We returned from International Symposium of Electronic Arts – ISEA 2025 in beautiful Seoul with a notebook full of ideas, names, and tools—and a head full of questions and of course with some Korean words that we still keep learning.

What does it mean to create art with AI that not only generates images and ideas but also reflects histories, rituals, and even traumas?

From workshops on epigenetic memory to installations decoding soil toxicity through fungi-trained AI models, the boundaries between data, environment, and emotion are dissolving. It’s no longer just about human vs. machine—it’s about how our pasts shape AI’s futures, it’s about how the two are going to fit together.

Some highlights:
• We watched artists turn contaminated landscapes into data-driven beauty—pollution reimagined as biodiversity.
• Listened to talks linking design rituals to organizational culture: small daily moments that shape energy and values.
• Learned from institutions like ZHdK and Art Center Nabi about immersive practices, media archaeology, and scanning lost heritage to reanimate it digitally.
• Discovered tools and devices that turn your sketches into working 3D prototypes instantly.
• Rethought UI through an artistic lens: Could we teach “Artistic Interfaces” as a discipline?

But beyond tech and tools, one idea kept resurfacing: rituals shape humans and cultures. So here’s our takeaway: as we move into a future co-created with AI, it’s the rituals—the repeated, the reflective, the relational—that may anchor us.

Thanks to all the brilliant minds I crossed paths with, ISEA 2025 was not just a conference but more a cultural mirror.