At Christie’s Art+Tech Summit 2024, industry leaders look into the future of AI and culture
The two-day summit featured insights from the stars of art, tech and luxury including Steve Wozniak, Beeple, Gabriela Hearst and more

Summit attendees at the Rockefeller Center listen to Steve Wozniak in conversation with Christie’s Devang Thakkar
Since 2018, Christie’s Art+Tech Summit has brought together the foremost artists, technologists, academics and industry leaders to discuss today’s pressing issues at the intersection of art, luxury and technology. The eighth iteration of the two-day summit convened on 17 July at Christie’s Rockefeller Center galleries in New York. Creative luminaries pioneering in their respective industries including Steve Wozniak, Beeple, Refik Anadol, Gabriela Hearst and more gathered for talks and panels on four pillars of innovation: AI in Real Life, Art and its Market, Thoughtful Luxury and New Paradigms in Technology.
Christie’s CEO Guillaume Cerutti opened the conference alongside Devang Thakkar, Global Head of Christie’s Ventures. ‘This is your opportunity to mingle and get to know each other,’ Cerutti said to the packed James Christie Room, which included innovators from top companies and institutions from around the world, as well as revered digital artists including Jack Butcher, Dimitri Cherniak, Joe Pease, Kevin, Jennifer McCoy, Haley Mellin, ThankYouX and Emily Xie, who had come to listen in. One of the aims of the summit is to foster community around art and tech, offering opportunities for cross-disciplinary dialogue and collaboration.
Digital artist Beeple reflects on his exhibition at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which allowed him to reach audiences in a new format
Artist and poet Sasha Stiles discusses enhancing human creativity with AI
Over the course of the two-day conference, Christie’s welcomed more than 300 attendees and hosted 65 speakers across 24 programs.
On both days attendees enjoyed a sneak preview of highlights from Gen One: Innovations from the Paul G. Allen Collection. The Microsoft co-founder’s collection of objects that changed science and technology forever — including Einstein’s infamous letter to FDR and the official company Apple 1 that sat on Steve Jobs’ desk — will be offered at Christie’s New York from 23 August through 12 September, with a live sale on 10 September.
AI in real life
‘What happens to humanity when human and technology converge?’ asked artist Refik Anadol, during his panel which kicked off the summit and centred on the intersection of artificial intelligence and our everyday reality. Laurie Segall, CEO of Mostly Human Media, moderated a conversation with the artist and Marcus Fox, Christie’s Global Managing Director, 20th and 21st Century Art Department, which tackled Anadol’s algorithm-driven art — including his Machine Hallucinations, now part of the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection — and theorised about the opportunities and uncertainties presented by AI. ‘Artists always reflect back what happens to humanity,’ shared Anadol.

