How can A.I. be used to augment the end-to-end experience of live events?

How can emerging technology - especially AI - be used to augment the end-to-end experience of live events?

Last week at the IBTM World conference in Barcelona, me, Banu Kannu and the Royal Albert Hall’s head of programming Dave Gamble dived in.

A few things we surfaced:

🔊 1. Technology = Technique

The Royal Albert Hall has been around for 152 years, and they’ve used technology since the start. But when the hall first opened, amplification wasn’t even available. 'Technology' meant coming up with techniques to do things differently. It doesn't have to be scary. Same goes today.

🛠️ 2. Tools for Humans

The wheel, the clock, the printing press and the QR code are all technology. And they’re all tools. Throughout history, some people have not wanted you to understand these things. But you can. A.I. might have some different facets to what came before, but it’s still a tool for humans.

🎲 3. Small bets

Avoid the overwhelm by testing the smallest thing you can think of. Make the tiniest bet. Dave isn’t an engineer, but was able to build ‘What Would Albert Do?’, an AI bot that gives him tips on who to book at the Royal Albert Hall. It’s not putting him out of a job anytime soon, but has already led to interesting ideas.

🎟️ 4. Friction isn’t always bad - if it’s on-brand

When Ed Sheeran played the Royal Albert Hall, they deliberately increased friction - implementing a new, more complex ticketing system. Why? Part of Ed Sheeran’s brand promise is to minimize resales and ensure only true fans get access to his shows.

🧪 5. B2B opportunity

Many trade bodies and associations can utilize these tools without breaking the bank, and arguably have much more flex to test out ideas with their audiences than B2C companies. There's tons of opportunity to explore.

We also got into facial recognition, weird robots, and AI ethics... but that's another story.