No CTRL over AI

Do Concordia fine arts students agree with AI at the university?

NewsMarissa Guthrie — Published September 22, 2026 6 minutes

Launched last February by Concordia’s fine arts department, the initiative argues that AI can be a tool to amplify creativity rather than a threat to it, and is backed by the Tom Berry Fund for AI and Creativity.

The most recent CTRL + AI event, held on Sept. 15, aimed to discuss what AI could reveal about being human. Speakers included Concordia professor Eldad Tsabary and McGill University postdoctoral fellow Scott DeJong. The conference explored AI projects undertaken by these academics, such as Tsabary’s virtual village and DeJong’s ethics-based video game. 

Tsabary’s village contains several AI-generated characters whom he interacts with from their perspective rather than that of a creator. He monitored their behaviours and how they mirror humans in their interactions, from collaboration to violence. 

“I did not want to play god,” said Tsabary.

DeJong’s video game titled Feed the Machine offers a simulation of journalists facing the option of AI use in their work and the consequences that come alongside it; those who opt to use AI gain more points, but can be penalized by obtaining “delusion tokens,” which mirror the misinformation that AI often provides in research, and if AI is relied upon too heavily, everyone loses a job opportunity that is given to the AI tool. 

Both Tsabary and DeJong briefly discussed their personal views on the conversations around AI. 

DeJong expressed a desire to create friction in the conversation around AI to counter a doom mentality that leads to apathy as AI continues to emerge in society. 

He remarked that as a musician, AI-generated music did not interest him, but he continues to invest in the technology through his village. 

The overarching perspective among the speakers was that AI will continue to be present in society and promote cautious engagement with the technology, promoting critical consciousness in further engagement with it. 

Tsabary offered his perspective on AI's impact in the field of fine arts and emphasized that the fears about AI are valid and its possibilities are real.

“We humans are [...] super creative and adaptable. And  [...] when suddenly some of our functions are taken away into the machines, then what do we come up with now?" Tsabary said. "I think it's still our place and our ability to do that. But it's hard not to grieve the loss of something that you've worked all your life.”

Tsabary views AI as a technology that will not go away on its own, informing his perspective on critical engagement with it. 

“I don't know how we can stop it,” Tsabary said. “We haven't been able in history to really stop anything. Instead, finding the right conversation about how to not stop, but to actually find the boundaries.”

From his perspective as a professor, he said that he could not change the state of AI in his class alone, but he wanted his students to form a stronger understanding of the issues it poses. Tsabary claims that Concordia's AI guidelines are too generic and that transparency is an issue. 

“They're good, but they don't tell me how to actually do it in a course about AI coding. I find the guidelines from yesterday are not good today," Tsabary said. "It's just a matter of the nature of reality right now. They can't really hold through for too long. But values [of care and respect] can.” 

Tsabary believes that having a specialty in art is not enough to make it as an artist anymore. 

“It doesn't feel like you can specialize and stick to a specialty anymore; your super skill has to be your adaptability,” Tsabary said. “And, of course, I say it from the point of privilege, at the point of life where I have the means to go with what I am good at.”

“It would be nice to see Concordia take a stand on AI, show us they’re taking the risks seriously instead of treating it like any other class or technological innovation.” — Alice Ross, the mobilization coordinator for the Fine Arts Student Alliance (FASA)

Several Concordia students have shared their concerns regarding AI use in the fine arts program. 

Alice Ross is a student in Concordia’s design program and believes that it's hard to fight for the value of the arts in a society where productivity comes first. They expressed frustration with the university's vague language when discussing AI initiatives. 

“AI is a free-for-all right now," Ross said. "I wish we had more structure and guidance from Concordia.” 

They said that many educational resources highlight the uses of AI more strongly than the risks it poses. 

“It would be nice to see Concordia take a stand on AI, show us they’re taking the risks seriously instead of treating it like any other class or technological innovation,” Ross said. 

Concordia has made several efforts to integrate AI into art constructively, such as creating open-source digital creation tools and AI participation at MUTEK, a Montreal-based electronic music and digital arts festival.  

However, students like Ross believe the university has yet to meaningfully address the existential threats AI poses to their future as artists. 

“AI most definitely poses a threat to my future job prospects,” Ross said, noting the frequent use of AI in modern graphic design projects formerly done by real graphic designers. 

They also addressed the threat of AI plagiarism as an artist. 

“I don’t know if an [Large Language Model] LLM is going to take my art and destroy it,” Ross said. 

Fellow fine arts student Sophia Corbett echoed these sentiments and believes it is hypocritical of schools to foster students while supporting tech that will harm them without addressing said concerns. 

“[This] institution claims to prioritize its students while actively working with something that will ruin the world,” Corbett said. 

Corbett also expressed fear for the creative process amid AI automation, a core value of art as a whole.

Ross also noted that Concordia receives external funding for its AI development programs, calling into question whether its implementation reflects Concordia’s true beliefs concerning AI. 

“The university is an institution and will never truly be neutral, and so I am curious how we are actually talking about AI in these talks and classes,” Ross said. “I am more interested in why we are using it, what are the impacts of using it, rather than how to use it.”

Ross, who serves as the mobilization coordinator for the Fine Arts Student Alliance (FASA), urged students to voice their concerns and get involved with their community. They noted that it is FASA's job to help students regarding this issue.

“FASA is ready to hear [students] talk about AI in fine arts; we are going to make sure our voice is heard at the faculty level," Ross said. “We still don't know everything there is about this topic, and there are many different strings to pull to find all the answers, and that can be complicated and frankly annoying to do.”

This article originally appeared in Volume 47, Issue 2, published September 22, 2026.