This article appeared in the May/June 2025 issue of Museum and reprinted with permission by the American Alliance of Museums.
Industry leaders presenting in the MuseumExpo Solution Theater offer insights on emerging trends shaping the museum sector.
Museum leaders and staff are grappling with a range of new products, programs, and technological possibilities in the hopes of improving operations and the visitor experience. Here, four experts—Ehab Deraz, Founder and CEO of World Retina LLC; Benitta MacLachlan, Knowledge Management, Consultant at Lucidea; Jim Friedlander, President of the Museum Travel Alliance; and Jeff Sass, Chief Marketing Officer at .ART—offer their thoughts on using AI to transform visitor experiences, best practices in digitizing collections, the benefits of a museum travel program, and how digital storytelling can deepen learning and engagement. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.
In what ways is AI transforming visitor experiences?
AI is transforming the visitor-museum relationship, shifting from passive observation to active engagement. Visitors now experience dynamic, real-time interactions based on their interests and questions, turning museums into spaces of dialogue and discovery rather than static repositories. AI-driven storytelling brings historical and artistic narratives to life through interactive digital experiences. Artifacts communicate their histories directly to visitors, adapting their stories based on audience interest or questions. This approach deepens engagement and enriches visitor understanding by making content more personally relevant.
Interactive AI installations also immerse visitors in digital environments, allowing them to explore beyond physical constraints. Visitors can engage with digitally re-created objects, traverse historical scenes, or experience simulations of events that are otherwise impossible to visualize. The museum becomes a facilitator of experiences, not just a keeper of objects.
AI can also personalize the museum visit by utilizing interaction data, such as exhibitions visited or artworks that attract attention. AI can intelligently recommend museum shop products, turning purchases into a meaningful extension of the visit. Such personalized recommendations enhance the overall experience.
How can AI help museums attract younger and more diverse audiences?
Museums aim to broaden their appeal, especially among younger generations and diverse communities, often seen as disconnected from traditional museum experiences. AI serves as a bridge, creating engaging, inclusive, and culturally relevant experiences. AI-based gamification transforms museum visits into inter- active adventures. Quizzes, challenges, and playful explorations make cultural content engaging, particularly for younger visitors accustomed to digital interactivity. This approach reshapes perceptions of museums, making them more vibrant spaces for cultural education.
AI also overcomes linguistic and cultural barriers by providing real-time multilingual interactions. This fosters inclusivity by offering personalized, accessible content in visitors’ preferred languages, reinforcing the museum’s role as a welcoming institution.
What are some ethical considerations for museums in implementing AI-driven experiences?
The adoption of AI in museums requires consideration of ethical issues, such as data privacy, cultural sensitivity, algorithmic bias, and transparency. Visitor privacy is a core concern. AI interactions often involve processing personal data to personalize experiences, so museums must ensure transparency and responsibility in data collection, clearly communicating its purpose while safeguarding visitor privacy. Algorithmic bias is another challenge, as AI systems can perpetuate inaccuracies or stereotypes from biased training data. Museums must actively address these issues through careful data selection, monitoring, and expert oversight to maintain cultural authenticity. Transparency about AI’s role is essential to maintain trust. Visitors should be informed when interacting with AI, including its limitations and sources of information. This allows critical engagement while reinforcing the museum’s credibility as a trusted knowledge source.
How do you see AI balancing personalization while maintaining institutional control over narratives?
AI creates tension between personalized visitor experiences and the museum’s need to maintain narrative authority. While personalization enriches engagement, museums must uphold their educational mission and interpretative authority to prevent misinformation.
A balanced model involves defining clear curatorial boundaries within which AI can personalize content. AI curates from institutionally approved resources, offering personalized selections while maintaining narrative consistency. The human-in-the-loop approach ensures that curators and museum educators oversee AI-generated content, maintaining alignment with institutional stan- dards. This allows AI to amplify curatorial insights while preserv- ing human expertise and main- taining the museum’s integrity and authority of the narrative.
World Retina Cognitive System provides AI-driven solutions that seamlessly integrate innovation with usability, making AI an essential yet unobtrusive force in museum experiences.
What best practices should museums follow to make their collections accessible online?
First ensure your museum has a reliable collections management system (CMS). A user-friendly CMS will help centralize and manage data, enabling cross-referencing of object cataloging, accessions, loans, and exhibition planning. This centralized approach will also support showcasing objects in exhibitions. When cataloging objects, ensure that all relevant information—such as object name, material, artist, and description—is entered thoroughly, as these terms will improve searchability. Utilizing controlled authority fields ensures consistency and enhances findability. High-quality images are essential for online collections. While it’s ideal to have images of all objects, focus on capturing new accessions or setting achievable goals, like photographing a shelf a week. This will improve the user experience of the online collection.
How can online collections foster public trust and engagement with a museum’s mission?
Online collections offer a transparent view into the behind-the- scenes work of a museum. They help the public understand the museum’s research, documentation, and interpretation efforts, positioning the institution as an authoritative resource.
What are common pitfalls museums encounter when implementing digital collections?
A common pitfall when implementing digital collections is waiting for perfect conditions. Museums often delay starting due to the belief that they must first clean up old data, but moving for- ward with a CMS implementation can streamline this process. It’s also unnecessary to share your entire collection at once—share selected records and provide disclaimers that research is ongoing. It’s essential to ensure the CMS fits your institution’s needs, and customizing it can improve efficiency.
How can online collections foster public trust and engagement with a museum’s mission?
While human expertise remains critical, AI can assist in catalog- ing, descriptive work, and re- search. For instance, AI-powered search functions can create connections between words and concepts, offering more comprehensive results. Emerging technologies will continue to evolve, enhancing the management and accessibility of online collections.
