New Exhibition on the Future of Humanity in the Age of AI at the Ars Electronica Center
With Hello Worlds!, Ars Electronica opens a future-oriented exhibition platform at the Ars Electronica Center Linz. The interactive exhibition combines artworks and experimental prototypes to explore a central question: Who will we humans become in the future? It examines what it means to be human in a world shaped by ecological change, political and economic uncertainty, and especially the introduction of artificial intelligence in our everyday lives—forces that are fundamentally transforming our ideas of life and identity. The main focus of the projects rests on AI, which no longer exists only on screens, but in robots, vehicles and intelligent systems. It doesn’t just speak with us, but moves through our environments, and acts increasingly autonomously. Many abilities once considered uniquely human can now be simulated—or even performed—by AI. And while we develop and shape this ever more powerful technology, it shapes us in return. It transforms how we perceive, communicate, move, imagine the future, and understand ourselves.
The title Hello Worlds! signals a shift from one world to many worlds, and the one future to the many futures. Humans, animals, ecosystems, robots, and AI systems perceive, experience, and shape the world in different ways. Rather than assuming one universal reality, Hello Worlds! acknowledges this plurality of perspectives and forms of agency. In this context, the human is no longer the fixed center. Rather than separating us from the world, these developments reposition humans within a broader network of relationships—alongside other forms of intelligence and life. Hello Worlds! is both a greeting to these many worlds and an invitation to step beyond a purely human perspective: to encounter multiple perspectives, question assumptions, and engage in an ongoing negotiation of what humanity is—and what it might become.
Hello Worlds! opens on the evening of Tuesday, September 8, 2026, when the Ars Electronica Center as well as the Ars Electronica Futurelab celebrate their 30th anniversary at the culmination of the festival’s Pre-Opening Walk. From September 9, the exhibition is open to all visitors during the Ars Electronica Festival and remains on view in the Main Gallery of the Ars Electronica Center thereafter.
Three Interconnected Exhibition Spaces
Moving through the exhibition, visitors are invited to explore three interconnected spaces: Hello Me! The Amplified Self, Hello You! The Interbeing Lab, and Hello Us! Shared Resonance. Each of these spaces understands humanity not as a fixed condition, but as something continuously shaped through technology, relationships, and collective experience. Rather than simply showing what future humanity might look like, the exhibition invites visitors to experience what it might feel like and mean to take part in negotiating what it could become. Artistic prototypes, together with curated artworks, translate speculative research into tangible experiences—inviting reflection, participation, and exchange.
Personalized Exhibition Experience
The AI-supported Hello Worlds! system responds to visitors’ interactions and personalizes parts of the experience, such as signage texts and installation contents. Participation is optional and can be activated or deactivated at the Deep Mirror installations; visitors can opt out or delete their profile at any time while retaining full access to the exhibition. Those who opt in receive a temporary Visitor Record and choose their preferred language, level of detail, and visual style for the digital description texts. The system then draws interpretations that influence how texts, questions, and perspectives appear throughout the space. It interprets what visitors do, not who they are: it does not identify emotions, rate people, or predict behavior.
Research Project with the Toyota Motor Corporation’s Advanced R&D and Engineering Company
What happens when a company researches not only future technologies, but the question of what it means to be human? And what happens when an exhibition becomes part of that research rather than simply presenting its results? The Future Humanity Project by the Ars Electronica Futurelab and Toyota Motor Corporation’s Advanced R&D and Engineering Company explores these questions, with Hello Worlds! as the public outcome. “The exhibition is designed as an ongoing open research platform,” says Hideaki Ogawa, Artistic Director of the Ars Electronica Futurelab. “We don’t want to develop these questions behind closed doors—we want visitors to become active participants in the process. After all, the question of what it means to be human, today and in the future, concerns all of us.”
Hello Worlds! at the Ars Electronica Festival 2026
During the Ars Electronica Festival, visitors can explore the new platform at the Ars Electronica Center alongside the Open Futurelab, which presents further prototypes and works by the Ars Electronica Futurelab. They can also discuss Hello Worlds! with the artists, researchers, and developers behind it: special guided tours and a Town Hall Meeting invite everyone to negotiate future humanity together.
Hello Worlds! Futurelab Tour
Explore Hello Worlds! together with the people behind the project.
DE: September 9-13, 12.15-12.45
EN: September 9-13, 16.15-16.45
Meeting Point: Guided Tours and Workshops Desk, Ars Electronica Center
Registration (3 € surcharge) and ticket (DAYPASS, Ars Electronica Center Ticket, FESTIVALPASS, FESTIVALPASS+) required
Hello Worlds! Behind the Prototype
Join after a Hello Worlds! Futurelab tour: each day highlights different works and prototypes
EN/DE: September 9-12, 13.00-13.30 and 17.00-17.30
Meeting Point: Open Futurelab, Ars Electronica Center
No registration; ticket (DAYPASS, Ars Electronica Center Ticket, FESTIVALPASS, FESTIVALPASS+) required
Town Hall Meeting: Hello Worlds!
Open discussion on Negotiating Humanity through Art × Industry × Research
EN: September 11, 14.30-15.30
voestalpine OPEN SPACE, OK Quarter
Registration required, free admission
