For SMEs, the conversation around AI performance is often dominated by enterprise-scale benchmarks, numbers generated using massive datasets, proprietary hardware, and budgets that dwarf an SME’s annual turnover.

3D scanning and digital twins have transformed how we document cultural heritage, but the story doesn’t end with preservation. Increasingly, curators, educators and digital creatives are asking a bigger question:

What if we don’t just replicate the past, what if we bring it to life?

We’re often told that data is the new oil. But in today’s AI economy, most data owners don’t feel like oil barons.

Whether you’re a small business, a cultural organisation, or a public body, chances are you’ve contributed, knowingly or not, to training the models that power today’s AI platforms. But as those models become billion-pound assets, it’s worth asking: who’s really benefiting from your data?

When people think of 3D and XR, they often imagine headsets in galleries or tech showcases in museums. But there’s a quieter revolution happening, XR is starting to appear in places where people don’t expect it. Libraries. Parks. Hospitals. Town halls.

With the UK investing heavily in compute capacity and the EU’s AI Act entering into force, the ground beneath AI development is shifting fast. For SMEs and cultural organisations using or planning to use AI, the message is clear: agility is everything.

As we continue to refine Elata, our AI-powered 3D imaging platform, we’re increasingly focused on the role it could play in education, outreach, and digital heritage. The goal isn’t just to build cutting-edge technology, it’s to create tools that empower students, teachers, and cultural professionals without requiring technical expertise.

The AI conversation often centres on enterprise transformation, billion-parameter models, and the compute power of global tech firms. But what about the businesses with fewer than 10 employees? The ones without a tech team, without a dedicated IT budget, and without the time to decode jargon?

As generative AI systems become more powerful, and more commercially dominant, copyright law is once again under pressure to adapt. In the UK and across Europe, policymakers are now grappling with the legal, ethical, and economic implications of models trained on vast amounts of existing creative work.

AI and 3D imaging are often framed as tools for reconstruction, to recreate what was lost, document what still exists, or preserve what might soon disappear. But increasingly, they’re also being used for something more ambitious: reimagination.

We often hear about 3D imaging and XR (extended reality) in the context of entertainment, retail, or tech-heavy R&D. But what if their greatest potential lies elsewhere, in the everyday operations of local government, emergency services, and public infrastructure?

As AI adoption accelerates across the UK’s cultural, education, and SME sectors, the question isn’t just what AI to use, it’s who to trust.

Whether you’re trialling a new AI tool, considering a commercial partnership, or integrating AI into public-facing services, choosing the right supplier is critical. A poor decision can mean reputational risk, ethical missteps, or technology that simply doesn’t deliver.

We’ve talked before about the difference between AI hype and real progress. But even as awareness grows, the buzz around generative AI continues to surge, often with little reference to its practical limitations.

AI is reshaping how businesses operate, from automating workflows to transforming how we understand and interact with data. But as machine learning systems become more complex, the need for transparency becomes harder to ignore.

In Part 1 of our blog, we reflected on the strong interest from the construction sector during our time at the Bridge AI Annual Showcase 2025 at Convene Sancroft in London. But the day also revealed valuable insights from another group of attendees: those working in education, marketing, and cultural heritage.

Earlier this week, Aralia Systems took part in the Bridge AI Annual Showcase 2025, held at Convene Sancroft near St Paul’s in London. The event brought together a dynamic mix of AI innovators, researchers, and industry partners to explore the real-world application of artificial intelligence across key UK sectors.

As AI continues to dominate headlines, it’s becoming harder to tell what’s real and what’s speculative. Is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) just around the corner? Will AI replace most jobs, or just reshape them? Should you learn prompt engineering or take up physics?

What if you could carry a 3D scanner in your pocket – and turn the real world into virtual content, instantly?

The science behind XR is older than you think. The 19th century wasn’t just steam engines – it was the birthplace of immersive vision.

Before VR headsets and holograms, there was a painfully shy Victorian physicist with a cardboard contraption and a radical idea about how we see the world.

In recent weeks, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has doubled down on the transformative promise of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). In two public statements, including an interview with Marketing AI Institute and his own blog post, Three Observations, Altman presents AGI as both inevitable and urgently near.