The "Science, Art · AI · Aesthetic Education" 2026 Cross-Disciplinary Academic Salon was held in Shanghai, exploring university and social aesthetic education in the AI era

"Science, Art · AI · Aesthetics Education" 2026 Cross-Disciplinary Academic Salon Held at Biyun Art Museum in Shanghai

On November 1, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, the "Science, Art · AI · Aesthetics Education" 2026 Cross-Disciplinary Academic Salon, jointly hosted by the Shanghai Science and Art Society and the Hujiang International Cross-Cultural Exchange and Research Center of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, was held at the Pudong Biyun Art Museum. As an aesthetics education academic brand jointly created by a university and an academic society, the salon attracted nearly one hundred scientists, artists, and leading industry figures, experts, and scholars from the fields of culture, technology, and education and aesthetics education from China and abroad to exchange views on site.

Diverse live musical performances enriched the atmosphere of the academic salon

The salon was jointly hosted by the Shanghai Science and Art Society and the Hujiang International Cross-Cultural Exchange and Research Center of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology

This academic salon on the theme of science-art integration unfolded three cross-disciplinary dialogues around topics such as "The AI Variations of University Aesthetics Education," "The Cross-Disciplinary Symphony of Social Aesthetics Education," and "The Science-Art Rhapsody of Youth Aesthetics Education"; on site, through a theme song instantly co-created by guests, the audience, and AI, a chorus by veteran scientists from the Harbin Military Engineering Institute and the National University of Defense Technology, as well as performances of human-AI co-created songs, violin performances, art song guided appreciation, and a themed science-art integration exhibition, academic discussion was integrated across disciplines with a concert and an art exhibition, jointly exploring, from both theoretical and practical dimensions, the rich forms and diverse values presented by "grand aesthetics education" in the AI digital-intelligence era.

Zhang Yitao of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology performed the AI co-created song "Sparks of Fireworks Shine"

The academic salon opened with the AI human-machine co-created song "Sparks of Fireworks Shine." This song, which expresses the attitude toward life and spiritual realm of pursuing the extraordinary within ordinary everyday life, features lyrics by Cai Yonglian, Standing Committee Member and Vice President of the Party Committee of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology and Vice Chairperson of the Shanghai Science and Art Society, composition by an algorithmic large model, performance by Jiang Qinghua, Music Director of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, and vocals by Zhang Yitao of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. Human creativity and creation provide the direction, AI collaboratively generates the music, and the vocals and accompaniment then bring the work back to live human performance. In aesthetics education practice involving AI, what changes first is not "who created the work," but "how the creative process can be collaboratively organized."

Scene of the salon dialogue "The AI Variations of University Aesthetics Education" (left: Cai Yonglian, Standing Committee Member and Vice President of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology; right: Johannes Meissl, Vice Rector of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna)

The first chapter, the salon dialogue "The AI Variations of University Aesthetics Education," invited Johannes Meissl, Vice Rector of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and Cai Yonglian, Standing Committee Member and Vice President of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, for a face-to-face exchange. Standing from the different cultural perspectives of a prestigious European arts institution and a Chinese science and engineering university, the two sides consistently focused on how universities, as the most institutionalized field of aesthetics education, can reconstruct new coordinates for university aesthetics education in the AI era from dimensions such as teaching positioning, curriculum structure, literacy enhancement, and atmosphere creation. They shared their respective exploration models and engaged in in-depth exchanges on the connotations and extensions, collaborative boundaries, and future trends of AI in Chinese and European art teaching and university aesthetics education.

