CreaTech Lookback: Creativity and AI in Music, Publishing and Fashion
Creative Manchester, Digital Futures and Turing Innovation Catalyst came together to host the CreaTech 2025 event series, exploring Creativity and AI in Music, Publishing and Fashion.
In May and June 2025 , and came together to host the CreaTech 2025 event series, exploring Creativity and AI in Music, Publishing and Fashion.
This series brought together creatives, tech professionals and researchers from Greater Manchester and beyond to explore how AI is impacting the creative industries, sharing research from within The University of Manchester with expertise outside of it.
We began at exploring the use of AI in the Music industry. The sessions began with lightning talks from Ricardo Climent, Professor of Interactive Music Composition at the University of Manchester and Director of the NOVARS Research Centre. Professor Climent was followed by Pete Woodbridge, R&D Innovation lead for the Music Futures AHRC Creative Cluster at the University of Liverpool. Our panel discussed the challenges and opportunities of AI applications in the music industry, production and dissemination.
The second event was held Oddfellows Hall and focused on the role of AI in the Publishing Industry. The panel brought together CEO of Manchester University Press, Simon Ross, Poet and CEO of the Faber Academy, Joey Connolly, writer, Michelle Collier and Neil Sprunt, from The University of Manchester Library. We heard concerns about the use of AI to replace the role of the writer or poet, but potential uses in other areas of the industry like finance and managing stock.
The event series rounded up at , with a heated panel discussing the use of AI in the fashion industry. The panel was chaired by Dr Charlene Gallery, and had representation from researchers in Fashion Technology, Business and Marketing, alongside Gemma Gratton from Manchester Fashion Week and Joe Darwen, founder of CircKit. The panel discussed concerns about the use of AI in the design process, but more positive potential uses in analysing trends or helping small business owners to grow their fashion businesses.
Throughout the series, the issue of sustainability was raised along with an urge throughout all industries for there to be ongoing analysis on the sustainability impact of using AI within their businesses. Overwhelmingly, across all sectors, there was a call to keep creative work in the hands of humans, but potential for many ways AI might influence how organisations operate including finance, marketing, production and materials.