What happens when artists are invited to challenge the same systems that technologists are building?

This summer, we launch the Nxt AI Residency. Powered by Prosus – a new programme exploring the cultural, emotional and societal implications of intent-driven AI. Running from July to September 2025, the residency invites artists to investigate how artificial intelligence is shifting from reactive to anticipatory modes of interaction, and what that means for human experience.

The three-month programme unfolds here at Nxt Museum in Amsterdam, supported by weekly sessions, interdisciplinary mentorship, and a final public showcase in September.

About the residency

From July to September 2025, the Nxt AI Residency will bring together four artists/artist studios working across disciplines to engage with emerging AI systems and the questions they raise. Based here at Nxt Museum in Amsterdam Noord and as part of Prosus’ AI House Amsterdam initiative, the programme unfolds across three phases: Discovery, Deep Dive, and Production. 

Weekly sessions, both in-person and online, will support the artists’ research and development, alongside mentorship from leading voices in art, technology, and academia.

The residency culminates in a public showcase at Nxt Museum in September, where audiences will encounter early-stage experiments, final works, and the critical thinking behind them.

“We partnered with Nxt Museum because leading in avant-garde technologies like AI requires building more than products – it requires a mass movement. The residency is part of our commitment to growing a strong AI community in Amsterdam, and connecting technologists, artists, and innovators who are addressing similar questions from different angles.”

— Euro Beinat, Global Head of AI and Data Science at Prosus.

What is intent-driven AI, and why?

Intent-driven AI refers to systems designed to interpret what users mean, rather than simply responding to their actions. Instead of reacting to inputs or instructions, these models attempt to understand a person’s goals, preferences or future behaviour, based on patterns in past activity. This approach is already shaping how companies build tools for commerce, recommendation, and automation.

However, as machines begin to anticipate human intent, deeper questions arise: What are the consequences of being predicted? How is intent defined and by whom? And what happens when algorithms misunderstand us?

These are the kinds of questions the Nxt AI Residency invites artists to explore. Through research, prototyping and dialogue, the residency creates space to reflect critically on this shift examining how it might reshape relationships between people, systems, and society.

“The residency’s focus on intent-driven AI resonates deeply with our work at Prosus. We’re building a Large Commerce Model designed to better understand user intent across our ecosystem – but the artists bring a different lens. Their work prioritises human experience and societal impact, which makes the exchange incredibly valuable.”

— Euro Beinat, Global Head of AI and Data Science at Prosus.

A collaborative partnership

The Nxt AI Residency is built on a close exchange between two worlds. At Nxt Museum, we offer curatorial direction, technical infrastructure, and the physical space to support experimentation. From Prosus comes deep expertise in AI, access to large-scale data systems, and a network rooted in global tech development.

This partnership creates the conditions for a rare type of collaboration – one where artists and technologists engage as equals, asking different questions of the same systems.

“We hope the residency offers the artists space to grow in their practice — and to share their work with wider audiences, including those in the tech world. For us at Prosus, it’s a chance to view the systems we’re developing through a new lens. Artists make complex ideas more tangible. Their perspective helps us communicate our work more broadly, and often reveals things we hadn’t considered.”

— Euro Beinat, Global Head of AI and Data Science at Prosus.

What’s next

The residency runs through to September 2025, culminating in a public showcase at Nxt Museum. This final presentation will feature the artists’ works-in-progress, research outcomes, and reflections from across the programme.