Quantum computers are on the doorstep and artificial intelligence has already entered our living rooms. Research breakthroughs determine the latest company’s stock values. Reasonable investment volumes and financial funding frameworks are in place. This signals that profitable applications are within sight and the pace of development is increasing rapidly.

Corporate business and governments are powerful drivers, offering personalized products for users, entertainment for followers and safety for all. Global communication is at our fingertips. Intuitive robots act in tandem with factory workers, artists, and scientists.

But services “for free” come at a price. Revolutionary technologies will soon disrupt markets and shake up societies. Individuals will pay with a loss of privacy and personal autonomy. Intuitive algorithms will challenge artistic creativity. Unlimited computing power will call art and science into question. We have no clue yet how a mesh of quantum computers (QC) and swarms of artificial intelligence (AI) will fundamentally change art and science.

Yet we mostly ignore a debate on our cohabitation with novel technologies. Could artists resist the domestication by intelligent robots? Just now artists and scientists erratically meander to escape the inevitable. Are we ready to enter an informed public discourse? We experiment with burning answers in our encounter with cold machines.