ITSC 2024 : International Theater Studies Conference: Performing Arts and Artificial Intelligence

From laboratory experiments reserved only for programmers a few decades ago, human-machine interaction through AI platforms has now reached an accessible presence "one click away". Painting in the manner of Cézanne or writing a two characters sketch that takes place in Târgu Mureș have become verbs not foreign to electronic platforms that emulate experiences of being in their own way. Moreover, artificial intelligence writes academic papers, enters into a dialogue with the user by answering complex questions, summarizes the latest editorial appearances or imitates the style of canonical creators.

Our conference aims to debate what are the opportunities, but also the risks of such technologies in relation to the performing arts. Can artificial intelligence enhance life or does it tend to replace it? Will these technologies be naturally embedded in the performing arts, will they generate new forms of expression or is the AI a threat to memory, creativity or human thought; how important is the temptation of information manipulation and ideological hijacking? What are the guidelines for performances that question or include in their own theatrical endeavors the potential of artificial intelligence? What are the artistic motivations of the creators who explore these technologies? How have the relations between natural and artificial, real and virtual, man and machine evolved in the theatrical context? Here are some topics that can be addressed, along with other perspectives (artistic, psychological, pedagogical, ethical, aesthetic, technical, etc.) regarding the intersection between art and artificial intelligence.

Researchers, teaching staff, students, artists, IT specialists, all those who think they can enter into dialogue, in relation to the proposed theme, are invited to take part in the conference. We invite you to send your abstracts (maximum 400 words) in Romanian, Hungarian, English or French, together with the institutional affiliation of the authors, by e-mail (in Microsoft Word compatible format) to [email protected] until the date of November 5, 2023. The conference will be held in sections, in Romanian, Hungarian, English and French. The scientific board will select the works that will participate in the conference before November 12, 2023. The proceedings of the conference will be published in Symbolon (symbolon.ro), an academic journal indexed by ERIH PLUS, CEEOL, DOAJ, Crossref, and Google Scholar, and ranked B by Romanian National Council for Scientific Research (CNCS).