Creative Higher Education Conference: Creativity and Artificial Intelligence

The Arunädal conference for creative higher education institutions, “Creativity and Artificial Intelligence”

What changes when artificial intelligence enters activities we have expected to involve a “human touch”, such as creativity, culture or education? On Friday, 20 November, at the Estonian Academy of Arts, we’ll explore what AI brings to creative work, what it changes, and how it affects sound and visual art, design, learning and the role of people as creators.

As part of Arunädal, the Estonian Academy of Arts is hosting a conference for creative higher education institutions. We’ll examine how AI affects the creative process and how the author’s role is changing in the age of AI. Can AI affect cultural perception and, in turn, our values—and if so, how? We’ll discuss the courage to experiment with AI, human–technology co-creation, and how AI is changing creative work and creative education.

The day will focus on three main themes:

Creative higher education – What new opportunities and solutions are there for improving creative education? How can AI help students and lecturers, and support the relationship between them?

Authorship – How is the author’s position changing in the age of AI? What new forms of intellectual property and authorship might we see in the future, or need to regulate? Does AI expand or dilute the author’s position?

Value drift – AI’s internal logic can influence and reproduce biases and cultural attitudes based on the views of service providers. What role do cultural higher education institutions and the cultural sector have in guarding against this?

The topics will be explored by specialists and thinkers from the creative and ethics fields, from Estonia and abroad. Speakers include award-winning Austrian-Swiss pianist, conductor and technology entrepreneur Ingolf Wunder, whose keynote will address the use of AI in higher education for creative disciplines and the future of music. Raivo Kelomees, a leading figure in Estonian media art, whose new book, “Contemporary Art in the Digital Age”, was recently published, will examine expanded and diluted authorship. The authors of the AI Leap risk analysis will discuss the concept of value drift. Several artists and designers will also speak at the conference.

An exhibition in the foyer will showcase teaching and creative work from creative higher education institutions in which AI is a component or co-author. This includes works awarded at Ars Electronica, the world’s oldest digital culture festival in Austria.

Attendance

The conference is free for everyone who registers. Places are limited.

The conference is part of the nationwide Arunädal, taking place from 18 to 22 November. Its aim is to increase public awareness of AI and support its informed, safe and effective use. Explore the Arunädal programme: Arunädal, 18–22 November 2026 | Eesti AI.

The organiser reserves the right to make changes to the programme. The conference is supported through the ESF+ co-funded activity “Quality and Internationalisation of Higher Education”.