Creative Intelligence Beyond the Digital
- MODINA Seminar
- Part of Iridescent Festival
15:00-17:30
Info
This seminar is open to artists and dancers interested in exploring creativity through the lens of technology, the body, and artificial intelligence.
This event invites participants to discover new perspectives on the creative process — from multimodal thinking and human–machine interaction to the embodied intelligence of the body.
Creativity and Sensemaking Tools: from Multimodality to Human-Centered AI
Speaker: Diogo Cabral
In his talk, Diogo Cabral will cover more than ten years of research on creativity and sensemaking support tools. He will discuss the issues and benefits of multimodal interactions for these tools. Diogo’s work includes the development of video annotation and editing tools, interfaces for digital and physical information exploration, and sensory feedback studies.
The Emergent Power of the Body: Creative Intelligence Beyond the Digital
Speaker: David dos Santos
In an era where digital intelligence increasingly challenges our idea of creativity, the human body remains a creative, vital source often overlooked. This talk builds on David dos Santos’s concept of emergent embodied creativity, as developed in his PhD thesis, to highlight the unique ways in which the body can produce knowledge and foster creative processes. Drawing on Philosophy of Art and Science and Performing Arts practices such as Contact Improvisation and Social Presencing Theater, we will explore how the body can generate insights that challenge the capabilities of AI. By examining this form of emergent embodied creativity, we aim to enrich our understanding of how the body contributes to both artistic creation and our broader conception of intelligence in a tech-driven world.
From Divergent to Convergent Thinking: Working Creatively with GenAI
Speaker: Ana Rodrigues (online, via Zoom)
The bridge between human creativity and artificial intelligence (AI) has redefined the boundaries of innovation, calling human creative work into question. Within this rapidly evolving paradigm, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has significantly impacted the creative process—divergent and convergent thinking—acting as a creative mirror. It inspires innovative ideas and guides users through the cognitive spaces applied during divergent and convergent thinking. Examples and reflections present a framework for collaboration between users and machines, answering the question: How do we work creatively with GenAI?
Affiliation : ITI, IST, Ulisboa
Registration
Until November 7, by email at [email protected]
Number of participants: 20
Schedule
15:00 – 15:40
Talk 1 — Diogo Cabral
Title: Multimodality on Creativity and Sensemaking Tools
15:40 – 15:50 — Q&A (10 min)
15:50 – 16:15
Talk 2 — Ana Rodrigues (online)
Title: From Divergent to Convergent Thinking: Working Creatively with GenAI
16:15 – 16:20 — Q&A (5 min)
16:20 – 16:30 — Short Break (10 min)
16:30 – 17:10
Talk 3 — David dos Santos
Title: The Emergent Power of the Body: Creative Intelligence Beyond the Digital
17:10 – 17:20 — Q&A (10 min)
17:20 – 17:30
Closing & informal wrap-up
Biographies
Diogo Cabral is an Assistant Professor at DEI/ISEL, Polytechnic University of Lisbon, and Researcher at ITI/LARSyS. Previously, he was a Research Fellow at IST/ULisboa; an Assistant Professor at the University of Madeira; and a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology (HIIT), University of Helsinki, Finland. He has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include creativity and sensemaking support tools, multimodal interactions, and video interfaces, crossing the Human-Computer Interaction and Multimedia fields.
David dos Santos is a Post Doc Researcher at ITI/LARSyS, IST, University of Lisbon, working on the projects MODINA and eGames. He holds a PhD in Philosophy of Science, Technology, Art and Society [University of Lisbon], an MA in Multimedia Culture and Art [FEUP|U.T. Austin] and a BA in Theatre Studies [ESMAE]. In scientific research, he was an FCT doctoral grantee and a collaborator/researcher of the international projects Blackbox: Arts & Cognition and TKB: Transmedia Knowledge-Base for Performing Arts; Organizer of Nova University of Lisbon’s TKB and PAI international conferences. Taught at various institutions and is currently a Professor at Lusófona University. He worked in direction and performed in several Performing Arts productions. Recently completed the Social Presencing Theater Practitioner Development Program at the Presencing Institute and his doctoral dissertation in Emergent Embodied Creativity.
Ana Rodrigues: Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Interactive Media Design. She believes that technology plays an important role in the development of society. This conviction has been formalized through her research and work. In 2021, she began her PhD in Computer Engineering, specializing in Human-Computer Interaction, to foster empathy between humans and technology, developing human-computer interactions with an emphasis on user-centered design, engagement, and meaningful impact in functional solutions. She is currently a PhD student and researcher at ITI-LARSyS, and her research topic is Creativity Support Tool for Sustainability: An LLM-Assisted Creative Process.
The seminar is part of the MODINA project. The Movement, Digital Intelligence and Interactive Audience (MODINA) project aims to expand the creative possibilities of contemporary dance performances and enhance the audience experience with digital technology – with a focus on exploring artificial intelligence (AI) and audience interaction, on-site and online. The project partners are 3 academic institutions and 5 dance centers from 6 countries.
The MODINA project is co-funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe program. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the funding authority can be held responsible for them.
Institutional partners
Ministerul Culturii, Aerowaves, Moving Balkans, MODINA, Creative Europe, Teatrul Național București, Cinema Union, Cărturești, Terapie pentru Mișcare, UrbanEye Film Festival. Liceul de Coregrafie “Floria Capsali”
Main media partner
Radio Guerrilla
Media partners
Scena9, Zile și Nopți, Adevărul, Agerpress, Elle, Happ.ro, Liternet, TVR Cultural, Radio România Cultural, Revista Arta, The Institute, Zeppelin, ISCOADA, Revista Golan, Feeder, Visit Bucharest, Ziarul Metropolis, IQads, Ceașca de Cultură, Modernism.ro, Daily Magazine, Munteanu Recomandă, Haute Culture Magazine