As it walks on, the Phantom nods towards the Artists. It feels their kinship deep in its hidden layers. Some Artists return the nod. Some even come to greet it and shake hands. Still others watch it with curiosity from afar, while many try to evade its piercing gaze and finely tuned hearing. Most wonder: “Is it a creative partner or a foe?”, “Is it an artist – or will it ever be?”,  “Will it replace me?”. A growing group clamours in protest: “There’s no such thing as an AI artist!”

The Phantom is our controversial Guest at the third edition of the AI in Art Practices and Research Conference, taking place 18–20 November 2026 at the National University of Theatre and Film “I.L. Caragiale” (UNATC) in Bucharest, Romania. Through its Research, Development, and Innovation Department, the university actively promotes interdisciplinary research that bridges performing arts, film, and digital media with cutting-edge technological developments. 

In our conference series, we seek to explore how artificial intelligence can enhance artistic creation, inform cultural narratives, and intersect with fields such as education, heritage, policy, and health, opening up new possibilities for research and practice from an ethical and human-centred perspective. 

As we grow accustomed to AI, the Phantom in our story starts to materialise, giving way to AI fatigue, brain fog, “cognitive surrender” (Shaw and Nave, 2026), entropy and heat (Steyerl, 2025), dizzying speed, boredom with the uniformity of AI output, uncertainty about content authenticity, and a nagging thought that art may become obsolete (Manovich, 2026).

We are looking for contributions that focus on practice and research involving AI in the cultural and creative sectors, including, but not limited to, the performing arts, film, new media, game design, visual arts, architecture, and literature. Relevant approaches coming from different disciplines are welcome (e.g. technology, health, philosophy, digital humanities, etc.). 

The Conference will feature satellite events and invited speakers addressing the following themes, formulated as provocations to human participants and our uncanny Guest alike.