Mapping Recent Shifts in Digital Art via Conference Discourse: AI, XR, the Metaverse, and Blockchain/NFTs (2021-2025)

TL;DR

This study analyzes five years of digital art conference discourse to identify thematic shifts, highlighting AI's rise as a dominant theme, while immersive tech and blockchain topics remain stable or marginal.

Contribution

It provides a systematic analysis of thematic trends in digital art conferences, emphasizing AI's growing prominence from 2022 onward.

Findings

AI contributions increased significantly after 2022

Immersive technologies maintained a stable discourse share

Blockchain/NFT topics remained marginal in conference discussions

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of five years (2021 - 2025) of conference discourse across six digital art conferences, aiming to trace thematic shifts associated with the rapid development of emerging technologies, namely artificial intelligence (AI), immersive technologies (including XR and the metaverse), and blockchain technologies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The results indicate a marked increase in AI-related contributions, while immersive technologies maintain a relatively stable share of the discourse, and blockchain- and NFT-based works remain marginal. Overall, whereas immersive technologies and blockchain-related topics exhibit relative stability, AI shows a significant rise after 2022, emerging as a dominant theme within digital art conference discourse.