Author
I await every edition of Entertain-AI (E-AI) with the same sense of anticipation. Like that annual party everyone talks about — the one you always arrive at a little too early. Like the next Hunger Games, whose trailer, dropped by Lionsgate a full year before release, reveals just enough to keep us waiting.
This time, the anticipation around E-AI feels familiar in the same way. I’m there a year ahead of time, suspended in the in-between. Because the previous edition didn’t just define the year — it left a lasting impression, the kind that stays with you long after the final page. And because the 2026 edition promises to push the experience even further: deeper demonstrations, richer interactions, broader inclusion.
« (…) it is always better to support progress and innovation than to try to slow them down. Barriers never truly stop momentum; they merely displace it — often in the wrong direction. »
Because beyond entertainment lie real questions — and real concerns: the future of creators and culture; the products we consume; creative processes themselves; the gap in access to and mastery of new digital tools; the biases and ethical and legal frameworks that must land without stifling progress or the emergence of new creative movements.
This anticipation is also shaped by a fully assumed responsibility: that of taking part — actively — by “rolling up our sleeves,” the official theme of this E-AI edition. Not to follow the movement from the surface, nor to apply the brakes out of reflex, but to be where things are happening, where they are being thought through, challenged, adjusted to reality. To experience AI in creation, show concrete applications, contribute honestly, and question without detours. Because in a year’s time, the market itself has waited for no one.
This posture comes naturally, at the precise intersection where I’ve been evolving for years: where culture meets technology. A territory at times stimulating, at times complex, but essential. It’s there that a conviction has taken root over time: it is always better to support progress and innovation than to try to slow them down. Barriers never truly stop momentum; they merely displace it — often in the wrong direction. Supporting progress, however, does not mean following blindly. Still less moving forward without a compass. Ethical guardrails are not obstacles to innovation; they are its condition of credibility. Calling for them, defining them, questioning them is part of the role — especially when everything is evolving at breakneck speed.
Already, in this issue of Culturemania, the interviews offer an illuminating glimpse into the vision of E-AI’s current board of directors and the directions taking shape — a vision that seeks to remain anchored in real-world realities.
It is precisely in this space that dialogue becomes indispensable: where strategy meets reality, where innovation benefits from guidance but must never be spared the questions that matter.
In the end, I awaited this edition of E-AI like a child unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning — impatient, head full of ideas, eager to guess what lies beneath the paper. We anticipate, we sometimes get a surprise spoiled… but we still hope for the mischievous elf. The one who defies expectations, shifts reference points, and dazzles. Because deep down, we want to know everything in advance — and still be surprised. This time, the elf isn’t just here to play. It has moved a few gifts, mixed up the clues, and scattered riddles. The result? We have to roll up our sleeves to uncover the surprise, to understand what truly matters, and to turn
anticipation into action. To challenge ourselves — and leave with something real to work on.
