Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly important topic in the performing arts, and the Royal Ballet and Opera is placing the debate center stage through its new RBO/SHIFT Festival. Featured in a recent Guardian article, the festival is curated by opera director Netia Jones and focuses on the relationship between AI, creativity, and artistic expression. The event brings together artists, technologists, researchers, and audiences to explore how emerging technologies are changing the way art is created, performed, and experienced.
Jones argues that artists should actively engage with AI rather than ignore it. Known for incorporating virtual reality, video projections, and other digital technologies into her productions, she believes AI is becoming a permanent part of cultural life and that the arts have an important role in shaping how the technology develops. Rather than viewing AI solely as a threat to creative professions, she sees it as a tool that can expand artistic possibilities, improve accessibility, and enable new forms of collaboration between humans and machines.
The four-day festival features performances, exhibitions, discussions, and experimental projects that examine both the opportunities and risks of AI. Participants include composers, musicians, dancers, coders, researchers, and AI innovators exploring topics such as generative music, machine-assisted performance, creative coding, and the ethics of artificial intelligence. Organizers describe the festival as an attempt to answer two fundamental questions: what AI can offer artists, and what artists can contribute to a society increasingly influenced by algorithms.
The event reflects a broader conversation taking place across the cultural sector. While many artists are excited about AI’s potential to create new forms of expression, others worry about copyright, consent, job displacement, and the erosion of human creativity. By bringing these discussions into the world of opera—a centuries-old art form known for embracing innovation—the festival aims to create a space where technological change can be examined critically rather than simply celebrated or feared. As AI continues to reshape creative industries, institutions like the Royal Ballet and Opera are increasingly positioning the arts as a key forum for understanding its cultural impact.
