Unpacking Generativity: Epistemology, Politics, and Aesthetics of Generative AI Systems.

How can contemporary AI systems be understood as generative technologies—beyond their technical functions? What becomes visible through these systems, what remains obscured or actively excluded? And what are the political, cultural, and epistemic implications of algorithmic media’s generative capacities?

Symposium at TU Dresden | October 7, 2025
With keynotes by Sun-ha Hong, Rainer Mühlhoff, and Hito Steyerl

The symposium Unpacking Generativity invites critical engagement with generative AI systems from interdisciplinary perspectives. Focusing on three thematic blocks—Epistemology, Politics, and Aesthetics—the event aims to explore the societal impact and symbolic power of generative AI beyond technical definitions, situating it within broader knowledge systems, political economies, and visual cultures.

Bringing together scholars, theorists, and practitioners from fields such as Science and Technology Studies, media theory, political science, digital cultures, computer science, and the arts, the symposium fosters dialogue on the shifting landscape of digital infrastructures. Each thematic block will feature a keynote, two lightning talks, and a joint discussion. The event will close with a final conversation between all three keynote speakers. The symposium will take place in person in Dresden.

We welcome submissions for lightning talks (max. 500 words) related to one of the three thematic blocks. Disciplinary and interdisciplinary contributions are equally encouraged.

Guiding questions and topics could include, but are not limited to:

The Epistemology of Generativity: How are AI systems envisioned and constructed as generative? What epistemological frameworks and assumptions shape the development of Generative AI? What is the impact of AI's generative power on society, knowledge systems and cultural norms?

The Politics of Generativity: What are political economical forces shaping the development and implementation of generative AI systems? How do we need to rethink normativity and existing forms, concepts, orders and subjects of politics in light of these emerging digital infrastructures? What are forms of critique of data extractivism, neo-coloniality, and neoliberal governance led by AI systems?

The Aesthetics of Generativity: What are emerging contemporary aesthetic forms of generative AI systems and to what extent can these be traced back to technological conditions and our visual culture? What political, epistemic and ethical dimensions do they entail? How do these developments reconfigure the boundaries and methods of disciplines and creative practices?

Please send your abstracts by July 27, 2025 to: generativity-slabmailbox.tu-dresden.de
Further information can be found here: https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/schauflerlab/tagungen-und-symposien/symposia-and-conferences/unpacking-generativity

The symposium is organized by Niklas Egberts, Jasmin Höning, and Nelly Saibel as part of the Schaufler LabTU Dresden.