CHEAD X webinar: AI Workflows in Arts
In this webinar, we will explore how Artificial Intelligence is shaping workflows within Arts in UK Higher Education. Featuring three presenters from member institutions, who will share real-world examples of how AI is being integrated into creative teaching, technical, and research practices.
The webinar will be particularly relevant to academic staff, technicians, and professional services colleagues interested in the evolving role of AI across the creative disciplines.
This webinar is part of the CHEAD X webinar series. CHEAD X is a special interest group of the CHEAD Technical Alliance, created to explore, promote and support innovation in emerging and existing technologies across member Higher Education institutions (HEIs) in the UK.
Presenters
Matthew Drinkwater, Head of Fashion Innovation Agency, London College of Fashion, UAL www.fialondon.com
Matthew is a world-renowned expert in emerging technologies and their application to the creative industries.
A specialist in immersive technologies and artificial intelligence, he and his team are building pathways for a truly digitized world.
Matthew was named as a ‘fashion-tech trailblazer’ by Draper’s, a ‘Digital World’s Influencer’ by Stylus and a ‘pioneer and a visionary’ by Wired.
Dr Paul Laidler, Senior Lecturer BA(Hons) Illustration, University of the West of England, Bristol
Dr Paul Laidler is Senior Lecturer in Illustration at UWE Bristol and a member of the Centre for Print Research. His research explores expanded print practice and the impact of technological mediation, with a focus on remakes and derivatives as transformative acts. Paul is Associate Editor of the Intellect journal Drawing: Research, Theory, Practice and contributes internationally to discourse on art and design practice through roles as external examiner, evaluator, and reviewer for institutions including the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Singapore), the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design (Poland), and The Education University of Hong Kong. His work is represented in collections including the V&A, Tate Britain, and The Museum of Avant-garde, and he has undertaken residencies in the US and Europe.
Outline : Paul’s research investigates the intersections between digital and physical production, exploring how creative practices navigate technological translation, trace, and authenticity. His current research focuses on human–AI collaboration in creative practice, examining questions of agency, authorship, and originality in an age of algorithmic creation. Building on a background in printmaking, Paul’s work situates AI within a longer history of reproduction and mediation while developing new visual vocabularies through narrative and performative approaches. His interdisciplinary practice aligns with Poetic Design principles, moving beyond commercial imperatives to consider how artefacts can act as critical and cultural reflections in times of technological change.
Simon Westgate, Media Store Technician, DCDI, University of Westminster
Simon is a Photography Technician at the University of Westminster; he has been exploring the use of AI in Creative Education and Technical Teaching.
In this talk, Simon will reflect on the rapidly evolving landscape of AI in technical education, drawing from his recent presentation at the ETHO Conference in Riga and the dramatic shifts that have occurred in just the months since. Through the lens of photographic practice, where traditional concepts of framing and composition are being fundamentally reimagined, he will explore how AI is creating unexpected peripheral changes in how we teach and learn technical skills.
Rather than focusing solely on AI as a tool, Simon will examine an unintended consequence of these technologies: how one simple common action has been inverted and how that may affect the way we teach creative disciplines in the future.