Limn

confusing as it may sound, the term technology only begins to emerge in the 1870s ? in the middle of the so-called second industrial revolution. and when it first surfaced, it was mostly used in two still dominant ways. => on the one hand, it was used to define what it is to be humans. philosophers, for example, began to suggest that in reality it is technology that makes us human -- because it is technology that allows us to create a distinction between nature and humanity (and not, as philosophers had thus far argued, reason or the mind). => on the other hand, the term technology was used to refer to the increasingly systematized knowledge necessary for building industrial machinery and infrastructure —- for building automation tools that increase productivity. to this day, the two original senses of the term continue to shape the concept and the practice of technology. technology -- perhaps more so than ever -- is said to be that which elevates us above nature. and to build technology means to build productivity increasing automation machinery. the question though is if Al fits into this older concept and practice of technology —- or not? ??

Once upon a time, machines were automatic and humans were autonomous. Machines were defined by mechanism and we humans by reason. Do today’s AI systems fit into the machine category? And, by extension, into the human-machine distinction? The very least one can say is that AI systems now have qualities that we thought machines cannot have. Qualities like learning, generalizing, speaking and writing, etc. Of course, these qualities do not make AI human (or alive). But it makes the old juxtaposition between humans and machines somewhat insufficient for finding forms for human + AI living together. Or for findings the best possible ways to leverage AI for human agency. Arguably, we need new forms –– no concepts –– for learning how to live, how be human with/in the age of AI. Hence, Limn ??

what makes AI a philosophical event you have to love ?? this is the first in a series of videos we shot to capture and make visible the philosophical stakes –– the poetic possibilities –– of building AI. today ? we limn it ?? thank you for following us. and for spreading the word ?? philosophers in the wild ??

AI could have been many things. but the window of possibility has been closing rapidly. the challenge most AI companies see themselves confronted with is not experimentation. is not the creative work necessary to identify the n?w or that which has become possible and wasn’t possible before. instead it is competition and monetary return. we understand but someone *has to* ask the philosophical questions that emanate from AI. and someone somewhere must do creative work that can help us discover and invent new concepts — n?w vocabularies for being human — in the age of AI. hence, Limn.

AI could have been many things. but the window of possibility has been closing rapidly. the challenge most AI companies see themselves confronted with is not experimentation. is not the creative work necessary to identify the n?w or that which has become possible and wasn’t possible before. instead it is competition and monetary return. we understand but someone *has to* ask the philosophical questions that emanate from AI. and someone somewhere must do creative work that can help us discover and invent new concepts — n?w vocabularies for being human — in the age of AI. hence, Limn.

for anyone disappointed by the aesthetic and conceptual limits of status quo approaches to AI, and technology generally, here is a thing being brought into the world by the smartest, most creative and deeply thinking people I know:

overflow. we produced this video for?Noema magazine's interview with?Tobias Rees?about AI as a philosophical event. https://lnkd.in/ggGfBNpa we gave limn.ai an ambiguous drawing and then documented its attempt to categorizing what it sees. this video is reflective of the AI’s effort to work through its learned categories of representation –– without ever arriving at a stable understanding of what the thing it sees *is.* as if the original drawing were ceaselessly overflowing the international representations the AI –– and we –– have. do we see a branch, a tree, a root system … or something in between/different from all these? ‘overflow’ is a visual exploration of –– and introduction to –– the hidden spaces in between existing categories of representation.

for anyone disappointed by the aesthetic and conceptual limits of status quo approaches to AI, and technology generally, here is a thing being brought into the world by the smartest, most creative and deeply thinking people I know:

we live in turbulent, wild times. times that need philosophers in the wild ??

it is time to introduce an exciting n?w project to the world ?? (and follow us in IG @limn_ai and YouTube @limn_ai)