June 22-25: Computer ethics
International conference at UD to explore philosophical issues in computing
10:11 a.m., June 11, 2015--From battlefield robots and military drones to self-driving cars and so-called “love machines,” an international conference hosted by the University of Delaware will explore ethical issues involving information technology and artificial intelligence.
“Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry” will take place June 22-25 at the Clayton Hall Conference Center on UD’s Newark campus. It will be the first international conference jointly sponsored by the International Society for Ethics and Information Technology and the International Association for Computing and Philosophy.
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“The topics we discuss change rapidly as technology advances, and our meetings are extremely interdisciplinary,” said Thomas Powers, associate professor of philosophy and director of UD’s Center for Science, Ethics and Public Policy, who organized the conference. “Philosophers and engineers have different ways of working and we don’t even always seem to speak the same language, so it’s important to meet and share ideas.”
Powers, who also has an appointment in the School of Public Policy and Administration and at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, said the conference will examine such complex issues as artificial intelligence, automated warfare, the ethics of big data, robotics and virtual reality. It will feature five keynote addresses by noted authorities and numerous symposia during which participants can discuss more specific topics of interest.
About 50 people have registered to attend the full conference, most from the U.S., England and the Netherlands. One-day registration remains available for UD faculty and staff members, at a reduced rate of $20, and for UD students, at no charge.
One keynote address, sponsored by the Class of 1955 Ethics Endowment Fund, is free and open to the public. In that address at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 23, Shannon Vallor, associate professor of philosophy at Santa Clara University, will discuss “Artificial Intelligence and the Automation of Wisdom.”
In her talk, she has written, she will “reflect on the various ways in which automated systems are becoming increasingly involved in the exercise of human judgment, both moral and intellectual” and will “call for a fresh conception of human-machine relations.”
Following is a sampling of the other topics that will be discussed at the conference:
Monday, June 22 “On the Relation of Computing to the World,” “A Critique of Machine Ethics from the Perspective of Autonomy” and “Sex, Virtue and Robots,” a symposium led by John P. Sullins, an ethics professor at Sonoma State University and author of a paper titled “Robots, Love and Sex: The Ethics of Building a Love Machine.”
Tuesday, June 23 “Self-Care, Patient Empowerment and the Virtue of Personal Health Technologies” and “Getting a Handle on Big Data Ethics,” a keynote address by Deborah Johnson, professor of applied ethics at the University of Virginia, who will begin by discussing recent research in which Facebook collaborated with scientists at Cornell to manipulate and analyze the emotions of the site’s users.
Wednesday, June 24 “The Sentimental Robot: Soldiers, Metal Psychopaths and Artificial Intelligence,” “Problematics of Separation: The Case of Drones” and “Beyond Right and Wrong,” a discussion about the ethics of technology in relation to autonomous cars.
Thursday, June 25 “Beyond Informed Consent: Investigating Ethical Justifications for Disclosing, Donating or Sharing Personal Data in Research” and “I Keep a Close Watch on This Child of Mine,” a discussion of the use of apps by which parents can track their children’s movements.
The full program for the conference is available at this website.
About the sponsoring organizations
The International Association for Computing and Philosophy facilitates interaction among philosophers, computer scientists and other scholars in related fields. It promotes scholarly dialogue and research and the use of information and communication technologies in the service of philosophy.
The International Society for Ethics and Information Technology was created in 2000 with the goal of promoting scholarship, education, discussion and debate on ethical issues in IT. It particularly addresses issues involving the design and development, use and deployment, distribution, impact and implications of IT and the social and political institutions arising around IT.
Article by Ann Manser