We exist because creative work matters.
And so do the people who make it.
Useful Arts is a New York-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit building the frameworks, standards, and community that help creative professionals navigate AI — and participate in shaping what comes next.
ABOUT USEFUL ARTS
As governments and institutions work to understand technology's impact on industries, economies, and culture, the decisions they make will reshape the creative economy for decades. Those most affected deserve a place in those conversations.
Many creators were already navigating financial precarity, shrinking margins, and work the economy undervalues even as it profits from it. AI does not change that story. It complicates it in ways we are only beginning to understand.
$1.2 TRILLION
US arts economy contribution in 2023 — and many of the people behind it are among the most financially precarious workers in the country
1 IN 5
Creators rate their mental or emotional health as fair or poor — the pressures of creative work are shaping people's lives in ways that are often invisible
What we do know is that better outcomes require more perspectives. Useful Arts exists to gather them.
NOW
The window for creators to influence the standards and regulations being written — before they are set in stone
THE CONTEXT
AI regulations and copyright law are still being written.
The creative community should be in that conversation.
Bringing the conversation to the global creative stage
An activation at Cannes Lions engaging creative leaders on AI and brand exposure to authorship, ethics, and accountability without losing creativity and productivity.
Sponsorship opportunities available. Contact us for details.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
AI and creativity are not in conflict. Accountability and transparency are how we make sure they stay that way.
The technology carries real promise. It can lower barriers to entry, open new creative possibilities, and help creators do more with less. It also introduces real pressures — on authorship, on attribution, on the value of human-made work in a world where generation is nearly free.
We don't know yet who will benefit and who will bear the cost. That uncertainty is precisely the point. The more perspectives we gather, the better chance we have of shaping what comes next in a way that protects creativity and the people behind it.
Useful Arts does not take a position against AI. We take a position for creators — and for the transparency, standards, and community infrastructure that makes the creative economy sustainable for everyone who depends on it.
Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.