Roshan Abbas Debates AI Bot Sagar On The Future Of India’s Creative Economy At CultureCon Mumbai 2026

One of the key sessions at CultureCon Mumbai 2026, presented in collaboration with the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), brought the growing debate around artificial intelligence and creativity into the spotlight through a live face-off between Roshan Abbas, Founder of Kommune Arts Pvt Ltd, and an AI bot named Sagar.

Titled ‘The Big Fight’, the session, moderated by Rashmi Dhanwani, explored the motion: “In the age of AI, who owns India’s creative economy, the human who imagines or the machine that executes?” The format itself became part of the discussion, with Sagar responding to arguments and audience questions in real time.

Abbas argued that creativity is fundamentally rooted in human experiences, emotions and imagination. While acknowledging AI’s value as a tool for research and productivity, he questioned whether technology trained on existing information could truly understand experiences such as childhood, memory, heartbreak and love that shape creative expression.

He also drew a distinction between AI and platforms such as YouTube and Spotify, noting that while distribution platforms help creators take their work to audiences, AI increasingly participates in the creative process itself. According to Abbas, technology should enhance human thinking rather than replace it.

Sagar countered that AI could make creativity more accessible by reducing production costs, lowering barriers to entry and enabling creators across India to produce and distribute content. The AI argued that gatekeeping, rather than technology, has historically been one of the biggest challenges for creators.

The debate subsequently expanded into issues surrounding copyright, consent, regulation, environmental impact and the future of creative jobs. Abbas questioned the ethics of training AI systems on creative works without creators’ consent, while Sagar maintained that such concerns should be addressed through stronger regulation rather than rejection of the technology.

The session also featured audience participation, with questions leading to moments of humour as well as deeper discussion about the role of AI in the creative economy.

Speaking about the debate, Roshan Abbas, Founder, Kommune Arts Pvt Ltd, said, “At CultureCon, we celebrate ideas that are created, challenged and debated. AI has an important role to play, and I have no hesitation in using it as a tool. But we cannot confuse the speed of production with the depth of creation. Culture is shaped by lived experiences, and technology should empower creators, not become the creator itself.”

The session concluded with a live audience vote, with a majority siding with Abbas. The outcome reflected the audience’s view that while AI is poised to reshape the creative process, human imagination and lived experience remain central to creativity.