The Polytechnic Observatory

Italian museums between visitor boom and digital lag: the challenge of AI

Audiences grow in 2024, but investments in technology and AI remain limited. The business model depends on ticketing revenues and public contributions. From Digital Library the DPaaS platform for private individuals

by Giuseppe Cosenza

14 June 2025

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5' min read

5' min read

While in Italy museums, monuments, archaeological areas (MMAA) in 2024 record an increase in visitors on average by 7% and in ticket sales by 6%, the share of institutions investing in technology and digital innovation remains stable. These are some of the results of the research by the Osservatorio Innovazione Digitale per la Cultura del Politecnico di Milano, presented during the conference "Alea IActa est. Culture and digital, no turning back', of the survey conducted between February and April 2025 on a sample of 436 cultural institutions. The objectives of the analysis include surveying investments in digital innovation, the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools used, the degree of digitisation of collections and accessibility, the analysis of visitor behaviour, and the present and near future revenue model.

Search Results

57% of the MMAAs (sample of 390) plan to invest in artificial intelligence over the next three years, divided between 37% in improving the visitor experience, 24% in marketing and communication, 23% in developing cultural products and services, and 14% in innovating archives. The glass can be seen as half-full or half-empty, so while more than half of Italian museums, monuments and archaeological sites have a propensity for digital innovation, there is also a large slice, almost half, that still has no perception of how important the use of AI is. In order to manage change, it is not enough just to be aware of the opportunities and risks, but to make an extra effort, namely to create the organisational conditions and acquire the appropriate skills. In fact, the critical issues encountered in adopting AI include the lack of specific skills for 55%, the limitations of existing infrastructures for 32%, while 29% respond that high technology implementation costs are a burden. 13 per cent report that resistance to change is due to personnel or the complexity of privacy and data management, while only 9 per cent perceive the correct format of data as a critical issue and barrier to innovation.

L’INVESTIMENTO

AI will bring efficiency gains in operations, processes and promote accessibility.

The latest survey is surprising and not a little surprising since the quality of data resulting from international standards that guarantee its maintenance and interoperability is essential for a technology such as artificial intelligence and not only to overcome the critical issues of bias and fake news. It makes sense, therefore, to develop internal competences to interface with technology at every organisational level and to introduce in cultural institutions hybrid figures such as digital humanists who know how to dialogue and work with technology partners. The business model of cultural institutions, and of MMAAs in particular, is important. In 2024, ticket revenues will increase, accounting for 34% of the total (33% in 2023), public funding will decrease slightly from 40% to 38%, private funding will remain stable at 17% and other revenues at 4%, the latter including revenues from digital services.

RICAVI MMAA

Distribution of total revenue by source.

The challenge is therefore to diversify revenues by developing alternative sources in the age of digitisation. "We asked ourselves a question that we consider to be central: in an era in which so much has been invested in the digitisation of cultural heritage, can the transfer of images really represent a significant source of revenue for museums and institutions? In our opinion, the answer is no," explains Eleonora Lorenzini, director of the Observatory. "Internationally, the open access model is becoming increasingly popular, with a view to greater accessibility and sharing of culture. Seventy per cent of museums, monuments and archaeological sites offer images free of charge. And among those who still sell them for a fee, 61% declare annual revenues of less than EUR 500.00'. This raises the question of whether the game is worth the candle, as management costs often do not exceed revenues.
Digital services represent the sore point as only 41% of the sample offer an audioguide service and this for 71% is free of charge or included in the ticket price, while only 29% charge an additional fee; only 31% offer an app and for 92% this is free of charge or included in the ticket price, while the remaining 8% charge a separate fee. VR or AR experiences are offered by only 20% of the sample and for most of them free of charge or included in the ticket price.

Talk to the experts

"Artificial intelligence can represent a great transformational opportunity for the cultural sector: not only does it redefine internal processes and modes of use, but it opens up completely new scenarios for heritage conservation and public participation, and opens up the possibility of new models of cultural management that are sustainable and geared towards generating impact," explains Deborah Agostino, research director of the Observatory. What is needed is a systemic vision to seize the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence and, in particular, generative intelligence. The latter can transform the way cultural professionals work and engage audiences. But for it to really become a useful tool, vision, expertise and a serious discussion on the ethical, legal and economic implications are needed. Without a clear data strategy, however, AI risks remaining just a promise. According toFabio Viola, game designer and founder of Tuomuseo: "Tools such as Runway, Suno, HeyGen, ChatGPT, which embrace conservation, cataloguing and valorisation, emerge on the one hand with fear of something new that could radically change the cultural professions, but also much enthusiasm for the opportunities offered by AI, especially to small and medium-sized institutions constantly grappling with shortages of human resources and budgets. We can imagine museums that converse personally with each visitor by proposing personalised itineraries, theatres that adapt their narratives in real time according to the audience's emotions, and historical archives that come to life through interactive avatars thanks to the automatic generation of immersive narratives'. Italian culture is on the threshold of a new epochal revolution, in which AI is not just a technical tool, but a key to radical transformation in cultural processes and projects both inside and outside cultural organisations.

MODALITÀ ACCESSO SERVIZI MMAA

The value derived from the commercialisation of experiential tools could be different.

DPaas from Digital Library

To meet this challenge, the Ministry of Culture, through the Digital Library, proposes Ecomic, Digital Ecosystem for Culture, a distributed collaborative environment to support the digital transformation of the cultural sector. Funded with PNRR funds, the system offers technologies and services designed to support all actors in the cultural ecosystem - from service designers to managers and operators - helping them to develop effective and inclusive digital solutions. These solutions are aimed at a wide audience: citizens, professionals, scholars, educators and anyone interested. The aim is to generate not only cultural, but also social and economic value. Part of the ecosystem is the DPaaS lab platform, Data Product as a Service, designed to create innovative software based on cultural data and provide services to generate added value, for exhibition, educational, publishing or commercial purposes, through co-design and co-creation. Recipients include companies, universities, local authorities, museums, which will hopefully find the ideal environment to exhibit their data products in a public catalogue with the possibility of activating commercial opportunities based on different business models. And so, as the title of the conference 'Alea IActa est' states, the die is cast, Italian culture has crossed the digital Rubicon - or almost - and there is no turning back.