The Brukenthal National Museum in Sibiu has introduced the city's first AI audio guide, an app that allows visitors to speak with an AI system and ask questions about paintings, artists and the museum in 12 languages, museum manager Raluca Teodorescu told AGERPRES on Wednesday.

'As of today, we are running a pilot test with the AI audio guide. Visitors scan the QR code next to the paintings and enter the application developed by a Sibiu IT company, where they can choose one of 12 languages. They listen to a one-minute introduction and can then ask for information,' Teodorescu explained.

The system is being tested initially on 13 works displayed in different rooms of the Brukenthal Palace, to assess internet connectivity and understand what type of information visitors seek. The pilot runs until the end of May, during which time tourists can use the guide free of charge and interact directly with it.

'The classic audio guide can be boring. Now visitors can inquire about the painting, the theme or the painter,' Teodorescu added.

She stressed that the AI uses only verified information, limited to content provided by the museum and other reliable sources. Access is via QR codes placed next to the artworks.

Among the works explained by the AI are several masterpieces from the Sibiu collection, including Ecce Homo - attributed to Titian, a portrait of Baron Samuel von Brukenthal, and a depiction of the Virgin Mary with the Infant and Saint John the Baptist by Lucas Cranach the Elder.

The first tourists to test the system on Wednesday said they were pleasantly surprised to discover museum information directly on their phones, calling it a unique way to experience the collection.

The Brukenthal National Museum, the oldest museum in Southeast Europe, has been experimenting with AI since January, when it launched a project that brought paintings from its collections 'to life' online, animating scenes painted nearly 200 years ago. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Isabela Paulescu; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)