elisava’s master in AI challenges designers to dissect the algorithm

ELISAVA REWRITES THE CULTURAL CODE THROUGH INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS

Elisava’s Master in Applied AI for Arts and Design (MAIAD) is a program on technological intervention for thinkers, designers, and creators. Under the conviction that those who understand artificial intelligence are the ones who will shape the future of culture, the master – offered in Barcelona (in English) and Madrid (in Spanish) – frames the algorithm as a raw material for artistic innovation and critical reflection. It is a curriculum designed to train a new kind of creative – one who dissects, builds, and provokes with intelligent systems to rewrite how culture is produced, distributed, and believed.

Zeynep Atik’s project Generated Nostalgia | all images courtesy of Elisava

MAKERS AND THINKERS AT THE EDGE OF THE LIVE PRACTICE

Built onElisava’s 65-year legacy of engineering and design excellence, the Master in Applied AI for Arts and Design (MAIAD) is led by a faculty of active professionals and award-winning practitioners working at the forefront of the industry.. Directors Pau Garcia and Marta Handenawer from Domestic Data Streamers, alongside Paadín, bring a rigorous, activist sensibility to the program’s direction.

The teaching staff includes award-winning contributors recognized by Ars Electronica, alongside internationally known artists (Taller Estampa or Mans-O), curators (Lluís Nacenta), and guest lecturers from across multiple countries. This collective of experts guides students through unconventional territories, with modules like Writing Against Algorithmic Mediation, Resistance and Poetic Dissidence (with Anne Quito), AI & Sculpture (with Marce Maderios), and Hype & AI (with Andreu Belsunces), ensuring the curriculum does not resonate with the industry’s radical default optimism or pessimism.