an illustration of a woman interacting with digital tiles which have binary code stretching behind it demonstrating AI creativity

CoSTAR Network

CoSTAR AI for Creativity

The CoSTAR AI for Creativity initiative equips UK creative companies with the tools to explore AI's potential responsibly through:

Research insights
Interactive workshops
Business support
Funding programmes
Access to cutting-edge AI compute infrastructure.

This new initiative will support companies on their journey to AI adoption, while preserving essential principles around responsible AI, control of IP, and human creativity.  We will showcase projects which move the dial for creative innovation, and can act as examples of best practice for the wider industry.

AI for Creativity

Programme Overview

Workshops & Masterclasses

AI Insights

Catch up with the latest AI research from the CoSTAR Network's UK-wide team of world-class researchers, academics and experts.

Compute Infrastructure

Discover the capabilities of the CoSTAR Network AI compute infrastructure built to support prototyping and enable research and development.

Funding & Support

Apply for our hands-on AI-themed R&D funding and business growth packages launching in 2026. Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear about upcoming calls.

CoSTAR Emerge-AI

Coming soon – the next evolution of our business support programmes, this time placing artificial intelligence at the heart of its offer. Sign up here to register your interest for CoSTAR Emerge-AI.

AI Projects & Resources

Explore our CoSTAR AI expertise and R&D projects, including our BRAID sponsored P3R demonstrator project and AI prototyping sprints.

Our Responsible AI Principles Policy

AI for Creativity

News & Events

Workshop

Screen Lab, BelfastAn introduction to AI Assisted Pipelines in Motion Capture

Do you work in Film, TV, Animation or VFX? With CoSTAR Screen Lab the Animotive Team will be delivering a workshop on how AI tools can be combined across different pipelines and what that means for the creative industries.

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Workshop

Live Lab, WakefieldDirecting Generative AI – Control, Realism, and Creative Workflow

This workshop explores how AI can move beyond impressive but unreliable outputs towards tools that are controllable, editable, and genuinely useful in creative production, focussing on workflows and how AI can better support diverse creative practices.

Two ceramic-like hands grip and pull on delicate threads that emerge from a "woven circuit board." The contrast between the rigid, heavy material of the hands and the soft, fragile threads creates a visual paradox, symbolising the insertion of human touch into the mechanised world. The image evokes a sense of personified anonymity, questioning whose histories and labours are being revealed or concealed when the threads of technology are pulled.

Webinar

Foresight Lab, onlineCreative Work in the Age of AI: Tools, Practice and the Road Ahead

Hear insights from practitioners on applying generative AI and advanced machine learning, discuss pressing issues around data, ethics and licensing with subject-matter experts and gain forward-focused intelligence on sector adaptation and the evolving policy landscape direct from Foresight Lab researchers.

News

What is the AI Compute Infrastructure?

Launching in 2026, CoSTAR Network will be introducing a state-of-the-art AI compute infrastructure. Find out about the full specifications that will be available across CoSTAR Network from 2026.

Project

P3R, exploring ethical approaches to AI in live performance

Part of the BRAID research programme exploring responsible use of AI, CoSTAR’s 'P3R: Performance, Participation, Provenance and Reward' is a £1 million demonstrator project exploring how ethical approaches to AI can support new models for live performance across the UK.

National Lab

Time to ACCCT: an AI copyright framework for UK creative industries

This report considers the challenges in developing a publicly available, machine-readable approach to copyright consent that protects the interests of copyright holders whilst allowing AI companies to legally access data. It is published by CoSTAR National Lab with the support of DECaDE and Sheridans.

Stylised map of the United Kingdom created from circuit-board traces and microchips on a blue circuit board background, symbolising digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence and technology innovation.

National Lab

CoSTAR AI Expertise

Discover more about the CoSTAR National Lab Creative AI Futures Team. Embedding cutting-edge AI advances into creative industry pipelines and providing access to tools and technologies.

Funding & Support

CoSTAR Emerge-AI

CSNationalLab_Futures-Studio_Megaverse Townhouses Rehearsal

CoSTAR Emerge-AI is coming - the next evolution of our successful Ideate and Evolve programmes. Emerge-AI goes further by placing artificial intelligence at the heart of its offer, bringing together world-leading industry and research expertise with bespoke access to AI compute and Cloud credits. Designed specifically for early-stage creative technology companies working with AI, this programme offers bespoke business support, product development guidance, and commercialisation expertise — all tailored to where your company is in its growth journey.