There is a place in Venezuela where lightning strikes so consistently that sailors once used it as a natural lighthouse. Known as the Catatumbo Lightning phenomenon, it’s not just the lightning that makes it a unique space. This place is unique because of several events all happening at the same time: climate, temperatures and atmosphere all align perfectly.
The arrival of the Participation Economy reminds me of Catatumbo.
AI is not a storm all by itself. Just as Catatumbo depends on several forces aligning at once, the participation economy is not being created because of AI. The participation economy is emerging with several events all happening at the same time. AI is dramatically increasing the supply of content; it does not enter as the original cause, but as a powerful accelerator.
The participation economy is a result of no single trend but a series of things happening all together:
- AI
- Digital fatigue
- Loneliness
- Travel
- Consumer spending on experiences
- Generational wealth transfer
Individually, each signal is interesting, but together they reveal a cultural tipping point.
Generative AI is changing the economics of culture. When images, words, music and ideas can be produced instantly and in mass at almost no marginal cost, content becomes abundant. Creativity becomes more accessible, and trust becomes more difficult to establish. This makes way for physical participation to become more valuable.
What AI Cannot Do
It may be useful to start with what AI cannot do.
AI does not experience the restless human desire to discover or explore something simply because it feels moving or gives you a “rush.” AI cannot independently become a tastemaker. The capability of instinct, curiosity and conviction is still mastered by humans alone. A true tastemaker wants to be wrong more than they are right.
AI cannot feel wonder, extend genuine hospitality or experience the trust and belonging that emerge when people gather in a community. These all remain distinctly human.
The Trouble with Algorithmic Discovery
We have come to rely on social and mass media to tell us where to find the best hidden gems. But there is an obvious contradiction: once something is promoted to everyone, it is no longer hidden.
The best discoveries usually come through a trusted friend, local knowledge, curiosity, chance and a willingness to explore. They are also personal. What feels like a gem to me may mean nothing to someone else. That difference is what makes discovery exciting.
Today, we live inside separate algorithmic worlds that keep showing us more of what we already like. AI could deepen that pattern if we treat its answers as definitive. The real opportunity is to use AI as a starting point, not the final authority.
It can help us cross between cultural worlds and introduce more people to art, places and ideas they might never encounter otherwise. In this way, AI can help democratize taste and connoisseurship without taking curiosity and judgment out of human hands.
The Data Behind the Shift
Consumers are already showing us that they want more than a recommendation on a screen. They want to go somewhere, meet someone and experience something for themselves. What may feel like a cultural instinct is now showing up clearly in the data.
According to Eventbrite’s 2026 Social Study, nearly four out of five adults ages 18 to 35 expect to attend more events this year, and roughly nine in ten young adults say they want gatherings that connect them more closely to their local communities. Eventbrite also recorded a 567% increase in phone-free events between 2024 and 2025, along with a 121% rise in attendance. People are not simply looking for more events. They are looking for presence, intimacy and a break from digital life.
The sale of Eventbrite provides another market signal. In March 2026, Bending Spoons completed its approximately $500 million acquisition of the event platform, paying $4.50 per share and taking the company private. A single acquisition does not prove the growth of an entire sector, but it does show that the technology supporting physical gatherings continues to hold strategic value.
One of the clearest signals comes from inside the AI industry itself. Anthropic advertised a senior brand events position with a salary of $320,000 to $400,000 and an expectation of 40% travel. The role covers everything from intimate gatherings and thought-leadership programs to conferences, product demos and onsite experiences.
Technology may create a conversation, but trust is built through presence, conversation and direct experience.
Why the Art World Is Positioned to Lead
This brings us back to Catatumbo. No one signal creates the participation economy. AI is multiplying content, digital fatigue is pushing people away from screens, loneliness is creating a hunger for belonging, travel is expanding our appetite for discovery, consumer spending is moving toward experiences, and generational wealth is giving new audiences the means to participate and flex their taste into democratized offline trendsetting. The lightning is what happens when they all meet.
The art and cultural sector sits naturally at the center of this convergence because participation has always been part of its foundation. While other industries are now trying to build community around products, culture already brings people together through exhibitions, performances, fairs, festivals and studio visits. Where art is exhibited may be discovered on a screen, but it must be experienced in person to be fully understood.
Scale, texture, material, atmosphere and emotional impact cannot be reproduced through an image. Art exhibitions are social rituals that give strangers a reason to enter the same room, experience something together and exchange ideas. In an economy increasingly shaped by the search for trust, belonging and discovery, the art world already has the spaces, creators, storytellers and communities capable of turning those values into lived experience.
While technology is necessary to identify the painting, it cannot recreate the moment you met the artist, or the moment you felt the “pull” of the painting in person. It cannot replace the energy of a packed room at a gallery opening, a curator’s walk through an exhibition, or, even more inspiring, a personal invitation to an artist’s studio. Art was never meant to be consumed in isolation.
It was meant to be experienced together. The art world can now do what it has done best for hundreds of years: focus on designing participation.
The art world already possesses the ingredients every industry will scramble to create: extraordinary spaces in attractive neighborhoods all over the world, remarkable storytellers and a curious community. The question isn’t whether people will attend. The question is whether the art world is ready to lead the participation economy.
Where AI Fits In
The lightning at Catatumbo can be seen from miles away, but its power is created at the exact point where separate forces meet. The Participation Economy will be no different. AI, digital fatigue, loneliness, travel, spending on experiences and generational wealth are all moving toward the same point of convergence. The art world can become that meeting place, where technology, culture and human curiosity come together.
AI has an important role in this future, but it should not replace the curator, the tastemaker or the experience itself. It can reveal an artist’s private studio tour, translate cultural context, remove barriers to access and exclusivity, and help travelers search for the next big adventure. Its greatest value may be its ability to move us beyond the screen.
AI can open the door, but it cannot become the room. It can lead us to the gathering, but the lightning only happens when humans show up.
