About

The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ) is located in the heart of Quebec City and is dedicated to showcasing Quebec art from the 17th century to today. With more than 40,000 works spread across four architecturally distinct pavilions, the museum offers a rich and immersive experience that bridges heritage and modernity.

Goals & Challenges

The MNBAQ aimed to:

• Increase visitor engagement by enabling direct, personalized interaction with artworks;
• Promote inclusion, by creating a space where everyone feels comfortable asking questions at their own pace;
• Deploy a scalable solution that integrates smoothly with existing visitor flows;
• Ensure the accuracy and reliability of content by using only curated, in-house sources.

Key Results

• From 5 seconds to 5 minutes: the average time spent in front of an artwork significantly increased, reflecting deeper visitor engagement;
• Greater inclusion: the solution lowered the barriers to asking questions, especially for visitors who may not typically speak up in a museum setting;
• No added workload for the museum staff: the solution runs autonomously and enhances the value of the museum’s existing content.

The Solution: AI powered by museum-generated content

After a successful pilot in summer 2023, the MNBAQ deployed our conversational AI assistant across 50 artworks in its collection.

Each piece is now accompanied by a QR code that unlocks an interface where visitors can ask questions—either by text or voice. The answers are generated based exclusively on content provided by the museum’s in-house mediation teams, including label texts, artwork descriptions, and educational materials. This approach ensures full scientific reliability, editorial consistency, and respect for curatorial intent.

Key features include:

• Instant access, with no app required;
• Multilingual support (French, English, and more);
• Voice synthesis, offering accessible, multimodal experiences;
• Data analytics, helping the museum better understand visitor interests and behavior.

This project demonstrates how generative AI can enhance—not replace—existing expertise, by creating richer, more inclusive, and more engaging experiences for all visitors.