Minds + Machines – Philosophies for the Digital Age

Minds + Machines (M+M) is a new discussion format in Linz that explores the relationships between digital technology, humans, societies, and the environment. Experts from IT:U – Interdisciplinary Transformation University Austria engage in conversations with invited guests, discussing books from science and science fiction. The audience is actively invited to participate in the dialogue.

Together, we ask: Which digital futures do we want to imagine?

Hosts

Sonja Rattay, Christoph Hubatschke (IT:U)

Guest

Julia Grillmayr (University of Art and Design Linz)

Master of Ceremonies

Christopher Frauenberger (IT:U)

Episode 1: Intelligence(s)

From bacterial cognition to animal intelligence and artificial intelligence in machines: encountering different forms of intelligence challenges the assumption that intelligence and cognition are exclusively human phenomena.
In the first edition of Minds + Machines, we explore this diversity of intelligence by combining scientific analysis with perspectives from science fiction.

Books discussed:

N. Katherine Hayles: Bacteria to AI: Human Futures with Our Nonhuman Symbionts (2025), University of Chicago Press
Ray Nayler: The Mountain in the Sea (2024), translated into German as Die Stimme der Kraken, Klett-Cotta

Where: Digital City Studio, Pfarrgasse 9, Linz
When: 22 January 2026 | 18:00