From left to right: Pablo Gonzalo, head of Knowledge and Culture at Fundación Telefónica, Rocío Gracia Ipiña, project director of the Picasso Celebration 1973-2023 of the National Commission for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso, Joaquín Segovia, territorial director of Telefónica Spain in Andalusia, Francisco de la Torre, Mayor of Málaga, Nuria Rodríguez, director of the Telefónica Chair at the University of Málaga, Antonio Javier López Carmona, director of La Térmica Málaga, Alicia Triviño Cabrera, vice-rector Associate of Business, University of Málaga and Joan Cruz, Head of Institutional Relations at Fundación Telefónica.

Given that technological transformation is changing the way culture is promoted and understood, it becomes increasingly necessary to create common spaces for reflection. This was the purpose with which, in 2021, the Digital Culture Forum was born. A meeting that, after two editions, is already a benchmark in the impact of technological innovation and digitalization in museums and the cultural sector, and that has been included in third place in the ranking The best of digital culture 2022, prepared by the Cultural Observatory of Fundación Contemporánea.

In its third edition, the forum travels to Malaga to analyze and delve into the role that AI is playing and will most likely be strengthened in the entire cultural field from creation to exhibition and consumption by the public.

The program of this meeting, which is held at our 42 Málaga programming campus and at La Térmica, the contemporary culture center of the Provincial Council of Málaga, is made up of workshops, debate panels and conversations around the role of artificial intelligence , from all its vertices, in the creative processes in the cultural field.

#AI in a practical and in-depth way

The opening event was attended by Francisco de la Torre, mayor of Málaga, Antonio Javier López Carmona, director of La Térmica Málaga, the director of the Digital Agency of Andalusia, Raúl Jiménez and Pablo Gonzalo, global head of Knowledge and Culture Digital from Fundación Telefónica who have shared their points of view on the real impact of technology, not only in the cultural field, but on life in general.

The III Digital Culture Forum has chosen Malaga because it is one of the main cultural cities of our country, and on the occasion of the international program Picasso Celebration 1973-2023, a project promoted by the Musée National Picasso-Paris and the Spanish National Commission, which It also has the support of Telefónica as the only company collaborating with this commemoration. In fact, during the presentation day, Pablo Gonzalo had a conversation with Rocío Gracia Ipiña, Project Director of the National Commissioner for the Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso in which he explained the importance of this date, as well as as the creative imprint of the Malaga artist.

To address AI in a practical way, 42 Málaga hosts two workshops. The first of them, Immersive Experience in Artificial Intelligence, in which its participants create their own artificial intelligence models to classify images in real time. While, in the second Picasso and Artificial Intelligence, the participants, with different AI models, will develop an exhibition narrative based on the painter’s visual works and writings about his figure.

For its part, La Térmica hosts three round tables:

• Ethics and culture in a digital future where, moderated by Cristina Urdiales, from the University of Malaga, Richard Benjamins, responsible for Telefónica’s Artificial Intelligence and data strategy; Antonio Ortiz, analyst, writer, popularizer of artificial intelligence, and author of the blog error500.net; and Meritxell Bassolas, AI Computer Vision Center program coordinator reflect on the fundamental ethical concerns of AI development.
• Artificial Intelligence, Cultural Industries and Museums in which, from a global point of view, Jordi Sanjuán, researcher in Cultural Economics, University of Valencia, the Councilor for Culture and Historical Heritage of the Malaga City Council, Mariana Pineda Carbó, Antonio Javier López Carmona, director of La Térmica Málaga and Chantal Pérez Hernández, from the University of Málaga, as moderator; They address the influence of AI on cultural industries and museums. It will have the participation of
• Artificial Intelligence and Artistic Creation analyzes the obstacles and benefits of generative AI around creativity. At the discussion table, Pau Alsina, from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya; Belén Gache, poet and writer; Pilar Rosado, visual artist; José Luis de Vicente, critic and curator, director of the Barcelona Design Museum-Disseny Hub, moderated by Nuria Rodríguez, from the University of Málaga, will present his points of view.

In addition, the forum serves as the launch of the publication that the Foundation, in collaboration with the University of Malaga, presents Digital Culture. Digital innovation for new audiences, coordinated by Nuria Rodríguez Ortega, coordinated by Nuria Rodríguez Ortega, director of the Telephone Chair at the University of Málaga.