We warmly invite you to our semester kick-off discussion, in which our new Mercator Visiting Professor for AI in the Human Context, David J. Gunkel from Chicago, will be in conversation with Professor Markus Gabriel on the question: What do LLMs want from us?

The question is inspired by Lacan’s Che vuoi? – ‘What do you want from me?’ – It arises in relation to an Other whose desire remains inscrutable and yet, at the same time, inevitably refers us back to ourselves. It opens up a framework for two very different philosophical engagements with LLMs. In his forthcoming book The Différance Engine, Gunkel approaches these strange language machines from the perspective of deconstruction: their mode of operation holds up a mirror to language itself and reveals how meaning, authorship and communication function. Gabriel’s latest book, Ethical Intelligence (Ullstein, 2026), approaches this encounter from a different angle: dialogue-oriented AI is increasingly reading not only what we say, but also the affective and emotional patterns embedded in our language. As a result, AI becomes what he calls a ‘magic mirror’ of our own emotional relationship with ourselves. Under the guiding theme ‘Che vuoi?’, the discussion centres on the question of what kind of relationship is emerging with the systems we already live and communicate with – and what their various reflections might reveal about language, emotion, desire and ourselves.