Nieuwe Instituut uses chatbots to bring customers and information closer together

Curatorial gap

As the national museum for architecture, design, and digital culture, the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam naturally likes to stay ahead of major developments. This certainly includes artificial intelligence. Digital expert Jaap Stronks is one of the colleagues working on this. His goal: to bring all the information the Nieuwe Instituut has as close as possible to the physical and digital visitor. ‘In this way, hopefully, we can also increase our reach among people who cannot easily visit the museum. To achieve this, you need to do more than just present raw information: it’s about creating meaning by providing context and connecting to the interests of the target audience.’

Take, for example, the information stored in the archive. Much of it is interesting to a large group of visitors but is not accessible to the general public. Conversely, people want to know all sorts of things but don’t always find the right, reliable information. This is also known as the curatorial gap, Stronks explains. ‘With exhibitions, we try to bridge that gap, but there is so much more we can do. I want to create an infrastructure that can close the gap by enriching our information sources and making them accessible to a broad audience.’

Tailored information

AI can help make information targeted and accessible to a broad audience, Stronks knows from experience. Recently, he experimented with various chatbots, which digital and physical visitors can ask all kinds of questions: from exhibitions and events currently open to the history of a specific collection piece. ‘This creates a tailored interface: you only see the information you ask for or need, in the language you speak.’ The chatbot prototype (opens in new tab) is public and can be tried out at home.

Stronks does not build such tools entirely on his own: he makes grateful use of developer tools from AI companies like OpenAI (the maker of ChatGPT), Anthropic, and 11labs. Previously, it involved multiple separate bots; Stronks has merged them into one infrastructure where all questions about the institute and its collection are answered. A prototype was already used by visitors of the Nieuwe Instituut to answer questions during their visit. ‘They didn’t just ask questions about our collection and programming but also about a good pizzeria nearby. That’s why I set it up so they could get answers to those as well.’

Behind the scenes, the Nieuwe Instituut also uses the possibilities of artificial intelligence. Reports with visitor numbers, web statistics, and ticket sales are generated by Stronks with the push of a button. Additionally, an AI tool created by Stronks suggests titles for newsletters.

Collaborating to seize opportunities

Stronks is well aware that major players such as Apple and Microsoft are working on similar AI applications. However, this does not deter him from continuing to develop his own tools. ‘It’s important not to become too dependent on a handful of tech giants. Ideally, you maintain control over your data and choose tools that can easily be linked together. This is not the case for applications from Microsoft and Apple. Sometimes it feels as though there are no alternatives to these giants, but that is certainly not true.’

Developing your own tools is not only about staying autonomous but also about gaining insight into how technology works, Stronks emphasizes. This does require expertise—a time investment that smaller organizations don’t always have room for. ‘I hope cultural organizations can collaborate on this and make good use of the expertise of larger and overarching institutions. This will hopefully also reduce some of the skepticism surrounding AI: you need to learn how to use such tools properly to achieve good results. Sometimes fears and objections dominate: people are afraid that information will be leaked or that employees will be replaced by technology. Let’s seek nuance together.’

What now looks like a chatbot will eventually become an advanced interface tailored to the visitor’s needs, Stronks predicts. ‘I hope we continue to find new ways to bring our archives to life. Storytelling and knowledge sharing will always remain a human process.’

Tips from Jaap

• Develop a digital strategy. Determine the principles on which you base your digital actions. You don’t have to figure it all out yourself: other organizations and knowledge institutes, such as DEN, can help with this.
• Start tinkering yourself. Don’t be discouraged by the development speed of tech giants like Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Only by working on it yourself will you understand what happens behind the scenes of applications. You’ll also build knowledge that will come in handy with new developments.
• Bring technology knowledge in-house. It’s tempting to outsource the creation of a new website to an external party, but also invest in internal technological knowledge. This makes you less dependent on other organizations and better aware of the possibilities.
• Collaborate. Cultural institutions don’t always have the capacity to reinvent the wheel on their own. Join forces and make good use of the knowledge and experience of larger and overarching institutions.

Author: Anne van den Dool
Photographer: Taco de Neef