The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) on Monday announced the establishment of the city’s first Department of Art and Machine Creativity, aiming to integrate tech and art to create a hub which cultivates talent in the creative industries and drives the development of art technology.

The department is working on several research projects that experiment with the use of AI in the comprehension and creation of music, film, and visual art such as programming speaking voices to sing different songs in different languages.

"I do believe that machine creativity, just like machine learning now, will be the phenomenon of the future," said HKUST Professor Guo Yike.

The postgraduate courses on offer, beginning September 2025, will allow students to leverage technologies such as AI and machine learning in artistic creation.

The department has partnered with more than a dozen industry leaders and academic institutions, including Huawei, Sony Entertainment, and Bard College to strengthen curriculum development and collaborate on research in machine creativity.

"We will work globally. You can foresee our students will have an education not just in Hong Kong, but treat Hong Kong as a hub for East-west culture exchange," said Guo.