The Colonisation of Imagination: AI, Power, and Who Gets to Tell the Future

Artificial intelligence is fast becoming our chief storyteller. But the datasets that train these systems—and the power structures that build them—raise urgent questions about cultural ownership, representation, and narrative control. In this keynote, Tina Gharavi examines how emerging technologies risk reproducing long histories of cultural extraction and narrative dominance. From Iran’s contested storytelling traditions to immersive media’s radical possibilities, she interrogates how artists can resist algorithmic erasure and reclaim the right to imagine the future.