Laurie Segall, Refik Andol and Marcus Fox discuss the opportunities and dangers presented by AI
A group of prominent artists, academics and researchers, moderated by the Wall Street Journal’s Isabelle Bousquette, outlined ways in which they are making tangible links between physical and digital objects. Hugo Caselles-Dupré of the artist collective Obvious explained artificial intelligence’s influence in creating Surrealist artworks. ‘Art and science feed off of each other, and they can be merged together,’ he said.
An emerging theme that spanned the panels was how AI can enhance human creativity. In a panel moderated by artist Sarah Mehoyas, the artist and poet Sasha Stiles described this as a natural development: ‘A long time ago, a poem was a method of storing memory. I think about AI as an evolution of our trajectory through this arc of language.’Thoughtful luxury
The afternoon session spotlighted socially and environmentally conscious approaches in fashion and luxury. Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering’s Chief Sustainability and Institutional Affairs Officer, discussed with Julien Pradels, Christie’s Global Head of Operations, the necessity of using AI to support predicting accurate volumes, and pursue the objective of a ‘fair production’. Daveu emphasised ‘value over volume’, saying ‘it’s not only about offering products but above all offering an experience. Continue to increase the quality of your raw material and the way you communicate with your customers’.
Fashion designer Gabriela Hearst on creating lasting objects and reducing their carbon footprint
Marie-Claire Daveu of Kering speaks about the use of AI in luxury sustainability strategy
Democracy, dead stock and creating objects that last for life were topics shared between fashion designer Gabriela Hearst and Vogue Runway’s Nicole Phelps. Hearst — who measures the carbon footprint of her runway shows and aims to repurpose as many materials as possible — has innovated with fabrics such as aloe-linen. ‘Every single yarn is chosen and checked by me. I want to do that for the client and for myself, so I can sleep at night and so my kids know I did something meaningful to contribute.’
A conversation with Steve Wozniak
At the close of day one, attendees piled into the James Christie Room and were spilling into the corridors to listen to a conversation with Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, Inc., and Christie's Thakkar. The Silicon Valley icon and noted philanthropist reflected on his early years and spoke about his commitment to doing good and being positive influence in tech. ‘The apex of good is truth,’ said Wozniak of corporate transparency.
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, Inc., speaks to Devang Thakkar about his commitment to being a positive force in the tech world
Christie’s CEO Guillaume Cerutti chats with Wozniak at the gallery walkthrough of Gen One: Innovations from the Paul G. Allen Collection
Wozniak was often motivated to do things others didn’t or couldn’t: ‘I always went in different directions. In school, I would try to do what other people weren’t doing. I never wanted to compete with others. I was shy, after all.’ But ultimately for the computing legend who had the room in stitches when talking about his reputation as a prankster, ‘Happiness is the key to life, not accomplishment. My formula is smiles minus frowns. For me, smiles come from making up pranks, jokes — that’s creativity.’ He also offered advice to would-be innovators: ‘Motivation is more important than knowledge and skill. If you want to do something, you’ll find a way to do it.’
Art and its market
The second day of the summit kicked off with a state-of-the-art-market talk between Marc Glimcher, CEO of Pace Gallery, and Dirk Boll, Deputy Chairman, 20th and 21st Century Art at Christie’s. Speaking about the increasing impact of digital in the art world, Boll said, ‘It has touched everything we do’ underscoring that everything from the company’s sales platform to its client relationships has benefitted tremendously from digitised practices and AI. Boll expressed particular excitement about leveraging AI insight in client management to deliver world-class experiences based on data and insights.
A conversation led by Nicole Sales Giles, Director of Digital Art, Christie’s, brought together digital artists and creators — including Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile, collector and founder of Aorist, and artist Sam Spratt — to examine how to bridge the gap between the traditional and digital art markets. Beeple reflected on his exhibition HUMAN ONE at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, which allowed him to reach audiences in a new format: ‘When people see this work presented in a way that’s something more than just a screen, it unlocks something.’ Spratt also underscored his desire to ‘commune’ through art. ‘The aim is to build a campfire,’ he said.
Colby Mugrabi of mmERCH on the importance of digital and physical experience
Artist Sam Spratt talks about generating community in the digital art space
Colby Mugrabi, Founder, mmERCH, echoed the importance of the audience in both digital and physical experiences. ‘This community aspect is so central to the digital art space,’ said the fashion and tech maven, who has used generative algorithms to design garments and employed NFTs as a distribution mechanism for her digital fashion label.
The ability to generate unprecedented connections via the digital was a theme that continued in a panel called ‘New Models of Patronage’, in which Everette Taylor, CEO, Kickstarter, and others discussed how the web has allowed new creators to find alternative sources of funding for creative projects.
New paradigms in technology
The afternoon session considered innovations in new technology being adopted across industries and cultures. Bonnie Brennan, President of Christie’s, Americas, spoke about the transformative power of technology within the auction house. ‘At Christie’s, digital adoption has really transformed our business. Before Covid, under 50 per cent of our bidders used our digital tools, and now it’s up to 80 per cent. What we’ve learned is it’s important to adopt early and to keep pushing forward.’

Randi Zuckerberg, Cathy Hackl, Rachna Bhasin and Angela Dalton explore the era of spatial computing
A panel on the era of spatial computing, moderated by HUG founder, Randi Zuckerberg, followed. The all-female group discussed the ongoing expansion of spatial computing and how it will affect our lives. ‘It truly feels like we are at a renaissance moment’, Zuckerburg noted. ‘Technology should be designed to bring us closer to the things and the people we love. We have been living through the screens of our phones for years now, so there has to be something better.’
The summit concluded with Plausible Tomorrows, moderated by Thakkar and Keith Grossman, president of the cryptocurrency platform MoonPay. (Christie’s Art+Tech Summit 2024 in New York was sponsored by MoonPay and Samsung Next.) The panel featured Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, who raised the importance of free healthcare and education. ‘The future is defined by the optimist,’ he said. ‘While uncertainty creates tension, it also presents an incredible amount of opportunity.’
The Art + Tech Summit will travel to Hong Kong this October at Christie’s new Asia Pacific headquarters in The Henderson, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The conference will return to Rockefeller Center in July 2025.
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