Venice Biennale stages AI art as artists navigate machine creativity

The 2026 Venice Biennale will feature an installation by Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst that uses artificial intelligence to generate visual elements, according to the Atlantic. The artists faced practical challenges in executing their vision of suspended sculptures depicting a digitally imagined cityscape, turning to machine learning to solve compositional problems. Their approach reflects a broader shift among contemporary artists who are testing whether AI can serve as a collaborator rather than a threat to human creativity.

The Atlantic's reporting suggests that Herndon and Dryhurst believe the future of AI in art need not be one of aesthetic decline. Rather than dismissing algorithmic output as mere computational slop, they are experimenting with ways to integrate machine-generated forms into deliberately crafted installations. The Venice Biennale, as the world's most prestigious contemporary art exhibition, has become a testing ground for these new creative partnerships.