Dutch arts fund bans AI in assessing grant applications

The Mondriaan Fund, the Dutch public fund for visual arts and cultural heritage, has published guidelines on the responsible use of AI, according to a notice on its website.

Applicants may use AI as a tool, and doing so does not in itself affect how an application is judged. The fund advises them to use it with care, review AI-generated output and be open about using it, and they stay responsible for the content and quality of what they submit.

The fund's own advisory committees may not use AI to analyse, summarise or assess applications. Proposals are judged on quality, artistic vision and the applicant's professionalism without AI, which the fund says protects confidential information and keeps assessment independent and human-led. Staff may only use approved, secure AI tools, and the fund is training them in AI literacy, which it says also meets the requirements of the EU AI Act. It will update the guidelines as the technology and the rules change.