AI and culture dialogue unfolds at global Beijing forum

There is little doubt that the world has entered a period of rapid transformation driven by artificial intelligence. For the creative industries, the question is no longer whether change will come, but how to respond to it.

On Friday, the Fifth Creative 2030 International Forum, held at Beijing's Shougang Park, offered a glimpse of possible answers. Convened by the UNESCO International Center for Creativity and Sustainable Development, together with UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia, the forum brought together officials, scholars and business leaders from more than 10 countries.

Its theme — "AI + Culture Empowering Sustainable Development" — reflected both the promise and the unease surrounding the technology's rapid rise.

"Artificial intelligence and digital transformation are playing an increasingly significant role in the cultural sector," said Shahbaz Khan, director and representative of UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia, in his opening remarks. "They present major opportunities, but also urgent responsibilities. This forum comes at a critical moment."

Those responsibilities remained central throughout the discussions. Yang Bixing, head of the culture sector at UNESCO's East Asia office, framed the debate around three unresolved questions: Who should be recognized as the author of works created with the assistance of AI? How can creators be fairly compensated? And in an age of algorithms, how can originality be protected?

Her concerns underscored the need for policy frameworks that balance accessibility, innovation and diversity with efficiency and rights protection, a tension echoed by participants from other countries.

Some speakers challenged the premise that AI is merely a tool shaping culture. "The question is not only whether AI will shape culture," said Gabor Soos, an adviser on artificial intelligence at Hungary's Ministry of Culture and Innovation. "It is also whether culture can shape AI."

Drawing on Hungary's experience with creative cities, he argued that AI must be guided to reinforce cultural diversity and foster shared human responses, laying the groundwork for mutually beneficial global cooperation.

Others focused on what transformation truly means. Veronika Liebl, managing director at Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria, asked what it truly means to call a technology "transformative". Referring to the Ars Electronica Festival's role in reshaping Linz's urban identity, she suggested that technology's deepest impact lies not in what people do, but in how they create meaning, express identity and understand one another within communities.

The forum also marked the release of a set of model cases on protecting and promoting cultural diversity in the digital environment for 2025. The initiative forms part of global celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of UNESCO's Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.