The University of California, Irvine believes artificial intelligence can have a positive impact on the creative arts.
The school's entrepreneurship center, UCI Beall Applied Innovation, has launched a new initiative called NarrA.I.tive to create open source tools for the entertainment industry.
According to Stuart Matthews, director of enterprise collaboration, the AI won't replace human creativity, but will analyze scripts and other written narratives to make suggestions.
“What's interesting and exciting about our approach to AI is that it's embracing other disciplines, like the humanities, to create uplifting storytelling tools and content,” Matthews told the Business Journal.
NarrA.I.tive is partnered with Apples and Oranges Arts, a nonprofit studio co-founded by UCI alumnus Tim Kashani and his wife, actress Pamela Winslow Kashani.
The NarrA.I.tive Story Studio opened this month and is located on the third floor of the Cove at UCI Research Park.
Cross-Collaboration
NarrA.I.tive is the result of a collaboration between UCI's departments of computer science, humanities and arts. The five-member NarrA.I.tive team has been working with UCI researchers to understand and replicate how something on a screen makes a person feel.
They are also exploring potential uses of AI in other creative forms, such as pre-visualizing theatre sets.
There has been recent concern over the use of AI in the arts, and Matthews said he is working with an adviser who has written about ethical AI.
“There are lots of reasons to be concerned about the use of AI, and while we can't solve all of those problems, we will try to solve them ethically,” Matthews said.
Before joining UCI, Matthews was involved with Passport Health, a startup that aimed to streamline medical billing. The company was later acquired by Experian in 2013 for $850 million and “is a big part of their $1 billion health division,” Matthews said.
NarrA.I.tive currently operates as a non-profit but eventually will operate as a for-profit organization, and the AI tools and products that emerge from NarrA.I.tive will be available to license and purchase, Mathews said.
UCI Beall Applied Innovation aims to connect entrepreneurs, investors and industry partners within the startup ecosystem.
UCI gets about half of its revenue from licensing any intellectual property developed at Beale, Chief Innovation Officer Errol Urkilik told the Business Journal during a tour of The Cove in June.
According to the most recent figures posted on its website, the firm has assisted in the development of nearly 1,000 inventions and managed the issuance of more than 800 U.S. patents.
Non-profit investment
NarrA.I.tive is funded by an undisclosed multi-year investment from Apples and Oranges.
The Kashanis are longtime supporters of the arts in Orange County, donating to the fundraising campaign for the creation of Chapman University's Dodge School of Film and Media Arts and helping produce the Winterlights Holiday Musical at Discovery Cube.
“The great thing about Orange County is the entrepreneurial spirit,” Kashani said, “so our next step is not only looking at what we've committed to UCI, but also looking at how we can partner with other organizations in Orange County.”
