Ars Electronica Festival 2026, titled Negotiating Humanity, places artificial intelligence at the center of its program, anchored by Hello Worlds!, an interactive platform created by Ars Electronica Futurelab with Toyota Motor Corporation's Advanced R&D and Engineering Company, and A Sky of Infinite Wishes, a new work by the media artist Sputniko.
"It's time to pick up the trail and search for everything that can serve as the foundation for positive, reasonably just, and sustainable development," says Gerfried Stocker, Artistic Director of Ars Electronica.
That search runs through this year's festival program.
Opening at the Ars Electronica Center, Hello Worlds! unfolds across three perspectives:
Hello Me!, on how a sense of self changes through new forms of AI-driven intelligence and perception; Hello You!, on coexistence with animals, machines, and ecosystems beyond a human-centered view; and Hello Us!, on how new forms of community and shared understanding might emerge.
A Sky of Infinite Wishes takes up a related question from another angle: the increasingly blurred boundary between authenticity and fiction in an era shaped by AI.
