PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Philip Agre

Also known as Phil Agre, Philip E. Agre

Philip Agre is an artificial intelligence researcher and former professor of information studies at UCLA, known for introducing critical technical practice. With David Chapman, he published the Pengi video-game program in 1987 and earned his MIT doctorate in 1989, then taught at Chicago, Sussex and UC San Diego. He coedited Computational Theories of Interaction and Agency in 1995, and Cambridge University Press published his Computation and Human Experience, a critical reconstruction of the ideas and methods of AI research, in 1997. At UCLA from 1998, he wrote in 2001 against automatic face recognition in public places. He left UCLA in 2009 and withdrew from public life.

Works
116
Citations
6,491
h-index
27

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1987–1989

    Pengi and an MIT doctorate

    In 1987, he and David Chapman publish "Pengi: An implementation of a theory of activity" at the Sixth National Conference on Artificial Intelligence; Pengi plays a video game that calls for flexible actions. He earns his MIT doctorate in 1989, working at the AI Laboratory on computational models of improvised activities, first under Michael Brady and then under Rodney Brooks.

  2. 1991–1998

    Teaching at UC San Diego

    After a brief postdoc at the Institute for Research on Learning and time teaching at the University of Chicago and the University of Sussex, he arrives at the University of California, San Diego in 1991. He teaches in its Department of Communication until 1998.

  3. 1994–1996

    The Network Observer

    From January 1994 to July 1996, he edits The Network Observer, a free monthly online newsletter about networks and democracy. He also organizes a mailing list, the Red Rock Eater News Service, whose subscribers receive about five messages a week.

  4. 1995–1996

    Editing a volume on agency

    In 1995, he and Stanley J. Rosenschein coedit a special double volume of Artificial Intelligence, Computational Theories of Interaction and Agency. His 52-page introduction sets out a framework for such theories and describes Toast, a program that acts as a short-order breakfast cook. MIT Press publishes the volume as a book with seventeen papers in 1996.

  5. 1997

    Computation and Human Experience

    In 1997, Cambridge University Press publishes his book Computation and Human Experience, a critical reconstruction of the fundamental ideas and methods in AI research. His concept of critical technical practice calls on technologists to reflect philosophically on the assumptions embedded in their work.

  6. 1998–2009

    Professor at UCLA

    He joins UCLA in 1998 as an associate professor of information studies. In 2001, he writes "Your Face Is Not a Bar Code: Arguments Against Automatic Face Recognition in Public Places", an abridged version of which appears in Whole Earth.

  7. 2009–2010

    Leaving UCLA and public life

    In 2009, he leaves his position at UCLA and withdraws from public life. After a missing persons report in October 2009, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department locates him on January 16, 2010, in good health and self-sufficient.

  8. December 2025

    A paper on his legacy

    In December 2025, Jethro Masis posts "Making AI Philosophical Again: On Philip E. Agre's Legacy" to arXiv. The paper examines Agre's work at the intersection of artificial intelligence, philosophy, and critical theory.

Career

  1. 1998–2009University of California, Los AngelesAssociate Professor of Information Studies
  2. 1991University of Sussex
  3. 1991–1998University of California, San Diego
  4. 1990–1991University of Chicago
  5. Institute for Research on LearningPostdoc

Education

  1. 1989Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDoctorate

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Plans and situated actions: The problem of human-machine communication1990 · Artificial Intelligence · 1,670 citations
  2. Pengi: an implementation of a theory of activity1987 · National Conference on Artificial Intelligence · 898 citations
  3. Computation and Human Experience1997 · Cambridge University Press eBooks · 527 citations
  4. Surveillance and capture: Two models of privacy1994 · The Information Society · 402 citations
  5. What are plans for?1990 · Robotics and Autonomous Systems · 372 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  3. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of California, Los Angeles. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  4. Universities keep AI researchers for a median of 6 years, compared with 2 years at frontier labsIncludes University of California, Los Angeles. Across 15,811 dated work stays (6,529 people), median role tenure runs from 6 years at universities to 2 years at frontier labs. We compare all five organization types, starting decades from the 1970s to the 2020s, and the organizations that keep people longest.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Philip Agre yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Computational Research on Interaction and Agency pages.gseis.ucla.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Computation and Human Experience pages.gseis.ucla.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Philip Agre - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Phil Agre - Hertz Foundation hertzfoundation.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. profiles: Phil Agre lchc.ucsd.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Computational Theories of Interaction and Agency pages.gseis.ucla.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. The Network Observer pages.gseis.ucla.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Red Rock Eater News Service pages.gseis.ucla.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Phil Agre's Home Page pages.gseis.ucla.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. Your Face Is Not a Bar Code pages.gseis.ucla.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  11. Missing Internet Pioneer Phil Agre Is Found Alive : All Tech Considered : NPR npr.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  12. Phil Agre, missing ex-UCLA professor, found safe - LA Observed laobserved.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  13. [2601.11569] Making AI Philosophical Again: On Philip E. Agre's Legacy arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.