Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) will present the new edition of its AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report in May 2026, solidifying its role as a reference work for analyzing the intersection between technology and the cultural sector. The 2026 report focuses on the challenge of understanding and navigating the production, distribution, and preservation of culture in a volatile digital environment, marked by artificial intelligence and new consumption dynamics.

FOCUS 2026: Mapping AI in Spanish Digital Creation

The FOCUS 2026 will center on the Cartography of the Use of AI in Spanish Digital Creation: Analysis of Production, Formats, and Markets of Spanish-Speaking Digital Culture. This key study will analyze how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is redefining creative processes and distribution in fields such as visual arts, performing arts, film, books, music, and video games. The goal is twofold: to describe the tools and methodologies of generative AI adopted by the Spanish-speaking cultural industry, and to examine the opportunities, emerging formats, and ethical and economic challenges that this landscape presents for the global content market in Spanish.

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Articles: An Analysis of Cross-Cutting Digital Trends

The first part of the Annual Report complements the FOCUS with expert articles that address the digital trends impacting all cultural disciplines:

Geopolitics and Cultural Supremacy: The report will analyze the intense global competition for leadership in AI development, particularly among the United States, Europe, and China, and how this dispute influences the linguistic and cultural diversity of digital narratives.

Algorithms and Cultural Consumption: The report will examine the growing power of algorithms on platforms like Spotify and Netflix, addressing the dilemma between the personalization they offer and the risk of limiting cultural diversity and user autonomy, proposing strategies for the sector.

Simulation and Authenticity: A reflection on the value of the facsimile in the age of digital recreation. The article will explore how technologies like 3D scanning and virtual reconstructions reconfigure the relationship with original pieces and problematize the concept of authenticity in heritage.

Preservation of Digital Culture: The urgency of finding new sustainable storage methods in the face of the massive data production generated by AI will be addressed, analyzing how the convergence between biotechnology and art can offer innovative solutions for preserving contemporary cultural memory.

Narrative Trends and Media: The hybridization between fiction and non-fiction in new transmedia formats (such as gamified narratives or videonews) will be analyzed, and the evolution of newsletters as key information sources and specialized community hubs in the sector will be explored.

Impact of Fragmentation: The report will delve into the phenomenon of context devaluation, examining how fragmentation and a lack of interest in verified information affect cultural understanding and dialogue in the digital ecosystem.

The Comics and Video Games Sector: The consequences of digitalization in the comics industry and its new interactions with other media will be analyzed. Furthermore, the digitalization of childhood through the transition from board games to video games will be explored, and the legal and conservation challenges facing video game heritage against obsolescence policies will be addressed.

New Channels and Audiences: The report will examine how creators are using platforms like TikTok and Instagram to connect with massive audiences, transforming their traditional formats and generating new models of children's literature and structural storytelling.

With this edition, the AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report maintains its objective of offering a strategic and future-oriented perspective for all cultural agents.