The University Within the Limits of Automated Knowledge

Summary

Yuk Hui asks what universities lose when knowledge production and economic utility become their defining purposes.

Drawing on Kant and other philosophers, Hui defends universities as places for collective inquiry, contesting reasons, and learning how to live. He questions their reorganization around industrial agendas.

The essay opens a useful curriculum question: what forms of shared intellectual life matter even if information becomes abundant? Its value lies in a contestable account of educational purpose.

Future automation is the author’s proposal; the Chinese title is an editorial translation.