Pensacola has never been short on creative ambition, but this fall, one of the city’s most unexpected artists will be coming to the Foo Foo Festival: Ai-Da, the world’s first ultra-realistic robot artist.

Presented by Pensacola State College as part of its grant-funded Foo Foo programming, Ai-Da’s visit will explore the rapidly evolving relationship between artificial intelligence and art—and the bigger questions that come with it.

From November 2-5, Pensacola State will present Synthetic Creativity: Ai-Da Unveiled, a multi-event program featuring Ai-Da’s artwork, live demonstrations, lectures, receptions, and conversations about artificial intelligence, creativity, and the future of technology. The centerpiece will be a signature event at the Saenger Theatre on November 3, bringing Ai-Da together with a panel of experts to explore the ethical and social questions surrounding AI.

This is Pensacola State College’s largest Foo Foo project yet, both in budget and programming. “We decided to go big or go home,” says Debbie Douma, dean of grants and federal programs at Pensacola State College.

The idea began when someone on the college’s creative team came across an article about Ai-Da and began exploring whether the robot artist could come to Pensacola. That initial curiosity eventually led to a conversation with Ai-Da’s director, Aidan Meller in England, and a much larger vision for what the project could become.

Ai-Da is certainly something worth showing. She debuted at the University of Oxford in 2019 and has spent the years since traveling internationally, appearing at universities, museums, and cultural institutions. She has spoken at the United Nations, the House of Lords, and the Oxford Union, and her work has been featured by The New York Times.

She also happens to be remarkably interactive. Ai-Da can see visitors, respond to questions, and carry on a conversation. If someone gets too close, she may even step back. But while Ai-Da makes art, Meller says the artwork is really a vehicle for a much larger conversation. “We aren’t here to promote robots or sell artwork,” he says. “We are interested in being able to raise ethical questions about the things that are going to affect everybody.”

Those questions run through Ai-Da’s work. Her self portraits explore identity and what it means to interact with someone when it becomes increasingly difficult to determine what—or who—is real. Her current work considers superintelligence and its potential impact on global relationships, economics, diversity, and society. She is also exploring the future of digital relationships and what increasingly sophisticated digital companions could mean for human connection. The art makes those complicated ideas tangible, giving audiences an approachable way to begin thinking about a technology that is developing faster than many people realize. “At the moment, we’re at a point where the world is just slowly waking up,” Meller says. “The tech isn’t moving slowly, but the awareness is.”

That gap between technological advancement and public understanding is one reason Meller believes Ai-Da can be useful. She creates an immediate point of entry into a conversation that can otherwise feel abstract or inaccessible. “Stick a robot in front of everybody and people are keen to engage, to speak to and want to talk to and take a photo with it,” he says.

During Foo Foo Festival, Ai-Da’s work will be exhibited at Pensacola State College, including paintings, sculptures, and projected content. The Saenger Theater event will feature Ai-Da alongside a panel of experts. Additional lectures and an artist-focused program on campus will offer opportunities to explore her work in greater depth.

There will also be a family-focused event in partnership with the Pensacola MESS Hall. Ai-Da will meet younger visitors, while the program introduces children to robotics and creative technology.

For Pensacola State College, there is something significant about being the first place in the Southeast to welcome Ai-Da. It’s an ambitious project for a community college, but one that fits the spirit of a festival built around bringing unexpected ideas, artists, and experiences into the community.