Non Linear: Creative AI

Non Linear: Creative AI helps employers explore AI innovation through real-world projects while equipping the next generation of creative talent with practical, responsible AI skills.

• The Programme

  Creative Practice First

  AI can generate outputs, but creativity comes from people.

  Participants develop the habits of mind that underpin great creative work: curiosity, storytelling, communication, collaboration, critical thinking and the ability to navigate complexity. Through live projects, they learn how human creativity and judgement can be amplified, rather than replaced, by AI.

  Responsible AI in Practice

  Participants learn how to use AI safely and responsibly through everyday studio practice, including:

  • AI risk registers

  • Model evaluation

  • Data governance

  • Documentation and explainability

  • Ethical decision-making

  Responsible AI is not taught as a standalone topic but embedded throughout the programme as a daily habit of professional practice.

  Employer-Led Innovation

  Every project begins with a real-world challenge.

  Working with employer partners, participants respond to briefs that explore business opportunities, creative production and operational challenges. Employers gain fresh perspectives, practical prototypes and documented workflows that can be tested and adapted within their organisations.

  Delivered in Two Formats

  8-Week Studio Programme

  An intensive multidisciplinary studio where participants work in teams on employer briefs, producing prototypes, creative assets and documented AI-enabled workflows.

  1-Week Creative Computing Sprint

  Short-format courses introducing participants to creative computing foundations, AI tools and responsible approaches to AI adoption.

  Across both formats, the focus remains the same: practical skills, creative experimentation and industry engagement.

• Partner With Us: An Innovation Partnership

  Non Linear: Creative AI offers employers an opportunity to explore how AI can create value within their organisation while helping shape the next generation of creative and digital talent. Our partnership between A New Direction and the UAL Creative Computing Institute brings together expertise in creative careers, employer engagement, emerging technologies and design-led innovation.

  Employers work with participants on briefs while gaining insight into emerging AI practices, workflows and applications that may be relevant to their own business.

  Whether just starting your AI journey or already experimenting with AI adoption, the programme provides a structured space to test ideas, explore opportunities and learn alongside a new generation of digitally fluent talent.

• Ways to partner with us

  Employers and partners play crucial role in ensuring that we design and deliver learning experiences that meet need. We are aware of the fast-changing nature of AI, with new tools being implemented weekly and see this programme as an opportunity to in and amongst the great transformation that is taking place to provide foundational skills and mindsets that are useful and relevant to an emergent workforce.

  The following outlines how we want to work with industry partners. If you are interested in partnering please fill in this form which asks some top-level questions so we can best follow up.

  Provide a Creative Brief

  Set a challenge, question or opportunity for participants to work on.

  Examples might include:

  • Creative content production

  • Audience insight and research

  • Workflow automation

  • Knowledge management

  • Agent creation

  • Product concepts

  • Service design challenges

  • • Creative campaign development

  Become a Mentor

  Support young people through industry mentoring while reflecting on your own organisation's use of AI and emerging technologies. Mentors receive guidance and support from the programme team.

  Sponsor Innovation Challenges

  Partner with us to develop focused hackathons, challenge-led events or exploratory AI projects linked to your organisational priorities.

  Upskill Early Career Staff

  The programme can provide insight for employers considering how best to support AI capability development amongst junior staff and early-career talent

• What Employers Gain?

  By partnering with Non Linear: Creative AI, employers can:

  • Explore practical applications of AI within their organisation.

  • Test ideas through low-risk prototypes and proof-of-concept projects.

  • Access emerging talent with experience of real-world AI workflows.

  • Receive documented and reproducible approaches to AI implementation.

  • Build staff capability through mentoring and engagement opportunities.

  • Connect with expertise from both UAL Creative Computing Institute and A New Direction.

  • Contribute to the development of a more inclusive and representative AI workforce.

  Should you as an employer be interested in any of the above, please reach out but submitting/filling in this expression of interest form which asks about where AI sits within your organisation, where need and gaps are, and crucially where clever next gen talent can help in form of paid work to help workflows and creative AI innovation make sense for your org.

• Timelines

  The programme will be run into phase, initially in Spring and latterly in Autumn 2027. We will have rolling calls for employers to participate, whilst holding an initial deadline for employer briefs on 31 January 2027 which will allow for final mapping to course delivery.

• Frequently Asked Questions

  Is the programme free?

  Yes. All places are fully funded for successful applicants.

  Do I need to live in London?

  Yes. The programme is for London residents. We will prioritise those who went to school in London as we are interested in creating opportunities for London residents who have grown up in the area.

  Do I need a degree?

  No. However, applicants should be able to demonstrate the ability to work at Level 6/7 or equivalent. Through the application process we will ask you about where your interests lie and ask to show us a piece of work to help us determine if you at this level. We are doing so because we are looking to reference and benchmark the complexity of learning that this course brings and what to be clear from the off about what to expect.

  Do I need previous AI experience?

  No.

  We are looking for people who are curious, motivated and interested in exploring how AI can be applied creatively, responsibly and effectively.

  As with our response to the degree question, education nor prior AI experience level is necessary, but being able to problem solve and not being afraid of complexity will help. We are on hand to help and you’re not left to your own, but motivation and resilience will help.

  When will this take place?

  The courses will run from March and April 2027 and again in October/November 2027. Across this period there will be options for 1 and 8 week courses as well as short sprint challenges.

  Employer outreach will be rolling while participant application to programmes will launch in December 2026 with deadline of Feb 2027 and reopen in July for Sept deadline. Please sign up here to register your interest in the programme.

  Isn't AI harmful?

  AI presents both opportunities and challenges.

  Our partnership is founded on a commitment to responsible and ethical AI practice. Throughout the programme, participants explore topics including transparency, bias, governance, sustainability, accountability and human-centred design.

  Our aim is not simply to teach people how to use AI tools, but to help develop thoughtful practitioners who understand when, where and why AI should be used.

• Who is the programme for?

  We welcome applications from young Londoners aged 18-24. Folks older than this will sadly be turned away. We are funded to support a specific age group and do not have the resources to stray beyond this age range.

  As with many of our employment and skills programmes, we are particularly keen to hear from people who identify as:

  • Women and non-binary people

  • People from low-income backgrounds

  • Neurodivergent people

  • Deaf and disabled people
  • People from global majority communities

• How is the programme funded?

  AI Creative Studio is part of TechLocal which is funded by Innovate UK, part of UKRI with funding from the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).