The annual conference at Beta Festival brings together artists, researchers, policymakers and technologists to explore how art can shape - and be shaped by - our technological and ecological realities. This year’s edition, Fluid States, dives into ideas of flow and transformation across quantum, digital, and ecological systems.

Over three days, the programme moves from critical debate to poetic speculation: from the AI Art Assembly and keynotes on responsible AI and hydroacoustics, to sessions on information floods, innovation infrastructures, and quantum poetics. Participants including keynotes José Luis de Vicente and Dr. Oonagh Murphy join a mix of local and international voices to question how we navigate an era of accelerating change. The conference blends research and imagination - a space where code, sound, language and matter intermingle - inviting audiences to think, listen and act with new fluidity.

Friday’s conference programme deep dives into AI, art, and digital culture - tracing how artificial intelligence shapes creativity, power, and perception. Through workshops, performances and keynotes, the day moves from critical discussion to imaginative experimentation, unpacking how technology transforms artistic practice, policy, and the flow of information in our fluid, networked world.

Saturday at Beta dives beneath the surface - from deep-sea acoustics to digital subcultures - tracing how art, sound, and infrastructure reveal the hidden systems shaping our world. Through talks, readings, and showcases, the day moves between ocean depths and online networks, exploring how artists listen, code, and imagine new forms of connection across water, data, and place.

Sunday takes a slower pace with a focus to imagination and action - from climate storytelling with the Climate Immersion project to reimagining AI’s visual culture with AI x Design. Through hands-on workshops and creative demos, artists and participants explore how new images, narratives, and immersive experiences can reshape our understanding of technology, ecology, and collective futures.

This years conference is supported by Coimisiún na Meán, ADAPT Research Centre at Dublin College University and the S+T+ARTS4WaterII programme.