MEDIT seminar: special guest Tamara Vučenović

Digital Technologies, Media Systems and AI: European Perspectives 

This lecture explores digital technologies, media systems and AI through a Serbian and regional lens — a perspective shaped by 25 years of firsthand observation, practice, and research at the intersection of media, culture, and technology.

Starting from the early days of the internet, when artists like Aleksandar Maćašev and Vuk Ćosić were among the first in the region to engage with the web as an artistic medium, the lecture traces the digital transformation of creative industries and media systems. Conversations with Lev Manovich, one of the world's most influential theorists of digital culture, and with film professionals including Mike McGee of Framestore and Đorđe Milašinović of WETA Digital — both Oscar-winning studios — illuminate how profoundly digital technologies have reshaped storytelling and cultural participation, from the early internet era to the age of generative AI.

This practitioner-based perspective is grounded in ongoing research on AI in culture and media, on generative AI in education and marketing, and on methodologies for transforming oral archives into AI-accessible knowledge resources. The European regulatory and ethical context provides a broader frame throughout.

The session invites open discussion and exchange of perspectives. 

Tamara Vučenović is Associate Professor of Digital Communication and Media at Metropolitan University Belgrade. She holds a PhD from the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade. Since 2002, she has been editor and host of Digitalne ikone (Digital Icons) on Radio Belgrade 2 — one of the first and longest-running radio programmes dedicated to digital society and technology in Serbia. Since 2020, she has been engaged as an expert for media and digital literacy with the OSCE Mission to Serbia. Her research focuses on AI, digital culture, media literacy, and digital communications. She is the author of the book Digitalne ikone 20+ and co-author of Digital Communications: Management, Marketing Strategies and Practical Examples (2024). She has published in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings, and contributes to European Commission project evaluations across programmes including Creative Europe, Media, and Film.