Techart Conference

Sten-Kristian SALUVEER 

■ Abstract

Recent leadership and political discourse on the impact and implementation of generative AI technologies within the global creative, audiovisual, and content sectors has focused almost exclusively on the technological-social axis, juxtaposing the capacities, capabilities, and characteristics of Large Language Models against perceived disruptions to historic creative, industry, and workforce structures. The prevailing narrative within the AI community frames AI-driven visual and business innovation as an unambiguous bounty of progress, while the audiovisual industry leadership perceives the proliferation as an imminent challenger.

In this keynote, I argue — drawing on Melvin Kranzberg's laws of technology — that the meaningful adoption and adaptation of AI within the content and film industries resides primarily in the strategic and leadership domain, rather than in the continued advancement of visual or generative capabilities alone. Kranzberg's first law, that technology is neither good nor bad, nor is it neutral, resonates almost four decades after its conception: the consequences of radical technologies emerge from context, governance, and political-institutional choice rather than from the technology itself. Applied to audiovisual industries, this suggests that the essential questions are not what generative models can produce, but how leadership, policy, and organizational strategy shape their integration into larger ecosystems, and under what sociocultural conditions.

■ Bio

Sten Saluveer is a futurist and strategic advisor working at the intersection of content, technology, and policy. He serves as Strategic Advisor of the Tallinn Digital Summit, hosted by the Prime Minister of Estonia and curates Cannes Next innovation track for the Marché du Film at Festival de Cannes. Sten is the Head of Studies for the pioneering MiniMBA in Artificial Intelligence at the National Film School of Denmark and sits on the Advisory Board of Future Media Hubs, an alliance of Europe's most significant media companies.

Sten's interdisciplinary work spans AI, innovation, technological resilience, and digital policy across Asia-Europe dimensions. Sten regularly shapes government-level frameworks for bodies including Startup Estonia, the Estonian Ministry of Culture, The Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs, and collaborates closely with the European Commission.

His achievements include pioneering the Estonia–South Korea co-production memorandum, founding the Storytek Innovationlab, and originating multi-million-euro projects such as STADIEM and CresCine. He has curated acclaimed artistic and technological events, executive produced the award-winning immersive work "MURALS," and produced or advised seven feature-length award-winning productions.

Sten is also a celebrated electronic music producer under the moniker Mildhans and a frequently invited speaker and moderator at leading global festivals and conferences.