ESDiT: Co-creating Approaches to the Responsible Use of Emerging Disruptive Technologies

Emerging technologies like AI are disruptive: they radically alter everyday life, cultural practices and social and economic institutions. They even challenge the concepts and values people normally appeal to in their (moral) thinking.

The NWO gravitation programme “Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies” (ESDiT) studies disruptions caused by emerging technologies like AI and examines the broad implications these disruptive technologies have on our understanding of ourselves, nature, and society.

In this workshop, we are inviting philosophers of technology and ethicists working on disruptive technologies to engage with practitioners who are experiencing AI-related disruptions in existing ways of working on the ground. Focused on concrete cases and questions from the public sector and the media industry, introduced by Giulia Bössenecker (AI advisor to the Dutch government) and Thomas Boeschoten (Data- & Innovation Lead DPG Media), the aim of the workshop is to promote meaningful dialogue, offer fruitful ground for creating new partnerships, and inspire new initiatives for translating academic insights into concrete guidelines or instruments that can lead to enduring positive change.

Format

This interactive workshop aims at creating constructive dialogue around the opportunities for enduring and impactful collaboration between philosophers/ethicists and societal partners. We do this through two sessions in which:

  • The invited speaker introduces pressing challenges related to AI that they encounter in their profession.
  • Two ESDiT scholars offer a response.
  • We break out into smaller, moderated groups to discuss the issues at hand, focused on concrete approaches, solutions, and next steps.
  • We engage in a plenary harvest and the invited speaker responds.

Confirmed Speakers

  • Giulia Bössenecker (invited speaker), AI advisor to the Dutch government
  • Carina Prunkl (invited respondent), Assistant Professor for Ethics of Technology at Utrecht University
  • Thomas Boeschoten (invited speaker), Data- & Innovation Lead at DPG Media
  • Andreas Spahn (invited respondent), associate professor with the Philosophy & Ethics research group at the Technical University Eindhoven
  • Patricia Reyes Benavides (invited speaker) – PhD researcher in Political Philosophy of Technology at University of Twente

For Who?

This workshop is particularly suited to researchers and professionals who are interested in normative questions around the use of emerging technologies like AI: what should we do; how ought we respond?

About the Organizers

The workshop is organized by the ESDiT Impact Committee and financially supported by ESDiT. The Impact Committee, chaired by Naomi Jacobs, focuses on promoting extensive knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange, in direct interaction with relevant stakeholders, including technology developers, educators, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and the general public.