Calls for Papers

CFP: Ethics of Artificial Intelligence Agency – Towards a Resilient Human-Machine Interaction (Volume)

Guest Editors: Andrea Vestrucci (University of Bamberg, Germany) and Sara Lumbreras (University of Comillas, Spain)

DEADLINE: September 30, 2023

Currently, the ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most relevant topics of interdisciplinary research. A tentative taxonomy of at least 5 approaches can be outlined:

  1. AI systems as ethical agent: AI systems are interpreted as non-human agents, thus the classical questions – and answers – on human agency are recalibrated for this new type of agents. E.g.: How can the relevance of (free) will for human agency be translated to AI? How can “autonomy” be defined for AI systems, and what consequences does it imply?
  2. The impact of AI on human life: this approach analyzes AI agency in relation to human life. This is perhaps the most explored approach, which encompasses ethical topics e.g. AI transparency and fairness, legal issues e.g. trustworthy AI and the source and types of bias in AI systems, technical challenges e.g. eXplainable AI, and controversial areas of AI decision-making e.g. automated weapons, medical and juridical cases, and the generation of deep fakes – written, pictorial, etc.
  3. Normativity of AI agency: what are the different kinds of legal and ethical regulations AI systems shall be subjected to, how to enforce such regulations, and what institutions should produce and promote such regulations? This approach is intrinsically dependent on points 1 and 2.
  4. Human-AI interaction: this approach takes into account the mutual interaction between humans and AI systems. How can the use of AI systems ensure human dignity, improve quality of life, promote the resilience, equality, and social integration of marginalized people, and contribute to counter oppressive systems and forms of discrimination?
  5. AI environmental impact: the use of large amount of data in AI applications increases human energy consumption; on the other hand, AI technology can also contribute in better redirect and oversee energetic resources.

The special issue of the Polish journal Philosophical Education (University of Warsaw) aims to host contributions that challenge the current approaches on the ethics of AI. This can be:

  • To critically reflect on the progressive use of several key-terms as buzzwords, i.e., as fashionable words that are used in different contexts with no consideration of their real meaning.
  • (Connected to the previous point) To clarify the semantic differences between “AI ethics” key-terms, e.g., between trust and trustworthiness, trustworthiness and transparency, trustworthiness and explainability… in order to promote a clear and “explainable” use of such terms.
  • The previous point includes the effort of reconnecting AI ethics key-terms to their (inter)disciplinary background, e.g., philosophy of science and computer science for “explainability”…
  • To question the current tendency in AI normativity to consider AI more as a potential threat rather than a potential benefit for human life, thus focusing more on limiting negative AI applications rather than promoting beneficial uses.
  • To clarify to a philosophical/ethical audience (such as the audience of this journal) what is the current level of AI technology, and the gap between it and sensationalist news and (mis)information.
  • To focus on the ethical problems raised by Large Language Models such as ChatGPT, consisting in the progressive separation between a human-like use of language, and the aspect of intelligent understanding of the meaning conveyed by this language use.
  • Finally, the special issue also welcomes contributions aiming at proposing interdisciplinary reassessment and recalibration of current terminology in AI ethics, to improve the dialogue across disciplines on AI.

Deadlines and Guidelines

Interested contributors are invited to send their article by the 30th of September 2023 at the address edukacjafilozoficzna@uw.edu.pl . They are also welcome to send (at the same address) an abstract of the intended paper earlier, to check whether their paper fits into the special issue scope.

Authors are invited to write their paper following the journal guidelines: /en/content/do-autorow.