Artificial Intelligence and the 2500-year-old project called Europe

How is AI changing the philosophical foundations that shape Europe? In his lecture "Artificial Intelligence and the 2500-year-old project called Europe" on 28 October 2025, Prof. Dr. Tobias Rees invites the audience to explore this upheaval.

According to philosopher Prof. Dr. Tobias Rees, artificial intelligence is not only provincializing Europe economically and geopolitically, it is also shaking the philosophical foundations of Europe. For 2,500 years, Europe has been more than just a geographical area: it is a thought project based on concepts such as man, nature, reason, spirit and technology. These concepts have shaped our understanding of the world, knowledge and existence - and it is precisely these foundations that AI is radically challenging. Rees describes the development as a "philosophical earthquake with a magnitude of 11 out of 10".

However, there is also an opportunity in this shock: the chance to rethink what thinking itself is. In his lecture, Rees invites the audience to explore this upheaval - and to discover the philosophical significance of AI beyond debates about technology or fears about the future.

Rees has been a professor at renowned universities in Switzerland, Canada and the USA. Today, he works outside academic structures to develop new forms of philosophical research. With limn, an AI studio at the intersection of philosophy, art and technology, he describes himself as a "philosopher in the wild".