Motivated by the challenges, risks and opportunities that the use of AI brings to the media, society and politics, AI4Media aspires to become a centre of excellence and to create a wide network of researchers across Europe and beyond, with a focus on delivering the next generation of core AI advances that serve the key sector of the Media. It will ensure that the European values of ethical and trustworthy AI are embedded in future AI deployments and  reimagine AI as a crucial beneficial enabling technology in the service of Society and Media.

The AI4Media consortium is composed of 30 leading partners in the areas of AI and media (9 universities, 9 research centres,12 industrial partners) and 35 associate members. This consortium will establish the networking infrastructure that will unite the currently fragmented European AI landscape in the field of media and will foster deeper and longer-running interactions between academia and industry, including Digital Innovation Hubs. It will also shape a research agenda for media AI research, and pursue research and innovation on cutting-edge technologies at the core of AI research and within specific fields of media-related AI. AI4Media will provide a targeted funding framework through open calls so as to speed up the uptake of innovations developed within the network.

A PhD programme will further enhance links to the industry and will foster the exchange of talent, while working to prevent brain drain. A set of use cases will be developed by the network to demonstrate the impact of the  advances in the media sector. The Excellence Centre that will be established during the AI4Media project and the ecosystem that will grow around it will provide a long-term basis for the support of AI excellence in Europe long after the project ends with the aim of ensuring that Ethical AI guided by European values assumes a global leading role in the field of Media.