The creative industries are part of Greater Manchester’s AI push

The influence of artificial intelligence extends well beyond the creative industries, with the potential to fundamentally reshape many aspects of society and the global economy. So sometimes it’s important to step outside our own sector and to meet with other businesses, civic leaders and academics to share insights on how best to harness AI for the greater good.

This happened earlier in June, when Salford City’s Mayor Paul Dennett hosted a special roundtable discussion on AI. The event brought together a diverse line-up of participants from public services, academia, business, and the creative industries to explore how Salford and the wider Greater Manchester region can harness AI to enhance our communities, public services and local economy.

It included representatives from Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Landsec Salford City Council, University of Salford and Salford Integrated Care Partnership as well as myself and dock10’s R&D lead for AI & immersive, Professor Florian Block.

dock10 joined the discussion as a local company already actively using AI and exploring its future potential in the broadcast sector. We recently delivered a flagship BridgeAI programme on behalf of Innovate UK, aimed at helping UK organisations harness the power of AI. The co-funded £1.8 million R&D project, titled ALL.VP, explored lighting challenges in green-screen, multi-camera television production. Teams from dock10, the University of York, and 2LE Media developed their own AI technology stacks to address and solve specific virtual production lighting issue.

With the technology evolving at a rapid pace, it is forecast that AI will increase UK GDP by up to £232 billion by 2030 thanks to productivity gains and consumer and business demand. The tone of the roundtable was positive about the possibilities but also grounded in a shared understanding of the speed and scale of the AI revolution. 

The focused of the conversation was on how Salford and Greater Manchester can carve out a leading role in this transformation. Deployed in the right way with appropriate safeguards, AI has the potential to improve prosperity and growth in the region.

There was strong consensus that Greater Manchester has the right ingredients to become the UK’s AI Demonstrator City Region, working with government to test and scale AI across key sectors - including media – to boost economic growth and deliver modern digital public services. 

Already recognised for the second year running as the UK’s most AI-ready city, Greater Manchester boasts a rich concentration of AI companies, tech talent and R&D investment. AI firms in Greater Manchester have a collective £1.8bn annual turnover and raised over £290m in venture capital last year. It has the largest AI cluster in the UK outside London, with an estimated 13,500 people working in AI roles across 244 companies.

Salford’s position is equally impressive, ranking in the top five AI-ready cities thanks to its significant AI job base and high-profile media companies like the BBC, ITV and dock10 at MediaCity UK. These organisations are not only using AI but actively innovating with it - driving forward new applications in broadcasting, content production and immersive media. 

The round table discussions touched on many topics, including the need to ensure inclusive access to training and digital skills. It also focused on issues such as sector development, cyber security, attracting investment and fostering collaboration. 

Running through it all was the belief that the public and social good should underpin everything we do. As with all rapidly evolving technological changes, AI poses challenges, most notably changes to jobs and skills requirements through to concerns about privacy, cyber security and trust. 

This requires strong governance and collaboration between industry, academia and policy makers to ensure the gains of AI are maximised and distributed fairly.

At dock10, we feel well positioned to support Greater Manchester’s ambition to become the UK’s AI Demonstrator City Region. The creative industries are not only beneficiaries of AI’s next frontier but also active shapers of it - particularly in areas such as content creation, immersive storytelling, and public engagement through collaborative and diverse working practices.

By working together across sectors, disciplines and communities, companies like ours can together help Salford and Greater Manchester become not just a hub of AI development, but a national leader in using AI to build a more prosperous and more inclusive society.

Richard Wormwell is head of innovation at dock10