Panel Discussion Centers On Art, Authorship And The Future In The Age Of AI (Photo) - 01/06/26
SOUTHWEST PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Community College will host “Thinking Machines: Art, Authorship, and the Future in the Age of AI,” a panel conversation from noon to 1 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 17 at the North View Gallery, Sylvania Campus (12000 S.W. 49th Avenue).
The event is organized alongside interdisciplinary artist Hannah Newman’s exhibition, “Neural-Lithic Harvests,” on display through Jan. 27. This discussion is free and open to the public. The art gallery is located in Room 214 of the Communication Technology (CT) Building.
The panel brings together artists and scholars to examine how advancing AI tools, especially image/video generators and large language models, are reshaping creative practice, authorship and education. Participants include Newman, artist Myra Lilith Day, poet Megan Savage, artist David Torres, philosopher Matt Stockton and humanities professor Jo McLendon.
The conversation probes the tension between human agency and machine creation amid intensifying real-world debates about who benefits from generative AI and who bears the costs. U.S. courts are entering a pivotal year in lawsuits that question whether training AI on copyrighted books, images, and journalism is “fair use,” with outcomes that could redefine creative rights and compensation.
At the same time, recent headlines have underscored how image-generation tools can be misused to create nonconsensual “nudification” and sexualized deepfakes, raising urgent questions about consent, safety, and accountability online.
Panelists will also address the environmental footprint of AI systems, including the growing energy and water demands of data centers powering today’s models, and what responsible use can look like in the arts and humanities.
PCC is home to three art galleries: the North View Gallery, the Paragon Arts Gallery and the Helzer Gallery, each located on comprehensive campus locations in Portland – Sylvania, Cascade and Rock Creek, respectively. The Art Galleries are dedicated to supporting education and community building through the arts.
For more information, visit the PCC art galleries webpage: pcc.edu/galleries/.
About Portland Community College: Founded in 1961, Portland Community College is the largest post-secondary institution in Oregon and provides training, degree and certificate completion, and lifelong learning to more than 57,000 full- and part-time students in Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill, Clackamas, and Columbia counties. PCC has four comprehensive campuses, 10 education centers or areas served, and approximately 200 community locations in the Portland metropolitan area. The PCC district encompasses a 1,500-square-mile area in northwest Oregon and offers two-year degrees, one-year certificate programs, short-term training, alternative education, pre-college courses and life-long learning.
Visit PCC news on the web at http://news.pcc.edu/
For B-ROLL footage, visit PCC campus and student life highlight reel.
