The Encapsulation of Hope: Ana’s Vision for the Future of Humanity and A.I
Ana’s Journey from Mexico to The Netherlands
Originally from Mexico City, Ana first came to the Netherlands to pursue her master’s degree at Leiden University. After returning to Mexico for a few years, she eventually found herself back in Leiden, the city that had stolen her heart. “I love Mexico, but I also love The Netherlands. They are both my home", she said. “I came back because I love the country, its people, its culture and its freedom. It is a place where you can speak up and people will listen. Opinions are important.”
Her time as a student created an undeniable bond with the city and she never gets tired of saying how proud she is of Leiden. To her, it is a place with a beautiful environment, rich history, a vibrant culture and science scene.
Why Ana Joined Uni-Visions, and Came Out a Winner!
For its 450th anniversary, Leiden University launched “Uni-visions”, a competition inviting artistic interpretations of what the university might look like in 2075. Ana found the call very important when she first heard of it, because it was about the future of students and education. “As an alumna of Leiden University, and having been a lecturer myself in the past in Mexico, I wanted to also contribute and be part of it, and what better way than this, through a contest where creativity and art are present.” She explained.
What she did not expect was to become the only international finalist and one of the winners of the entire competition! “This whole process has been so exciting”, she said. “Being an international winner makes me even more thankful because I can somehow also have a voice in this”.
Ana reflected on how Dutch people grow up within a community that internationals had to learn to appreciate, but it is still not theirs. “Even if we are totally integrated or adapted, that doesn’t mean we do not function in this society or enjoy it, but sometimes we can feel a bit like an outsider.” For her, being part of important events is a way to feel included and to represent the international community; “I wrote my poem in English, and it will be exhibited in English, so it can reach not only the local audience, but the international people who live in Leiden and The Hague”.
The Encapsulation of Hope
For the competition, Ana submitted an installation combining a human-written poem, A.I. generated images and a video under the title “The Encapsulation of Hope”. The installation draws inspiration from the myth of Pandora’s box and predicts a future where students no longer study in traditional ways but instead sense information directly. In a way being “controlled” by A.I. Despite this, it centres around hope and humans wanting basic things like seeing each other in real life or having a cup of coffee on a sunny afternoon.
During her creative process, Ana explained how she found herself feeling sad by the idea of humans losing these aspects. “It made me quite melancholic,” she said. “This made the poem develop into an ode for humanity and the human heart, but also into an ode for the beauty of thinking and creating from within ourselves.”
When she saw other finalists’ projects, some being optimistic and others being pessimistic, it made her see that no matter the obstacles, hope remains, just as the myth of Pandora’s box, where only hope is left inside after all evil and suffering from the world is released. “Encapsulation of Hope represents the hope for our humanity and the hope for all the positive traits I see in people.” Ana explained. “Characteristics such as creativity, love for learning, curiosity, emotions and an intrinsic motivation that allows us to dream, work hard and fight. Characteristics that hopefully remain and are not forgotten.”
Ana wanted to create a dark, minimalistic and mysterious setting for the installation.“I want to use lights to enhance the experience, but at the same time, it has to be dark to read the poem well and to experience this melancholic mood.” She made a video using A.I. generated images, meant to be played alongside the poem so people can see the contrast between computer made images and human words. She explained; “While the video has disturbing images, the poem evokes more melancholic ones; both trying to end up with a more hopeful end and to bring back this sense of peacefulness we all ultimately search.”
The installation also explores how humanity might evolve in such a future. Ana wondered whether receiving knowledge automatically while not letting our conscience mature, would make us less human. “I hope we are still capable of deciding what we want, how we think and how we feel. Having feelings and emotions are fundamental elements of our human essence. They are beautiful things”, she said.
She also questioned how human connections would develop. “Would there be mandatory sessions for students where they will interact face to face? Would there be mandatory sessions within natural environments? Will nature still exist as we now know it?” These are the kinds of questions she finds important when trying to embrace how humanity will become.
Thinking Beyond A.I
Ana’s work ultimately celebrates the ideas of freedom and creativity. She emphasizes that what we do with knowledge is important and that learning and working hard can be amazing. “Think of when you didn’t understand something or when it was hard. Think of the frustration, but also of the joy of finally understanding it.” These are emotions that Ana does not want A.I. to take away by making things “easier” by instantly finding all the answers, corrections or information instead of exercising the human brain.
She does not reject A.I. but believes that it should be used more carefully. “We have to understand that there is nothing as complex as ourselves and our brains. Machines are trained, but how our minds fire and ignite ideas is such a beautiful and powerful thing.”. She believes that diversity in opinions, and to question those opinions, is important. “These ideas should be taken into account and should not be dismissed, so hopefully, students consequently do not think that asking AI is more valuable than their own thoughts.”
Embracing the Beauty of Being Human
In the end, Ana hopes that her work inspires people to reflect on the beauty of being human, how much there is within us and the value of individuality and the wonders of the world around us. She also wishes for students to get inspired to keep thinking, creating and understanding the joy of learning. “I hope people can reflect on the value of their own stories and own judgements and how valuable these unique universes are. Every person is a universe, and those universes should be shared and heard.”
The exhibition will be featured during the Night of Discoveries (Nacht van Ontdekkingen) 2026! For now, the poem and the installation are already available on the University website.