Scene of the salon dialogue "The Cross-Disciplinary Symphony of Social Aesthetics Education" (left: Lin Wei, Director of Biyun Art Museum; center: Zhang Ting, Associate Professor at the China Academy of Art; right: Hou Zhenyi, Professor at the Hujiang College of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology)

The second chapter of the salon dialogue focused on "The Cross-Disciplinary Rhapsody of Social Aesthetics Education": when aesthetics education leaves the classroom and enters art museums, museums, and various public spaces in the city, what role can AI play? Zhang Ting, Associate Professor at the China Academy of Art and curator of "Ouranotropisme: 2026 Dreamers of Wind and Air," and Hou Zhenyi, Professor at the Hujiang College of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, held a dialogue together with Lin Wei, Director of the Biyun Art Museum and the Wu Changshuo Memorial Hall. An understanding that gradually emerged in the exchange was that the cross-disciplinary nature of social aesthetics education is not necessarily about superimposing technology onto art; what is more worth exploring is taking love as the core and public education as the path, and, through exhibitions, seminars, and interdisciplinary forums, transforming technology into artistic experience that the public can perceive and participate in. Everyone agreed that social aesthetics education faces a non-fixed population, and its breadth and depth are reflected in the resonance within group psychology and public literacy. AI can become an extension of guided tours, an interactive medium, and even a creative community for planning collaborative scenarios.

Scene of the salon dialogue "The Science-Art Rhapsody of Youth Aesthetics Education" (left: Zou Yan, Professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music; center: Yu Xiangjun, Director of Academic Affairs at the Music Middle School Affiliated to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music; right: Lu Yanqing, Art Director of the Shanghai Youth Activity Center)

The third chapter unfolded around "The Science-Art Concerto of Youth Aesthetics Education," with cross-disciplinary exchanges among Zou Yan, Professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music; Lu Yanqing, Art Director of the Shanghai Youth Activity Center; and Yu Xiangjun, Director of Academic Affairs at the Music Middle School Affiliated to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The guests believed that youth aesthetics education cannot avoid AI, but technology cannot replace the training of hands and ears, nor can it be isolated from the artistic ecosystem; technology provides assistance with art as its purpose, and teachers shift from hand-by-hand instruction to guidance and connection, but the aesthetic process of young people in imitation, collaboration, and creation cannot be omitted. AI is neither a solo nor mere accompaniment; it needs to enter within a framework that has human guidance, curriculum structure, and aesthetic judgment, helping young people feel beauty, express beauty, and create beauty. Chorus "Jasmine Flower" by the Harbin Military Engineering Institute-National University of Defense Technology Shanghai Alumni Choir

Guided appreciation and performance of Chinese art songs by Professor Zou Yan of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Professor Hou Zhenyi of the Hujiang College of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology

Violin solo by Zhang Yang, a young teacher at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music

Beyond the dialogues, the chorus "Jasmine Flower" by the veteran scientists' choir, the guided appreciation and performance of Chinese art songs by Professor Zou Yan of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Professor Hou Zhenyi of the Hujiang College of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, and the violin solo by Zhang Yang, a young teacher at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, fully demonstrated and shared on site the achievements of aesthetics education at all levels of society.

Guests and AI instantly co-created the salon theme song "Science, Art, AI, Aesthetics Education 2026"

The salon finally concluded with a theme song instantly co-created with AI on site. The song "Science, Art, AI, Aesthetics Education 2026" was generated in real time on the screen, with lyrics distilled from each guest's remarks and the musical style selected by audience vote. The words and judgments scattered across the previous three dialogues were reorganized here into a song. This was not an "AI work release," but a structural echo: the variations deal with the reorganization of the theme, the rhapsody deals with the crossing of boundaries, the concerto deals with the arrangement of relationships, and the co-creation condenses the three into a single on-site action.

Participants visited the science-art integration exhibition "Ouranotropisme: 2026 Dreamers of Wind and Air"

Participants together visited the science-art integration exhibition "Ouranotropisme: 2026 Dreamers of Wind and Air." The exhibition was co-curated by Zhang Ting and Lindsay A. Taylor, Head of the Art Collection at the University of Salford, UK, and its title is taken from the concept of "aerial tropism" in Bachelard's Air and Dreams. Returning from the words of discussion to the works in space, this salon ended on "seeing" rather than "speaking," which also subtly echoes the common orientation of the three movements: no matter how AI changes the organizational forms of aesthetics education, aesthetics education ultimately still occurs at that specific moment when a person encounters a work.