AI and arts seminar

Hybrid, Tokyo Midtown Design Hub / Zoom
Onsite venue: Tokyo Midtown, Design Hub, International Liaison Design Center 
In collaboration with Japan Institute of Design Promotion
2025/10/30 (Thu)
14:00-17:00

The focus of the seminar is the role AI in artistic work: the relationship, companionship and interaction of artists and technology, the role of imagery and vision in creative process, the potentials and the ethical considerations related to the use of AI in arts. 
Speakers: Jenny Mild and Sami Pikkarainen, Kristiina Jokinen, Ashizawa Kamome, Yoshitaka Mori.

https://peatix.com/event/4626699

Program

14:00-14:05 Opening words, Jaakko Nousiainen, director of the FIJ
14:05-14:40 Jenny Mild and Sami Pikkarainen (Trivial Zero): Actor Network Theory and AI in making of art
14:40-15:15 Ashizawa Kamome:  The importance of vision in AI-driven creation
15:15-15:30 Coffee break
15:30-16:05 Professor Kristiina Jokinen: Agents of Expression – Interaction, Ethics, and Creativity in Generative AI
16:05-16:40 Professor Yoshitaka Mōri: AI and Contemporary Japanese Artists (But do artists using AI need nationality?)
16:40-17:15 Coffee and networking

Actor Network Theory and AI in making of art – Jenny Mild and Sami Pikkarainen (Trivial Zero)

Actor-Network Theory (ANT) is a theoretical and methodological approach that views the social and natural world as a network of constantly shifting relationships. It treats both human and non-human entities as ”actors” that have influence and agency within these networks. Trivial Zero will talk about their artistic work inspired and collaborated with AI as well as their philosophy behind their ongoing exhibition “God made hole” which is presented in Tokyo at the Ars Gallery in Omote Sando. 

Jenny Mild and Sami Pikkarainen form a Finnish artist duo “Trivial Zero”. Their works often combine art and science and exist at the intersections and communications between real and unreal worlds, and blend video/sound, sculpture, and performance art. They aim to give the viewer an opportunity for participatory experience–turning a spectator into participant. Jenny and Sami see little distinction between the realms of science and art–both follow parallel paths, clearing the way for one another. Currently, Trivial Zero is working with AI art, conceptual art, and traditional bronze casting.

The Importance of Vision in AI-Driven Creation – Ashizawa Kamome (KEIO SF Center)

As generative AI transforms the definition of “imagination,” what is required of creators in the AI era? This lecture introduces the concept that sees AI creators as “film directors” collaborating with AI as staff, emphasizing the critical importance of possessing a clear “vision.” The expansion of imagination through technology will likely give rise to creators with a meta perspective.

Ashizawa Kamome is a writer and researcher at the Keio Science Fiction Research & Development Center. He is a winner of the Excellence Award in the General Category at the 9th Nikkei Hoshi Shinichi Award and has been the first in the world to win a literary award for a novel written using AI. He also received a Honorable Mention at the 2nd AI Art Grand Prix. He is the author of “AI Utilization Techniques for Novelists.”

Agents of Expression: Interaction, Ethics, and Creativity in Generative AI – Dr. Kristiina Jokinen (AIST)

The talk explores AI agents and creative contexts, with a particular emphasis on interaction, embodied communication, language, emotion, and ethics. Drawing from her experience in developing human-robot interaction for practical applications, Dr. Jokinen will discuss challenges and opportunities presented by Generative AI (GenAI) models to design Agents of Expression.  The discussion focuses on a new paradigm to equip AI agents with fluent communication skills and touches also less desirable properties of such agents for practical use, such as errors and hallucinations.  Considerations for responsible AI that fosters ethical and sustainable development for symbiotic relationships between humans and robots will be discussed. 

Dr. Kristiina Jokinen is a Collaborative Researcher at AI Research Center (AIRC) at AIST, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Helsinki. She is a e.g. member of the pan-European AI network of excellence ELLIS, and Advisory Board for Japanese AI in electronics program. She has led numerous national and international research projects, most recently collaborating in the EU-Japan project e-VITA. Her research concerns human-robot interaction, (Gen)AI-based dialogue modelling, and multimodal communication.The Wikipedia-based robot dialogue system WikiTalk developed with Graham Wilcock, won the Special Recognition for Best Robot Design at the ICSR conference in 2017. In 2026 in London, she will co-chair Special Sessions for ICSR+ Art conference focusing especially on social robotics and the arts. 

AI and Contemporary Japanese Artists (But do artists using AI need nationality?)  – Prof. Yoshitaka Mōri (Tokyo University of the Arts)

With the explosive spread of generative AI, the number of artists who use AI in their creative work is on the rise. Japan is no exception: various artists are creating new forms of art using AI. This presentation will explore the potential of AI in art by examining the works and projects of recent Japanese artists who use AI both directly and indirectly. On the other hand, this trend raises another question: Is nationality still necessary in art where AI plays a significant role? How does nationality relate to race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and national culture such as language? Is the humanity in AI a universal concept that transcends nationality? By looking at works by Japanese artists, we will consider the universality and particularity of AI art.

Dr. Yoshitaka Mōri is Professor of Sociology, Cultural Studies and Media Studies at Tokyo University of the Arts. Born in 1963. BA in Economics (Kyoto University), MA in Media and Communications and Ph.D. in Sociology (Goldsmiths College, University of London). His research interests are postmodern culture, media, contemporary art, the city and transnationalism. His publications include, Banksy, Kobunsha, 2019, Sutorīt no Shisō (The Philosophy in the Streets) Chikuma Bunko, 2024 and Popyurā Ongaku to Shihonshugi (Popular Music and Capitalism) Serica Shobō, 2005/2012 (in Japanese) and “J-Pop Goes the World: A New Global Fandom in the Age of Digital Media” Made in Japan: Studies in Popular Music, T. Mitsui (Ed), Routledge, 2014, and “New Collectivism, Participation and Politics after the East Japan Great Earthquake”, World Art, Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 5/2, 2015 (in English).