LuovAIn! Roadshow in Oulu: Humans and AI – Creating Together or Separately?

At the event, we will consider how AI is shaping the present and future of creative professionals. Where can we find new perspectives on business in the age of AI? How can we work ethically with AI? Why do we still need authentic media content? Who decides what is good and beautiful – what counts as art? And what kind of space will there be for creative professionals in the future?
The event features a dose of comedy created with AI, an inspiring panel discussion and an AI-powered community art workshop. Participants will have the opportunity to use AI to co-create a visual artwork that evolves in real time.

PROGRAMME

Tarkastamo Hall (Sali)

12:30–13:15 Stand-up with AI (only in Finnish)
Comedian and entrepreneur Joona Kotilainen

13:15–14:00 Panel discussion: Humans and AI – Creating Together or Separately? (only in Finnish)
Panelists include Harriet Urponen, Director of Communications at the City of Oulu; entrepreneur Eemeli Alanne from Taikasatukulma; and researcher Markus Sjöberg from Tampere University. The panel will be moderated by Joona Kotilainen.

Tarkastamo Klubi

12:00–16:00 AI Community Art Workshop (also in English)
Media artist Ville-Sakari Kotka from Käpynä Oy and Markus Sjöberg

The community art workshop is a participatory and immersive installation in which visitors’ brushstrokes – made in the air or on a physical surface – serve as the starting point for the artwork. The movement is interpreted using AI and visualised on a screen installed in the space, forming the visual core of the installation.

The artwork evolves through continuous interaction: the image displayed on the screen becomes the prompt for subsequent AI interpretations, creating a feedback loop between the participants and the artwork. The participants’ traces accumulate into a shared, constantly evolving visual surface – a digital mirror in which individual gestures merge into collective expression.
The workshop uses technologies including StreamDiffusion and Depth Anything, as well as projection mapping and camera-based detection.

Register here.

For more information:
Eeva Leinonen (eeva.leinonen@oulu.fi)

The LuovAIn! – AI in the Creative and Cultural Sector Ecosystem project is co-funded by the European Union. The project is implemented in 2024–2026 with national ESF+ funding for innovation expertise in the creative and cultural sectors, as part of the Innovation and Skills in Finland 2021–2027 programme. The project partners are the University of Turku, University of Oulu, Tampere University and LAB University of Applied Sciences.

This event is part of the Lumo Art & Tech Festival and the University of Oulu’s programme for the European Capital of Culture year 2026.

Photo: Minna Kilpeläinen