OPENINGS

The following program list outlines a structural agenda designed to foster an agile, down-to-earth relationship with the rapid pace of change brought about by technology, society, and the broader contexts to which we are subjected.

Through close engagement and daily research into developments in AI-driven creative scenarios, the Generative Center recognizes the need to continually adapt our plans to transformative conditions. As our relationship with machine learning and artificial intelligence enters a new phase, moving beyond the initial shock of impact, it calls for a more mature and considered approach. In the face of automation, where is the creative process heading? How are our values evolving? How are different generations confronting this pivotal moment?

The 2025–2026 GC Openings season proposes encounters that inspire mutual exchange, invite us to open ourselves to new perspectives, and embrace one another’s points of view. Emphasizing intergenerational dialogue, cross-cultural engagement, and multidisciplinary approaches, it aims to provide a continuous and in-depth analysis of our world through the prism of creativity.

Filmmaking is undergoing structural change due to the accelerating development of AI generative models, new workflows, and customized high-impact content. Animation is one of the fields most affected by this shift. Professors, professionals, and participants will discuss not only what may be lost, but also what can be gained. Animation may not simply be a casualty of this transition; it could lead the way toward new storytelling techniques, while continuing to draw from analogue processes that will remain crucial in the future.

10 Digital Snowflakes - Friday 19 December
A reflection on how the world has changed in 2025 through advances in AI. What endures, and what dissolves into the constant flow of information? What might the near future look like?

2026
11 Shifting Narratives: Technological Dreamscapes - Saturday 24 January

Philip K. Dick once asked, “Do androids dream of electric sheep?” Today, we seem to be approaching an answer. In the search for consciousness: what controls our lives? What is at stake? Where do we encounter the divine and the transcendental? We turn to questions of lucid dreaming, tech hallucination versus reverie, the absolute versus the subtle. Let's dive into the depths, from where does the creative act emerge? Does AI offer us a structuralist mirror, or does it help us grasp more fully the uniqueness of life and the open-ended depths of our collective subconscious? 

Electricity, chips, silicon shortages—the facts, the manipulations, and the exploitation of AI doom narratives.

The future of education is shifting toward transformation. How do we need to learn? How do we prepare for a world of constant information flux? Do we need to differentiate between information and knowledge? The current rate of change suggests structures will not be able to adjust and cope with the requirements for renewed educational processes, we will explore the shortcuts, the constants, and the human argument in our present situation. 

Exploring the intersections of belief, simulation, and reality in the age of AI.

An in-depth look at the creation of the APERTUS LLM. With distinguished guests from ALPS (Swiss National Supercomputing Center, Lugano, Ticino), we imagine a world where building bespoke language models becomes an art form, comparable to the work of Leonardo da Vinci, Hokusai, or movements like Surrealism and Impressionism.