Science Slams “AI vs Mind” Captivate Visitors at the Geniale

When Artificial Intelligence Meets Human Creativity

How can we communicate complex topics around Artificial Intelligence in an understandable, entertaining, and inspiring way?
This question was at the heart of the Science Slam event “AI vs Mind”, held as part of GENIALE 2025 at the Wissenswerkstadt Bielefeld.
The event was organized within the framework of the SAIL research project.

Around 200 visitors enjoyed an evening full of ideas, humor, and creativity. The audience was diverse: from curious students and families to AI enthusiasts and experts from science and technology. True to the spirit of the GENIALE, which aims to make research and technology accessible to everyone, the Event offered an entertaining way to explore topics that often seem abstract.

Explaining AI with Humor, Music, and AI Itself

That evening, the stage belonged not only to humans but also to machines and together, they amazed and amused the crowd. Through a series of diverse and partly AI-generated performances, the slammers demonstrated how multifaceted the engagement with artificial intelligence can be:

Benjamin Paaßen (Bielefeld University) humorously asked, “Can’t ChatGPT just fill out my survey?” showing how humor can be used to talk about scientific methods and the limits of AI.

Sinem Görmez (TH OWL) thrilled the audience with her slam “A Robo-Friend for You”, performed as a song and accompanied by her own “Robo-Friend” cheerfully waving along in rhythm.

In “Life Cycle of an AI”, the artificial speaker “AI Number 327-Beta” humorously yet poignantly addressed the downsides of AI production: overproduction, energy consumption, and electronic waste.

Alongside the live performances by young researchers, there were also two fully AI-generated slams with synthetic voices and animated visuals, as well as a hybrid slam in which human and AI performed together.

From Competition to Collaboration

Initially, the title “AI vs Mind” was meant to imply a contest between human intellect and artificial intelligence but during preparation, it became clear that pitting humans against AI was too narrow a view. The event wasn’t about who “thinks better”, but about how humans and AI can learn from each other. The focus shifted from rivalry to collaboration.

The hybrid closing performance, generated by AI, revised and presented by Ann Berit Plaß (TH OWL), concluded with the line:

“AI is here, and it won’t just disappear.
So let’s learn to use it – wisely, critically, and responsibly.”

This thought marked the end of an evening that beautifully illustrated how art, science, and technology can inspire one another.

Sustainable AI Communication in the SAIL Project

The SAIL project (Sustainable Life-Cycle of Intelligent Socio-Technical Systems) explores how AI systems can be designed to be more ecological, social, and ethical sustainable. Events like the Science Slam don’t just make research visible, they open dialogue with society. “We want people to engage with the topic, think along, and join the discussion”, said Sinem Görmez.