Lucidea provides cutting-edge knowledge and collections management solutions to help museums optimize digital accessibility and engagement.
How do travel experiences create deeper connections between donors and museums?
Travel experiences engage donors by immersing them in the art, culture, and stories that the museum preserves, forging personal connections to its mission. The museum’s collection is high- lighted through works on loan or in situ, while staff expertise is showcased via on-site lectures. Donors witness the international scope of the museum’s contributions, reinforcing their support and demonstrating the impact of their investment. Traveling with like-minded individuals, who are guided by world-class experts, is a benefit exclusive to museum members, unavailable to the general public.
What are key factors in designing a travel program that successfully aligns with a museum’s mission?
A well-designed travel program fosters learning, connection, and inspiration, supporting donor engagement. The key is ensuring alignment with the museum’s mission and donor interests. Custom-tailored experiences should reflect the institution’s collections while offering immersive activities and access beyond what individuals could arrange on their own.
Each museum has unique collections, staff, and networks. By leveraging these resources, museum partners can develop one-of-a-kind donor experiences, from tribute journeys honoring pivotal figures to programs complementing major exhibitions or showcasing works on loan worldwide. Every trip must be intellectually stimulating, socially appropriate, and logistically seamless.
Can you share an example of a museum that has successfully leveraged travel to boost donor engagement?
Our goal is always to create im- mersive experiences that illustrate the impact of donor support. On a recent international trip for a museum’s board, we curated an itinerary featuring the expertise of the executive director and curator, giving donors a behind- the-scenes look at their influence in the field. Visits to sites connected to the museum’s collection and history underscored its global recognition and impact. The program deepened donors’ understanding, strengthened their personal connection to the mission, and reinforced their commitment to its success. The most common feedback after these trips? “Where are we going next? ”
How do museums measure the impact of travel-based donor engagement on long-term support?
Travel experiences create lasting memories and connections. Immediate feedback through surveys and donor conversations helps assess a trip’s success. Long- term impact is measured through increased giving, event participa- tion, volunteer involvement, and leadership roles. Some museums track patron behavior post-trip, with one regional art museum reporting that donor participation in travel programs increased its average lifetime value by 70 percent. Sustained relationships, planned giving, and continued support further demonstrate the effectiveness of travel-based donor engagement.
What trends are shaping donor engagement in museum travel programs?
Several trends are shaping museum travel programs today. Donors seek more educational, immersive experiences rather than traditional leisure travel. Museum Travel Alliance guests are highly educated, experienced travelers who want exclusive opportunities— such as traveling with experts, witnessing cutting-edge research, engaging with local communities, and accessing normally restricted cultural spaces.
Personalized travel experiences are also transforming museum programs, with bespoke journeys tailored to donors’ interests. Museums are increasingly col- laborating with donors to craft unique experiences, leveraging connections to access private collections and exclusive sites unavailable to the general public. As institutions continue to innovate, these trends are fostering deeper, more meaningful donor relationships.
The Museum Travel Alliance (MTA) is a consortium of museums and cultural institutions that provide unique travel experiences, led by curators and scholars, for patrons and members passionate about art, history, and culture.
How is the intersection of art and technology reshaping museum engagement?
Art and technology are increasingly intertwined, with digital in- novation enhancing accessibility, interactivity, and engagement in museum experiences. Technology helps museums break down barriers and create more immersive, personalized experiences for visitors, extending their reach beyond physical spaces.
Digital storytelling is a key shift in how audiences connect with art. Platforms integrating rich narratives, historical insights, and multimedia content turn passive viewing into interactive learning. Visitors engage with artworks in meaningful ways, deepening their understanding.
Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, Web3, and digital provenance tools influence how museums preserve and share cultural heritage. High-resolution digital counterparts of physical artworks increase access and offer preservation solutions for fragile works. Blending physical and digital experiences allows museums to provide more inclusive and engaging opportunities for diverse audiences, whether in person or online.
What role can museums play in supporting mental wellbeing, and how can technology enhance that mission?
Museums are increasingly recognized for supporting mental wellbeing by offering spaces for inspiration, relaxation, and emotional connection. Museums foster mental wellbeing through educational programs, interactive art-making experiences, and contemplative environments. Technology enhances these efforts by expanding access. Virtual art therapy, mindfulness tools, and interactive digital exhibitions allow more people to experience the restorative effects of art. Digital storytelling tools can also highlight art’s therapeutic impact, sharing artist narratives and visitor reflections that encourage personal connections.
How can digital storytelling deepen visitor engagement?
Digital storytelling tools transform static exhibits into dynamic, multilayered narratives. Museums can offer behind-the-scenes insights, such as artist interviews, curator commentary, and interactive timelines, to deepen context for exhibitions. Documenting the provenance of artworks—covering their history, exhibitions, conservation, and cultural significance—makes collections more transparent and engaging.
Digitizing collections enables museums to expand digital access, allowing online exploration of artworks beyond what’s physically displayed, benefiting institutions with limited exhibition space. Interactive platforms can also invite visitors to share their reflections and interpretations, creating evolving narratives around exhibits. These approaches foster richer, more participatory experiences, enhancing audience engagement.
How can museums build a stronger digital presence?
A museum’s digital presence extends its mission, connecting with audiences beyond its physical location. To strengthen this presence, museums can:
A well-integrated digital strategy ensures that audiences can engage with a museum’s offerings anytime, anywhere, reinforcing its role as a space for learning, connection, and exploration.
.ART is a digital ecosystem empowering the global creative community through innovative platforms for provenance, digital identity, and storytelling.
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