Date & time
Monday, October 26, 2026
4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Workshops & seminars
Share this event:
CTRL + AI: Creative Agency at Play
When AI agents can create, test, and revise, where does human agency reside?
Format
Hybrid
Cost
This event is free.
Website
Where
4TH SPACE
J.W. McConnell Building
1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
Accessible location
Yes - See details
Organized in collaboration with ELEKTRA, this conversation brings together Thomas Gauthier-Caron, a game designer and programmer interested in playful interaction, and Concordia’s AI-expert-in-residence, Christian Beltrami.
AI can move an idea across words, images, code, animation, and playable systems. But as agents gain the ability not only to generate, but also to use tools and test what they create, how can humans remain active in shaping the process?
Drawing from creative coding, game-making, local open-source models, and agentic workflows, Thomas Gauthier-Caron and Christian Beltrami will explore new ways of closing the gap between imagination and execution while preserving human agency, authorship, and judgment. Together, they will examine how experimentation and even technical failure can open unexpected creative possibilities.
This event is presented as part of the 8th ELEKTRA Digital Art Biennale, “F(R)ICTION: Art and Games”, taking place from October 15 to November 15, 2026. Discover the program online.
How can you participate? Join us in person or online by registering for the Zoom Meeting or watching live on YouTube.
Have questions or if we can make this event more accessible for you: Contact us at info.4@concordia.ca
Speakers
Thomas Gauthier-Caron
Thomas Gauthier-Caron is a programmer interested in playful interaction. Thomas’ works defies the belief that computers are just ones and zeros. While it’s true that they are at their core, they become so much more when you introduce one key variable : people. Computers then become a way to play, to think, to form bonds with each other. This is why a lot of Thomas’ projects features not just human-computer interaction, but human-human interaction. Be it in a multiplayer screen based game, or a game of Pong played with seesaws. With a formation in both Computer Science and Computation Arts at Concordia University, Thomas is well positioned to craft powerful computer interactions that can surprise people and subvert expectations.
Christian Beltrami
Christian Beltrami has worked internationally at the intersection of technology, storytelling, and the audiovisual industries, exploring how emerging tools, and now AI, can amplify narrative forms and strengthen the impact of film and media. During his residency at Concordia University, Beltrami will lead a three-credit intensive undergraduate course, offered from May 11 to June 1, 2026, alongside a year-long series of public events beginning in April 2026.
Description: A panel discussing questions imagination and execution with AI, while maintaining human agency and creativity.
Organized by: Fannie Gadouas; Christian Beltrami
Participants:
Christian Beltrami
Thomas Gauthier-Caron
With: ELEKTRA
Spectrum ID:
