for your band… just tell ChatGPT a few bits of information and ask it to write, say, 600 words, and it will produce something really good. If you’re an indie band, it might save you the cost of hiring a publicist or a copywriter.

“[ChatGPT] is like an electric bike for the mind, which lets you tackle bigger problems and to go faster”

“It can also come up with ideas for 20 TikToks that will engage your act’s audience, whereas the band members might only think of 12.” And Wadsworth sees AI becoming a significant tool when it comes to generating playlists on streaming services.

“Spotify algorithms are based on user behaviour. Whereas with an AI tool, it can actually listen to a song and break down the sonic identity of that track in detail, meaning it can link tracks with similar lyrical content, for instance, which is a big change and could massively benefit lots of acts.” Boyle concludes.

“[ChatGPT] is like an electric bike for the mind, which lets you tackle bigger problems and to go faster. You still have to pedal – and it’s totally okay to choose to pedal an old-fashioned bike – but do not expect to cover the same ground with the same amount of effort as people who are using an electric bike.”

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A North Carolina stadium is using artificial-intelligence (AI) technology to monitor for Covid-compliant public behaviour, such as social distancing and the wearing of face coverings, among fans arriving at the venue.

The 50,500-capacity Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, which is primarily used for American football, has installed ‘Health Greeter Kiosks’ to encourage anyone passing to wear masks and practice social distancing. The AI – specifically machine learning and computer vision – uses real-time data from a depth-sensing camera to detect if someone is wearing a mask and whether there is proper spacing between individuals. As people walk by the screens, a large display alerts them to either correct or continue their behaviour.

The technology was developed by the University of North Carolina’s Reese Innovation Lab, with support from Lenovo North America, and first deployed for an American football match (University of North Carolina vs Virginia Tech) on 10 October. The kiosks, which were placed at locations such as entrances, bag-check queues and ticket offices, “worked as intended, tracking and encouraging safe behaviour”, according to Lenovo.

“These kiosks will help us better understand human behaviour and encourage safe behaviour”

“We needed real innovation to meet this unprecedented challenge, and pushing the limits of technology is at the core of our lab’s mission,” says Steven King, chief innovation officer of Reese Innovation Lab. “Engineering a technological response to Covid-19 and event-attendance restarting is a real and rewarding challenge, [and] I’m grateful for the support of UNC-Chapel Hill leadership, our exceptional and inventive students and Lenovo.”

The kiosks, which use fully anonymised data, with no images saved or transmitted, may help shape safety protocol and provide insight on how crowds behave during the coronavirus pandemic, adds King.

“We see this as the starting point of wider deployment, with opportunities to refine and customise the technology,” he explains. “From campus hallways to outdoor events, these kiosks will help us better understand human behaviour and encourage safe behaviour, and I’m excited to see how we evolve and adapt this AI-powered solution.”

This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.

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You are looking to buy a ticket to an interesting event for the upcoming weekend. Instead of navigating to your browser, you ask Siri or Alexa, “What’s happening this weekend in town? What are my friends and family doing?”

Within milliseconds, your AI assistant searches the internet for the events that seem most appealing to your interests and that appear in your family and friend’s social media feeds. Your AI assistant responds asking you follow-up questions on your desired experience and budget.

Once you have found the perfect event, you give your AI assistant the go-ahead to buy the tickets. Almost immediately, your tickets are purchased, verified and readily available in your mobile wallet. This transaction was likely processed through a mobile payments solution and automatically added to your calendar. Your AI assistant asks if you would like to invite friends, because if they also attend the event, the brand offers you an incentive.

The day of the event is here. When you get within a geofenced area of the event location, you receive a notification asking if you would like an augmented-reality tour guide to assist you to your gate of entry and seats. As you approach entry to the event, your face is scanned to verify your identity and your radio-frequency identification (RFID) or mobile phone ticket is checked-in in a near frictionless entry point.

A ticket is not just a piece of paper, but the direct connection between a person and an experience

Once you enter, your phone becomes a second-screen experience, providing your choice of merchandise, food ordering, artist or athlete information, game statistics and live betting experiences. When you arrive at your seat your food and drink order is waiting for you and you settle in for a great time.

This glimpse into the near-future is closer than it might seem. All of the referenced technology already exists. The next step is bridging the gap between the intersection of the experience, technology and human behaviour.

A ticket is not just a piece of paper, but the direct connection between a person and an experience. It is also the core mechanism for how organisations will gather data to better engage with you and provide offers you will find interesting.

The smartest organisations invest not only in technology, but also commit to securing the treasure trove of data on their users. Piecing these together will be the key to continually providing users with great experiences in a world of increasing entertainment options.

Mark Miller is the co-founder and chief executive of TicketSocket, a white-label ticketing and registration service for venues and events.