Contain or embrace: what AI strategy is best for European creativity? 

It is a busy time for the European Commission and all stakeholders interested in artificial intelligence, as both the AI Act implementation and upcoming review of the CDSM directive are generating a flurry of consultations, reviews, and stakeholder surveys. 

And so another consultation has landed recently on our desks, this time targeting an upcoming EC AI Strategy for the Cultural and Creative Sectors. We know it is natural for tech entrepreneurs and engineers to tune out generally when the term “policy” is mentioned. Even more so when we are talking about another non-binding “soft law” strategy coming out of Brussels. But make no mistake: even when a strategy isn’t imposing legal obligations, these non-legislative initiatives set the strategic direction for future EU legislation, multi-billion-euro funding programmes and broader policy priorities across the bloc. In other words – they DO matter, which is what we underlined during the work on the infamous non-binding #VossReport, which was adopted by the European Parliament in March (LINK). The legacy industries, with their well-organised and deeply rooted organisational muscle, are sure to turn up in droves to express their views, repeatedly making outcomes very lopsided. 

That is why the perspective of AI developers and the tech ecosystem urgently needs to be represented in these culture-related workstreams. When our industry stays silent on cultural policy, European strategy defaults to a familiar reflex – treating technological innovation and the emergence of new media almost entirely as a list of risks and threats to be contained. We see this exact bias in the consultation’s call for evidence, which singles out “the growing propagation of AI-generated content” as a threat to artists and cultural production.

We fundamentally disagree with such one-sided framing. AI-generated and AI-assisted content does not signal the downfall of culture. On the contrary –  it promises once more to democratise artistic expression, giving creators powerful new tools and enabling far more efficient production. Europe should be embracing digital progress and building competitive advantage, not constantly trying to fight technological advancements, just because they threaten the status quo. 

We are already witnessing the emergence of a new generation of AI-first artists, who are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in filmmaking, giving true meaning to the slogan, that imagination is the only limit. Stockholm-based AI creator Zack London (aka Gossip Goblin) is about to premiere a full-length feature film in October across hundreds of screens in the US. His and other similar creators’ artistic pipelines merge real live human acting and voices with AI-generated imagery to create breathtaking and artistically refined worlds that would have been impossible to construct with traditional filmmaking techniques. See a preview and judge for yourselves LINK. 

If we want European AI policy to be shaped by innovation rather than anxiety, the people actually building these tools and using them to create need to weigh in. The consultation deadline is 11 September. Please take a few minutes to submit your input and have your say directly through the European Commission Consultations Website .