The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has unveiled two new generative AI initiatives to transform how people discover art.
The museum is partnering with Google Arts & Culture on the projects, which include generative AI prototypes that address the visitor experience and an interactive AI tool called Art Aura.
Starting with the prototypes, the Met recently completed its six-month technologist in residence programme, for which it teamed up with creative technologist Julia Daser to explore how generative AI can enhance museum visits.
Using Google Gemini and Vertex AI, Daser collaborated with curators at the museum to quickly build and live-test prototypes directly in the exhibition spaces.
"Over the course of the six-month digital residency, we built dozens of testable prototypes that address the entire visitor journey, from initial navigation to post-visit engagement," said Brett Renfer, senior programme manager of emerging technologies at the Met.
"We’re excited about possibilities like improved wall text accessibility, wayfinding and deep post-visit engagement, and hope our findings can serve as inspiration for other institutions."
In addition to the residency, the Met is launching Art Aura, an interactive, multimodal AI experience developed by the Google Arts & Culture Lab.
Powered by Google Gemini, Art Aura allows users to create a "personalised portrait of their unique artistic taste", according to a blog post.
Users can drag artworks, styles or descriptive phrases into a digital zone to discover hidden thematic connections across the centuries of art in the museum's collection.
Earlier this year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced plans to merge with the Neue Galerie from 2028.
