Animation Festival: AI & HUMAN

The AI & Human program is an annual celebration of the intersection between Artificial Intelligence and animation art, showcasing recent innovations in the field. This year a remarkable one-third of the submissions to Prix Ars Electronica New Animation Art were projects created using AI tools or centered around AI as a theme—the highest number to date.

These submissions highlight diverse and evolving ways of creative AI, whether in storytelling, visual concept and design or image production. Beyond functioning as a mere tool, AI is increasingly becoming a subject of artistic exploration, serving as a theme and focal point. This year’s program therefore includes works exploring the societal, ethical and identity implications of AI. EMI merges AI, CGI and real footage to create a frenetic advertisement tutorial about a virtual female influencer, humorously addressing the growing commodification of the online body. The Oasis I Deserve is an animated documentary about dating AI chatbots. All My Noise immerses viewers in a bizarre, tech-saturated world of synthetic entertainment, depicting a landscape marked by both poverty and excess, all generated through AI-driven image design. Golden Nica Winner Washed Out: “The hardest part” is the first generative video made with OpenAI’s SORA text-to-video model, proving AI’s potential to become a complementary tool to traditional filmmaking. Last but not least, AI Day is an AI generated digital tapestry paying tribute to women in powerful roles of creativity and Glenn Marshall’s Lady to Fox tells the story of a mysterious metamorphosis.

EMI, Ethel Lilienfeld (FR), 13’52’
All my Noise, Tomás García (AR), 8’15’’
Washed Out: “The hardest part”, Paul Trillo (US), 4’
AI Day, Ida Kvetny (DK), 3’43’’
Lady to Fox, Glenn Marshall (GB), 8’
The Oasis I Deserve, Ines Sieulle (FR), 22’27’’