Ludger Pfanz is an internationally acclaimed film director, author, and producer. Since 1997, he has been teaching at the Karlsruhe University of Art and Design, where he assumed leadership roles in various studios encompassing video, film, sound, animation, stage, and multimedia. From 2002 to 2023, he served as the spokesperson for media art.

Since 2010, Pfanz has also been the founder and director of the “Expanded 3 Digital Cinema Laboratory” at HfG/ZKM, a globally renowned facility dedicated to exploring the "content questions" of new digital art and film formats. Additionally, since 2011, he has spearheaded the international BEYOND Festival and the associated “Future Design Symposium”.

Topic: “Artificial and Artistic Intelligence

In the coming decades, transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and synthetic biology will profoundly alter our lives and perceptions in unprecedented ways. Future Design represents a convergence of science, technology, and art—an experimental arena for pioneering new art forms and fostering nuanced understandings of the societal implications of emerging technologies. Its primary aim is to raise widespread awareness about these technologies, stimulate debates, and cultivate interest among independent artists. Future Design offers fresh, critical perspectives on imagination and provides novel insights into reality.

Given the risks and potential collateral damage associated with these novel technologies, scientists and artists alike must advocate for their values by openly discussing both the potential and risks involved and by articulating a visionary path forward for Europe and beyond.