Welcome back to Digital Works, the newsletter from Substrakt that's part of our programme of free talks, podcasts and other content, bringing arts, culture, museums and heritage professionals together to talk all things digital. I'm Katie Moffat, Director of Sector Strategy at Substrakt. Please get in touch if you have anything you'd like to share, or if you need any support with your digital projects. And if you find this newsletter useful, do forward to a friend or colleague.

Latest Things

We have a new identity and logo (see up top). We also have a very big announcement about Digital Works coming very soon...

Meanwhile, there is still time to sign up to our free webinar about the psychology of UX, being run by our Design Lead Dan, also co-founder of Birmingham Design Festival. I promise you don't want to miss that one. Speaking of events, our brilliant content strategist Zosia will be speaking at the AMA's Digital Marketing Day about content maintenance and the importance of not only thinking about new content but being sure to periodically spring clean what's already on your website. 

One of our newer websites just won a Web Excellence Award 🎉 Storyhouse in Chester is an incredible place with a library, theatre, cinema, restaurant and community space. If you're ever in the area, do visit.

In other news... Elon is talking about charging people to use X (Twitter).

Google has launced 'Bard Extensions' a development in their AI tool that is aimed towards creating a personalised AI assistant. Essentially you can now connect Bard to your Gmail and other Google services and it was draw from those to provide (they say) more relevant responses. Some commentators are unconvinced about its usefulness. But regardless it's yet another step forward in the onwards march of AI.

On which note, here's a new job title for you - Coca-Cola now have a head of generative AI.

Useful Things

Part 1 in a helpful series by Catalyst about how to approach digital budgets.

Ostensibly this resource is aimed at teachers but there is some advice in this 'Teaching with AI' guide that is applicable more widely.

And sticking with AI, FutureTools is a huge list of AI tools, whether you want something to help you with copywriting, marketing, research, productivity...etc 

Not specifically digital but this is a great way to think about gathering useful data - Can data help me solve this problem?

Finally for this section (and I can see this being an issue for the art sector over the coming years), If you put all the world’s knowledge into an AI model and use it to make something new, who owns that and who gets paid? The ever readable Ben Evens on AI and IP.

Thought-provoking, Inspiring & Entertaining Things

Even if you're not a gamer this is mind-blowing in its potential, a Skyrim player is working on a mod to allow players to talk to NPCs (non playable characters) and have dynamic conversations. 

ChatGPT has been making stuff up again, this time words from underrepresented languages.

Are you a human? Because humans are not invited

The wonderful and sadly now defunct Kneehigh Theatre has a new online archive showcasing their work, created in partnership with Falmouth University.

And with one update a tech billionnare kills a TikTok tend stone-dead.

Digital Works Podcast

In addition to our regular interview podcast, we now have a new short 'Bytes' episode, which will be released after every newsletter to discuss three of the most interesting stories in the newsletter. Have a listen and let us know what you think!

The power of cultural leaders developing a 'digital imagination' - with Seb Chan, CEO and Director of ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image)

Running a successful digital project - with Fiona Morris, CEO and Creative Director of The Space

Strategy & team culture - with Hilary Knight, formerly Director of Digital at Tate, now a consultant at AEA Consulting

Innovation and experimentation - with Nick Sherrard, a partner at Label Ventures

The importance of collaboration and how NT at Home happened - Nicholas Triantafyllou, the National Theatre

Creating a digital programming department - Stuart Buchanan, Sydney Opera House

Technology in cultural experiences - Annette Mees, artistic director, creative producer and cultural strategist

What makes a great podcast - Hannah Hethmon, Better Lemon Creative Audio

Listen to all the episodes.

Good Reads

A fascinating long read about Google search, how it dominated our world for nearly 20 years and why its dominance is now waning - The end of the GoogleVerse.

See you soon

That's all for this issue, if you see anything interesting, surprising, fun, or useful, please do share it with us so we can include it in a future newsletter.

And if you're looking for help with a digital project or any kind of digital consultancy support, please do get in touch.

Until next time, stay safe.

Bye!