How an AKOOL-powered AI marketing experiment became the subject of a Harvard Business School case study and Harvard Business Review discussion.
The Challenge: Bringing New Audiences Closer to Art
With more than 250,000 objects across 50+ galleries, Harvard Art Museums is home to one of the largest art collections in the United States.
Following the introduction of free admission, the museum saw an opportunity to welcome an even broader audience—including younger visitors and people who may not traditionally consider themselves museumgoers.
But removing the cost of admission was only part of the challenge.
Harvard Art Museums was competing for attention in a crowded cultural and entertainment landscape. The marketing team wanted to explore new ways to capture attention, challenge traditional perceptions of museums, and ultimately bring more people closer to art.
That led to an intriguing question:
Could generative AI turn a centuries-old artwork into a new kind of audience experience?
The Solution: Bringing Art to Life with AKOOL
Working with AKOOL, Harvard Art Museums explored using AI-generated avatars to animate a historic artwork as part of a digital marketing experience.
Using AKOOL's AI avatar technology, a static work of art could be transformed into a video-based experience—creating the impression that the subject of the artwork could speak and interact with an audience.
The concept wasn't simply about creating an attention-grabbing AI video.
The museum wanted to understand whether AI could create a new entry point into art: something unexpected enough to capture attention while encouraging audiences to become curious about the original artwork and ultimately experience it in person.
The project explored different levels of engagement, from traditional static imagery to AI-generated video avatars and more interactive experiences.
Making Art More Approachable Through AI
For someone unfamiliar with art history, walking into a museum can sometimes feel intimidating.
Interactive AI offered Harvard Art Museums an opportunity to experiment with a different approach.
Instead of asking audiences to immediately understand the history or significance of an artwork, an AI-powered experience could help make that first interaction more approachable.
A centuries-old subject could speak. An audience could engage with it in a familiar digital format. And that interaction could become the starting point for learning more.
Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Julian De Freitas described this potential as a way of making art feel more relevant and accessible—particularly for people without an existing background in art.
Balancing Innovation with Authenticity
Introducing generative AI into an institution centered on history, scholarship, preservation, and authenticity also raised important questions.
Could animating an artwork enhance the experience without distracting from the original?
Who determines what an artwork should say?
Could an AI representation inadvertently be interpreted as speaking on behalf of the museum?
And how could Harvard experiment with emerging technology while maintaining the trust associated with its brand?
These questions became an important part of the project.
Harvard Art Museums approached AI as a marketing and engagement tool, rather than a replacement for the artwork, curator, or authentic museum experience.
Transparency was also critical. The goal wasn't to make audiences believe an artwork had actually come to life. The use of AI was intentionally visible and part of the experience itself.
From an AKOOL-Powered Experiment to a Harvard Business School Case
The initiative developed into a broader collaboration with Harvard Business School researchers Julian De Freitas and Elie Ofek, whose work examines how consumers perceive, adopt, and interact with artificial intelligence.
The project ultimately became an official Harvard Business School case:
Harvard Art Museums: When Art Meets Artificial Intelligence
The case asks whether Harvard Art Museums should use video-based AI avatars in a marketing campaign designed to increase visitor engagement and membership.
Rather than focusing solely on what AI could technically accomplish, the case examines the strategic questions organizations face when adopting emerging technology—including brand authenticity, interpretive authority, donor relationships, reputational risk, and organizational adoption.
In announcing the case, De Freitas also recognized AKOOL and members of the AKOOL team who contributed to the collaboration.
Read the Harvard Business School case announcement →
Featured by Harvard Business Review
The story later reached an even broader audience when Harvard Business Review featured the project on its Cold Call podcast.
How a Museum Marketing Team Used AI to Bring People Closer to Art
The episode brings together Julian De Freitas and Harvard Art Museums Director of Marketing John Connolly to discuss the project and the larger strategic challenge behind it:
How can an established institution embrace emerging AI technology without compromising the authenticity and trust that define its brand?
Their conversation explores how AI avatars could make art more approachable, create an additional layer of interpretation, and potentially help museums engage audiences who might otherwise feel disconnected from traditional museum experiences.
Listen to the Harvard Business Review episode →
Recognition Beyond Harvard
The project has also attracted attention beyond the Harvard community, including coverage from ARTnews, one of the leading publications covering the international art world.
The growing attention highlights a much broader conversation taking place across museums, universities, brands, and cultural institutions: how generative AI can be used to create new audience experiences while respecting the authenticity of the underlying content.
What the Harvard Art Museums Project Shows
The Harvard Art Museums collaboration demonstrates an important shift in how organizations can think about generative AI.
AI doesn't have to replace an existing experience.
It can create a new way into that experience.
For museums and cultural institutions, that could mean transforming a static digital campaign into something audiences can engage with.
For universities and educators, it could mean creating more interactive ways to explore knowledge and history.
And for brands and enterprises, AI avatars can open new possibilities for personalized marketing, storytelling, education, and customer engagement.
The Harvard Art Museums project also highlights an important lesson for organizations adopting AI: successful implementation isn't only about what the technology can do.
It's about identifying where AI can create meaningful value while maintaining the authenticity and trust audiences expect.
The Future of Interactive Storytelling
Generative AI is moving digital experiences beyond passive content toward something far more interactive.
Images can speak. Digital characters can respond. Experiences can become more personalized to the people engaging with them.
Harvard Art Museums' exploration with AKOOL offers a glimpse into that future—where AI isn't used to replace history, creativity, or human expertise, but to give audiences a new way to connect with them.
With AKOOL AI avatars, even centuries-old stories can find new ways to speak to today's audiences.
Explore AKOOL AI Avatars
Discover how organizations can use AKOOL to create realistic AI-powered avatar experiences for marketing, education, storytelling, and audience engagement.