Workshop

Creative Practitioners Collaborating With AI: Agency, Authorship, and Creative Practice

Overview

While AI is often presented as a frictionless tool for optimization, its integration into creative practice introduces ongoing negotiations around agency, authorship, and artistic intent. This workshop moves beyond showcasing finished works to explore how creative practitioners collaborate with AI systems throughout the creative process.

Through curated short presentations, both artists and researchers will share concrete accounts of their work with AI, including moments of surprise, resistance, and reinterpretation. Rather than celebrating generative models as seamless tools, the session will focus on the tensions and adjustments that shape creative practice.

The workshop will combine presentations with moderated discussion and a concluding synthesis, aiming to identify emerging patterns, challenges, and open questions in human–AI creative collaboration. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how AI functions not only as a tool but as an active participant in the creative process.

Scope and Goals

This workshop explores how creative practitioners collaborate with AI systems. As AI moves from passive tool to active participant, traditional boundaries of authorship, control, and intention become less stable.

Through short presentations and interactive discussions, we aim to:

• Explore how creative decisions are distributed between creators and AI systems.
• Examine moments of tension, surprise, and negotiation in collaborative workflows.
• Reflect on emerging patterns in how creative practitioners work with AI in their creative practice.

We welcome submissions from practitioners and researchers across the arts, design, computational creativity, and HCI who wish to share concrete experiences, experiments, or case studies involving AI in creative practice.

Format

The workshop will be a full-day session structured as follows:

1. Introduction – Organizers outline the workshop themes and structure.
2. Morning Presentations – Short, curated presentations by artists and researchers highlighting case studies of AI-assisted creative practice.
3. Afternoon Discussion – Moderated panels and group discussions reflecting on patterns, challenges, and insights across presentations.
4. Synthesis and Closing Remarks – Collective reflection on shared findings and emerging questions in human–AI collaboration.

This format balances structured presentation with interactive discussion, providing space for reflection and collaborative exploration.

Submission Guidelines

We invite artists, researchers, and creative technologists to submit proposals describing projects that explore human–AI collaboration. Submissions should be process-oriented and can include artworks, research prototypes, experimental workflows, or reflective analyses of creative practice. Please submit proposals as a PDF via email to: locurto.outcault@gmail.com.

Required Materials

• Abstract (up to 300 words): Summary of the project and how AI is involved in the creative process.
• Process Statement: Brief description of the respective roles of the human and AI system in the project.
• Short Bio: A concise biography highlighting relevant artistic, research, or technical experience.
• Single PDF: Submissions should be compiled into a single PDF.

Timeline for submissions and notification dates

• Submissions due: May 22, 2026
• Notification of acceptance: May 31, 2026
• Workshop date: June 29, 2026

Technical and Space Requirements

For the presentations, we require a standard projector and PA system. If other presenters have additional technical needs—such as whiteboards, open space, or specialized equipment—they should indicate these in their submissions.

Expected Audience

The workshop is intended for artists, designers, researchers, and students interested in human–AI collaboration in creative contexts. We welcome participants from disciplines, including creative practice, computational creativity, HCI, and technology-focused arts.

Six to eight presenters will be selected through submitted proposals, while attendance will be open to all conference participants interested in observing or contributing to discussions. The session is designed to encourage interactive participation and exchange between presenters and attendees.

Organizing Committee

Lilla LoCurto and Bill Outcault, independent artists
locurto.outcault@gmail.com