How can social aesthetic education resonate anew in the AI era? This interdisciplinary academic salon in Shanghai offers discussion

When aesthetic education leaves the classroom and enters art museums, museums, and various public spaces in the city, what role can AI play? On the afternoon of November 1, the "Science and Art · AI · Aesthetic Education" 2026 Cross-Disciplinary Academic Salon, jointly hosted by the Shanghai Science and Art Society and the Hujiang International Cross-Cultural Exchange and Research Center of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, was held at the Pudong Biyun Art Museum. Nearly one hundred scientists, artists, and experts and scholars in the fields of culture and technology and educational aesthetic education from China and abroad gathered together to engage in cross-disciplinary dialogue around themes such as "The AI Variations of Aesthetic Education in Universities," "The Cross-Disciplinary Symphony of Social Aesthetic Education," and "The Science and Art Rhapsody of Youth Aesthetic Education." The academic salon opened with the AI human-machine co-created song "Yanhuo Shenghui" (Flames Radiate Brilliance), with lyrics by Cai Yonglian, Vice President of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, music composed by an algorithmic large model, performed by Jiang Qinghua, Music Director of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, and sung by Zhang Yitao of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. In the salon dialogue of the first chapter, "The AI Variations of Aesthetic Education in Universities," Johannes Meissl, Vice President of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and Cai Yonglian, each standing from the different cultural perspectives of a prestigious European arts institution and a Chinese science and engineering university, shared their respective exploration models on how universities can construct new coordinates for aesthetic education in the AI era. The salon dialogue of the second chapter focused on "The Cross-Disciplinary Symphony of Social Aesthetic Education," with Zhang Ting, Associate Professor at the China Academy of Art, Hou Zhenyi, Professor at the Hujiang College of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, and Lin Wei, Director of the Biyun Art Museum and the Wu Changshuo Memorial Hall, participating. A consensus gradually emerged in the exchange: the cross-disciplinary nature of social aesthetic education is not necessarily about layering technology onto art; what is more worth exploring is taking love as the core and public education as the path, and, through exhibitions, seminars, and interdisciplinary forums, enabling technology to be transformed into artistic experience oriented toward the public. The third chapter focused on "The Science and Art Rhapsody of Youth Aesthetic Education," with Zou Yan, Professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Lu Yanqing, Art Director of the Shanghai Youth Activity Center, and Yu Xiangjun, Academic Affairs Director of the Music Middle School Affiliated to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, engaging in cross-disciplinary exchange. Everyone agreed that youth aesthetic education cannot avoid AI, but technology cannot replace the training of hands and ears, nor can it be isolated from the artistic ecosystem. Technology provides assistance with art as its purpose, and teachers shift from hand-by-hand teaching to guidance and connection, but the aesthetic process of young people in imitation, collaboration, and creation cannot be omitted.