The UAB-Cruïlla Chair and the CVC bring computer vision to the Cruïlla 2025 Festival

The proposal will take shape with the installation of two demonstrators in a stand open to the public, where attendees will be able to experiment and reflect on generative artificial intelligence and the visual narratives it can create.

The Chair is a joint initiative between the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Cruïlla Festival, with the participation of the CVC as a collaborating entity. One of its main objectives is to transform the spaces of the UAB Campus and the Festival into living laboratories to explore innovative solutions based on AI, with a development sustained by ethical principles and with an active involvement of citizens. In charge of the scientific coordination and direction of the project is Fernando Vilariño, associate director of the CVC, coordinator of the Quantum Machine Learning Research Group (QML-CVC), and full professor of the Department of Computer Science at the UAB.

Demonstrations of generative artificial intelligence

The Chair will present two interactive demonstrations based on generative AI at the festival. The first, designed by the CVC, invites the public to become the star of the festival through a personalised visual narrative, generated from their own image, and at the same time inspired by the music and aesthetics of graphite artists, two emblematic elements of the festival.

The second demonstration, developed by the students of the UAB's bachelor's degree in Artificial Intelligence, will create a digital mascot and avatar generated from the preferences and photograph of the participants, which seeks to represent in a visual and personalised way the way in which each person lives the festival experience.

These two proposals respond to strategic challenges launched by the Cruïlla Festival during this year within the framework of the Chair, especially focused on the personalisation of the experience and audience loyalty. These challenges were worked on during a semester by the students of the bachelor's degree in AI, who were able to transform them into functional and applied prototypes. Thus, they were able to close a process of design and creation of AI, putting into practice their training in a real-life and highly creative environment.

The project also includes the participation of Lainapp, a start-up supported by the Chair and born in the AI and entrepreneurship training programme AI4ALL, coordinated by the UAB Research Park.

Towards a socially acceptable artificial intelligence

The demonstrations will be accompanied by an analysis of the social impact of the technology, prepared and validated by the Technovalues Committee of the UAB-Cruïlla Chair, which will be presented as part of the open dialogue with the public. This reflection seeks to open spaces for debate on the development of an AI that generates a transformative and positive impact on society. For the Chair, citizen participation is key in this process, and the arts become a privileged way to start this conversation. In this way, the Chair is committed to AI research and innovation that contributes to positive social transformation, reinforcing the commitment to values such as sustainability and inclusion.

Strategic alliance between culture and technology

The UAB-Cruïlla Chair conducts its activity through three main lines: AI as a creative tool (AI-CREATE), as support for creative processes (AI-SUPPORT), and as a vehicle to enrich the cultural experience (AI-EXPERIENCE). This is a pioneering project of collaboration between the university, the world of research, and the cultural sector.

Eleven researchers from the UAB, the CVC and the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (IIIA-CSIC) participate in the framework of the Chair, working together with the team of Barcelona Events Musicals, organiser of the Festival. Other collaborating entities include the Barcelona Music Lab Foundation, the Eurecat Foundation and the Èpica Foundation - La Fura dels Baus.