In front of the unknown, we always feel a mixture of fear and hope. Today, the unknown is represented by Artificial Intelligence. We still don’t know if it is dangerous or friendly and we are trying to deduce it. When we meet a person we can always interpret their expression, their attitude, and the tone of their voice, but how can we do this in front of something that has no human appearance? Artificial Intelligence is often represented as an androgynous servile being or a threatening robot, but these depictions only underline our stereotypes and highlight our inability to imagine something that exists beyond what we know already.

This is why the Close Encounters festival was born: to design new shapes for artificial intelligence. It will explore our fears and hopes: a close encounter that starts with creativity. We are not philosophers, computer scientists, or anthropologists. We are graphic designers and painters. We don't claim to give any answers, but we want to test our imagination and, through this process, discover something about ourselves, as individuals and as a community.

The festival included an exhibition curated by Arcipèlago with artworks by artists from Friuli Venezia Giulia and students from ABA UD, a series of lectures, performances, and an interactive symposium: the audience was able to join the discussion tables in which experts Janine Schemmer, Marino Capitanio, Paolo Ermano, Paolo Omero and Fabio Chiusi shared different topics related to AI. The symposium involved the rotation of experts to offer the public an interactive and changing experience.