Astana spent late September doing something unusual for a capital better known for futuristic architecture and steppe geography: it turned artificial intelligence into a cultural conversation. On September 30, artist and researcher Nicola Plant of the Creative Computing Institute at the University of the Arts London gave a lecture on AI and the arts as part of AI Month 2026 and the AI & Digital Bridge 2026 conference, and the discussion ranged well beyond tech policy into how a country builds an identity for itself in the digital arts.
The interesting angle for outsiders is what Kazakhstan is trying to do with creative technology. Aika Alemi, founder of the studio Born Nomad, argued at the event that the region's core problem is that art gets treated as entertainment rather than as a business. Her point of reference was the United Kingdom, where creative industries contribute seriously to the economy precisely because they are counted as economic activity. She sees the same possibility in Kazakhstan across digital media, gaming, design, film and immersive installations — fields where coding, design and art overlap.
There is also a cultural argument here that gives the story weight beyond economics. Plant noted that AI tools and their training data have historically been built from Western perspectives, and that cultures outside that bubble — including Kazakhstan and Central Asia — should have a say in how these tools are made and who they serve. In creative AI, where training data shapes the images and stories a system produces, local artists and designers contributing their own cultural material matters. It's a rare chance for a country to shape a technology while it is still young rather than simply import it.
The government is playing along. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev used the AI & Digital Bridge stage to call for responsible AI development, and Kazakhstan has been courting global players like NVIDIA as it builds its ecosystem. Plant's own line — that developers should critique technology even as they build it — summed up the tone: ambitious but asking who benefits and who could be harmed.
For a traveller, this is less about attending a lecture and more about reading the signals. Astana is visibly investing in becoming a regional hub for digital culture, which means more exhibitions, immersive installations, design events and international collaborations landing in the city over the coming years. If you're drawn to cities where a national identity is being actively constructed — through architecture, museums and now digital art — Kazakhstan's capital is an unusually good time to visit. Pair a trip with Almaty for the older, more Central Asian side of the country's cultural life, and you get both halves of a nation figuring out what its creative voice sounds like on the global stage.
Whether the creative-economy bet pays off is an open question, but the fact that it is being debated publicly, with visiting international artists and presidential backing, tells you something about the direction Astana wants to go.
