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THE LYCEUM PROJECT: AI ETHICS WITH ARISTOTLE

National Centre For Scientific Research Demokritos - Friday, March 8, 2024
Press Releases

CALL FOR PAPERS

Oxford University’s Institute for Ethics in AI, in collaboration with Stanford University, Greece’s National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos“, and the World Human Forum will hold a one-day conference on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI), ‘The Lyceum Project’, in Athens on June 20th, 2024. The venue for the event will be the Athens Conservatory which is adjacent to the ancient site of Aristotle’s school, the Lyceum.

The Lyceum Project is premised on the belief that Aristotelian ethics contains many compelling ideas that have great significance for the ethics of AI. These ideas include the centrality of human flourishing to ethics and democratic politics; the virtues as constitutive of flourishing; the use of reason to determine the ends and not merely the means of human conduct; the place of friendship and citizenship in a good human life, among others. Their relevance extends to all the various forms that the regulation of AI can take, such as personal self-regulation, regulation through industry codes or social convention, or regulation through domestic or international law. Unfortunately, these ideas have tended to be neglected in contemporary thought about the ethics and politics of AI, which has often been dominated by utilitarian and rights-based paradigms. The Lyceum Project seeks to remedy this neglect and thereby to enhance the quality of public discourse around AI ethics.

The conference will involve:

  • A philosophers’ panel, at which Professors Josiah Ober (Stanford) and John Tasioulas (Oxford) will discuss their white paper on Aristotelian AI ethics
  • A practitioners’ panel, in which leading figures from the technical, entrepreneurial, and regulatory sides of AI discuss bridging theory and practice
  • A series of presentations by younger scholars working on Aristotelian AI ethics.

This call for papers invites scholars working in AI ethics, who are either currently enrolled as PhD students or within ten years of the award of their PhD, to submit a 500 word precis of the 15 minute presentation they propose to give at the conference. The presentation should engage with Aristotelian ideas as they bear on the pressing ethical or political questions thrown up by AI. Those selected to present at the conference will have economy airfare and two nights’ accommodation in Athens covered by the Lyceum Project.

Applicants should:

This event will be open to the public free of charge. Details regarding attendance will be available soon.

The Lyceum Project is generously supported by the Patrick J McGovern Foundation, the Cosmos Institute, the Athens Conservatory, and the Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.