AI comes to the museum

Join Aboard for a conversation with Hélène Alonso of WonderWay, Spencer Kiser of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Danny Reynolds of the Museum of Modern Art as they discuss how museums and other cultural institutions are beginning to use artificial intelligence in both public-facing experiences and behind-the-scenes operations. From visitor engagement and collections to governance, infrastructure, and organizational change, they'll explore where AI is already proving useful, how organizations can design around its limitations, and what thoughtful adoption looks like in institutions built around knowledge, creativity, and public trust. Aboard president Paul Ford will moderate the discussion, followed by an audience Q&A. Afterward, stay for food, drinks, and conversation with the speakers and fellow attendees. About the speakers: Hélène Alonso is the founder of WonderWay, a conversational AI platform that transforms curated cultural knowledge into personalized conversations with visitors. WonderWay is currently being piloted at the MIT Museum as part of a research study with MIT Sloan. Hélène also teaches at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, where she explores AI, spatial experiences, and new forms of human-computer interaction. Her career has spanned both cultural institutions—including the American Museum of Natural History, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Liberty Science Center—and the tech industry, where she served as Chief Design Officer at two Series B startups. Spencer Kiser is Senior Manager of Application Development at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he leads the team behind the Met's web platform and APIs, including the new semantic search experience. With over 20 years in cultural institutions, including MoMA and the American Museum of Natural History, his work has spanned in-gallery experiences, mobile development, API architecture, and the Met's Open Access initiative. His path winds through sound: field recording and sound design alongside a coding practice, shaped by NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program and its culture of experimentation and collaboration. Outside work, he enjoys archiving physical media and hacking on hardware and local AI tooling. He lives in New York with his family. Danny Reynolds is an AI enablement leader at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), where he helps deploy practical AI systems and enterprise technology that support one of the world's leading cultural institutions. Drawing on a background that spans a library and information science degree focusing on archives and records management to more than a decade at Apple, he focuses on the real-world challenges of AI adoption, governance, and organizational change.