Imagine a future where technology, life, and intelligence merge in ways that challenge everything we thought we knew. This is the provocative world Antikythera Journal: Volume 2025 invites you to explore. But here's where it gets controversial: what if the very tools we create to understand the planet end up redefining what it means to be intelligent, alive, or even human? Antikythera: Journal for the Philosophy of Planetary Computation (http://journal.antikythera.org/) isn’t just another academic publication—it’s a bold reimagining of how we think about the intersection of computation, biology, and the vast scales of intelligence.
Developed in partnership between Antikythera, a cutting-edge R&D institute, and MIT Press, this peer-reviewed journal dives into the philosophical and practical implications of planetary computation. From the evolution of intelligence to the geopolitics of computational infrastructure, it tackles questions most people haven’t even begun to ask. What does it mean for AI to become physical? How do we think beyond Earth-centric biases in environmental thinking? And what is the purpose of planetary computation—not just what it can do, but what it should do?
Volume 2025 is a masterpiece of interdisciplinary exploration, blending philosophy, speculative design, cinematic storytelling, and experimental UX. The first release, unveiled at the Venice Architecture Biennale, featured 17 articles by 12 author–designer pairs, each pushing the boundaries of thought and creativity. This November’s release continues the journey with contributions like The Noocene (https://noocene.antikythera.org/), where Benjamin Bratton and GIGA reimagine the Noosphere as a cinematic experience, and Planetary Vision (https://planetaryvision.antikythera.org/), where Peter Galison and collaborators propose a virtual telescope larger than Earth itself.
But this is the part most people miss: Volume 2025 isn’t just about presenting ideas—it’s about challenging them. Take Long L (https://llll.antikythera.org/), which dares to rethink ecology without Earth-centric biases, or Substrates Unbound (https://substrates.antikythera.org/), which explores the agency of materials in synthetic biological intelligence. And then there’s Hemispherical Stacks (https://hemstacks.antikythera.org/), a collection of speculative fiction essays on multipolar geopolitics that will leave you questioning the future of global power dynamics.
This volume is more than a publication—it’s a call to action. It demonstrates that the existential and epistemological challenges of planetary computation are deeply interconnected. But here’s the question: Do we control these technologies, or are they shaping us in ways we can’t yet comprehend?
With contributors ranging from Benjamin Bratton and N. Katherine Hayles to Chen Qiufan and Iris Carver, and design studios like GIGA and Practise, Volume 2025 is a testament to the power of collaboration across disciplines. It’s a 21st-century reimagining of scholarly publishing, where science, humanities, and design converge to address the most pressing questions of our time.
So, what do you think? Is planetary computation the key to our future, or a Pandora’s box we’re better off leaving closed? Let us know in the comments—this conversation is just getting started.
