From AI to Installation: A CODAsummit Roundtable
At CODAsummit 2026 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Atthowe Senior Project Manager David Martin joined the panel, AI to Installation: Turning Digital Concepts into Buildable Public Art. He was joined by Brett Barney, President and CEO of American Fine Arts Foundry; Gazelle Dasti, artist, engineer and public sculpture technologist; and Selinda Martinez, Principal of Rbhu Engineering. Together they looked at the potentials and constraints of turning designs generated with AI into artworks that can be engineered, fabricated, and installed safely in a public space.
An installer's view of AI
David Martin’s panel reflections:
As a public art installer, I work at the far downstream end of the process—where artistic intent, engineering, fabrication, logistics, rigging, cranes, and real-world site conditions all have to come together in a finished installation. At that point, the idea has to become physical.
AI is already useful in my workplace for research, technical questions, document review, and identifying potential problems. I see real value in AI as another set of eyes—especially for reviewing drawings, contracts, and complex information before work begins. But installation depends on more than information. It depends on experience, judgment, trust, and accountability.
The construction world has spent generations building a "circle of assurance" around those responsibilities through engineers, inspectors, operators, riggers, permits, calculations, and verification. AI can advise, but it does not yet occupy a responsible position within that circle.
For now, I see AI as a valuable second opinion—not the responsible party. The last mile of public art is not only an information problem; it is a responsibility problem. As AI becomes more integrated into installation, we will need to decide where trust and accountability ultimately live.
As David explains—engineers, crane operators, riggers, and project managers check one another's work long before any artwork leaves the ground. As a worker-owned cooperative, we see that shared cooperation and collaborative accountability as part of our DNA, and as of yet, AI doesn’t have a significant role to play in that accountability matrix.
Three days in Santa Fe
David was joined at the three-day summit by other key members of the Special Projects team, including Jenn Doyle Crane (Head of Special Projects) and Benaiah Seilen (Head Rigger). Highlights of the gathering included Virgil Ortiz's inspirational opening remarks and the excellent closing presentation from Moment Factory, to name just a few.
Overall, what we love about CODAsummit is that it is a convening of the whole chain of the public art community: artists, commissioners, architects, planners, engineers, fabricators, and technologists. These are the people our Special Projects team work with every day, often for months or years before our technicians and cranes arrive on site, and so we value this annual convergence of our networks near and far.
Thank you to all the organizers and fabulous presenters and participants we connected with in Santa Fe!