A new report suggests artificial intelligence is already widely used in commercial galleries, but largely without oversight.According to the AI in Galleries report by the art industry network First Thursday, 84 percent of galleries surveyed say they are using AI tools in their daily work. Yet only 8 percent have a formal policy governing how those tools should be used.The findings are based on interviews with 103 gallery professionals around the world, including owners, directors, and staff working primarily in the UK, Europe, and the US. The report paints a picture of an industry quietly adopting new technology while failing to implement thorough governance and strategy.In most cases, AI is being introduced informally by staff rather than through top brass decisions. Around 82 percent of respondents said they access AI through personal accounts rather than systems managed by their gallery. Just 18 percent reported being given dedicated workplace accounts.This gap raises questions about how sensitive data is handled. Without clear guidelines, gallery staff may be entering confidential information, the report claims, into platforms that galleries cannot monitor or control. This info might include collector names, sales histories, or pricing discussions.Despite these concerns, AI tools are already being used across a wide range of tasks. Writing and editing are the most common applications, with 78 percent of respondents saying they use AI for drafting texts like press releases or emails. More than half use it for translation, while others rely on it for social media posts, administrative tasks, market research, and researching collectors.“The art market has mostly been silent on the use of A.I. within galleries, but it’s clear from our research that a silent transformation is underway,” Callum Halle-Thompson, First Thursday’s founder, told ARTnews. “Three years on from the public launch of ChatGPT, 84 percent of gallery employees are already using A.I. in their day-to-day work, but this is still mostly informal experimentation: fewer than 1 in 10 have actual policies in place for its use.”Most respondents said the growing complexity of gallery operations is driving this shift. Nearly four in five galleries reported that running their business has become more complicated over the past two years, as administrative demands increase and art fairs become more expensive.But rather than being introduced through a formal digital strategy, AI is often filling a practical need, such as saving time on repetitive tasks in already stretched teams.Despite this, art gallery staffers do not generally fear losing their jobs. Only about 29 percent of respondents cited automation as a risk to employment. A much bigger issue is accuracy. Around two-thirds said they worry about errors or low-quality content produced by AI, which could require extensive checking. Even so, attitudes toward the technology are mostly positive. Sixty-two percent of respondents said AI adoption in the art market is inevitable, and more than half said they would invest in the technology if they could see clear benefits.At the same time, many gallery professionals feel current tools are not designed with the art world in mind. Most respondents said they rely on general platforms such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini over art-specific software.Halle-Thompson said that it’s “perhaps unsurprising that galleries are increasingly adopting AI at a time when most gallerists agree it has never been harder to run their business.” “Our findings point to a real disconnect between gallery staff and leadership: employees already rely on AI systems but receive little direction from the top,” he added. “The fact that the vast majority access these tools through personal accounts, without governance or a data protection framework, should be a wake-up call.”