The University of California, Irvine believes artificial intelligence can have a positive impact on the creative arts.
The school’s entrepreneurial center UCI Beall Applied Innovation has launched a new initiative dubbed NarrA.I.tive to create open source tools for the entertainment industry.
AI won’t replace human creativity, but rather analyze and make suggestions to screenplays and other written narratives, according to Director of Enterprise Collaborations Stuart Mathews.
“The thing that makes our approach to AI interesting and that we’re excited about is including other disciplines, like humanities, to create uplifting storytelling tools and content,” Mathews told the Business Journal.
NarrA.I.tive is partnering 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 occupies the third floor of the Cove in UCI Research Park.
Cross-Collaboration
NarrA.I.tive is a product of cross-collaborative initiative between UCI’s school of computer sciences, humanities, the arts and more. The five-person NarrA.I.tive team has worked with UCI researchers to understand and replicate how something on screen makes a person feel.
They’re also exploring the potential uses of AI in other creative formats, including pre-visualization of sets in theaters.
There have been recent concerns surrounding the use of AI in the arts, but Mathews said they are working with advisors who have written about ethical AI.
“There’s a lot of reason to be concerned about the use of AI, and we can’t solve all those problems, but we’re going to attempt to do it ethically,” Mathews said.
Prior to UCI, Mathews was involved in a startup called Passport Health that aims to streamline healthcare billing. The company was later acquired by Experian in 2013 for $850 million and is a “huge portion of their billion dollar healthcare business unit,” Mathews said.
NarrA.I.tive currently operates as a nonprofit, but there will eventually be a for-profit side where any AI tools or products that come out of NarrA.I.tive can be licensed out for purchase, according to Mathews.
UCI Beall Applied Innovation aims to connect entrepreneurs, investors and industry partners within its startup ecosystem.
UCI gets about half of the licensing revenue on any intellectual property that’s developed at Beall, Chief Innovation Officer Errol Arkilic told the Business Journal during a tour of the Cove in June.
It has supported the development of nearly 1,000 inventions and managed the issuance of more than 800 U.S. patents, according to the latest figures on its website.
Nonprofit Investment
NarrA.I.tive is funded by a multi-year investment from Apples and Oranges. The amount was undisclosed.
The Kashani’s are longtime supporter of the arts in Orange County, having contributed to the capital campaign for the creation of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts and helped create the Winter Lights holiday musical at the Discovery Cube.
“What we love about Orange County is the entrepreneurial spirit,” Kashani said. “In this next step, we’re looking at not only at what we’ve committed to UCI, but how we can partner with other organizations in Orange County.”
