Tobias Rees 2023 Senior Fellow
Affiliation CEO, Limn Hard Problem Solved what it means to be human in the age of AI, or John Maynard Keynes’ problem when he noted, “Thus for the first time since his creation man will be faced with his real, his permanent problem— how to use his freedom from pressing economic cares, how to occupy the leisure, which science and compound interest will have won for him, to live wisely and agreeably and well.”

Tobias Rees is founder and CEO of Limn, an AI studio located at the intersection of philosophy, art, and technology.

Prior to founding Limn, Rees was William Dawson Chair at McGill; Reid Hoffman Professor of Humanities at Parsons/The New School; Director at the Berggruen institute; and founder of ToftH

Rees’ work has consistently focused on the history of thought: on history of the categories that organize how, at a given time, humans think and understand and experience the world.

Specifically, his work focused on the history of the concepts of the human, of nature, and of technology (and on how/why the categorical distinction between these three categories fails us today).

Over the last few years he worked closely with technology companies on understanding the philosophical newness of AI and on making the understanding of this newness relevant for AI research and development.

Rees has written 7 books, over 50 articles, and is the recipient of multiple prizes and fellowships, nationally and internationally. He has worked as an advisor to many European and North American Universities and Art Institutions and has a long history of collaborations with artists.

AI2050 Project

In his AI2050 project, Rees will lay the groundwork for inventing a new practice that will be critical for building AI products optimized for the newness afforded by AI and finding ways to be human in the age of AI. Rees will write conceptual histories of human, agency, intelligence, consciousness, language, reason, truth, machine, relations, politics, and work and collaborate with engineers to understand how modern AI systems change these concepts.

Project Artifacts

AI2050 Community Perspective — Tobias Rees (2024)