The Catalan Audiovisual Cluster presents the AV’s trends in the Switch Report: L’audiovisual augmentat

On April 25, the Catalan Audiovisual Cluster presented the Switch Report: L’audiovisual augmentat. The event took place on the Communication Campus of Pompeu Fabra University in collaboration with the Futurs de la Comunicació Chair.

Born from the Switch newsletter, a bimonthly publication launched in November 2021, the Switch Report: L’audiovisual augmentat analyzes the main trends that are shaping the future of the audiovisual sector and divides them into three key concepts: artificial intelligence (AI), immersive audiovisual and Web3.

The presentation was started by its editor, Joan Rosés, who explained the structure and content of the report showing some of the examples cited within: it includes more than 300 companies, success stories and local and international experiences and provides an instant vision of the moment in the audiovisual sector.

The event continued with a round table on AI and creativity moderated by Joan Rosés, with the participation of Ramon López de Mántaras (CSIC Research Professor at the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (IIIA)), Karina Gibert (director of the Intelligent Research Center Data Science & Artificial Intelligence (IDEAI-UPC)), Lluís Nacenta (curator of the exhibition on Artificial Intelligence that the CCCB is preparing in October 2023) and Anna Giralt Gris (co-director of the Fest at+RAIN Film Festival and co-founder of the research laboratory applied and cinematographic creation Artefacto).

In the debate, Ramon López de Mántaras criticized the reckless release of the AI and pointed out that it has limitations because it has no real understanding of what it is doing and none is capable of breaking rules, at the moment they only reproduce patterns. Karina Gibert argued that Catalonia is in a position to be an AI hub in southern Europe and a pioneer in ethics and AI. From the point of view of the creative sector, Lluís Nacenta spoke about the challenges he is encountering in the process of holding an exhibition on AI, how to know what determines the authorship of a piece, and its relationship with creativity and the different artistic channels. And Anna Giralt Gris exposed her willingness to ask questions about AI, a point at which + RAIN, the first European festival of films generated with AI, is situated.

In conclusion, the speakers expressed that the audiovisual sector must be aware of the responsibility that this frenetic growth entails and its consequences. In this sense, the Switch Report: L’audiovisual augmentat is a valuable tool that allows us to keep up to date with the new realities of the sector.