There is a significant philosophical literature on the agency of organised groups of humans, like corporations and states. It is sometimes noted that group agency is a sort of artificial agency, in that (for example) corporations are entities we create and shape, and that plausibly themselves exhibit agency over and above their members’ agency. Corporations and states are also significant players in creating and deploying AI systems. This workshop will address two major themes:
Analogies between AI and group agents. For example, might work on the agency and moral status of groups illuminate corresponding issues concerning AI (e.g. responsibility gaps)? Might work on corporate transparency and accountability bear on the kind of “explainability” we should want for AI?
Embedding AI systems in group agents. Could AI systems be members of group agents? If so, how might their presence affect group-level features like the group’s obligations and moral responsibility?
This 2-day event, held on 3 July and 4 July, will be philosophy-led, but also open to researchers in business ethics, law, computer science and other relevant disciplines. In addition, we welcome policy and business practitioners.
We would like to thank the Mind Association and Oxford's Institute for Ethics in AI for their generous financial support.
The event will conform to the BPA / SWIP Good Practice Scheme and Guidelines for Accessible Conferences. The planned venue is wheelchair accessible, and has a hearing loop. Although we would prefer attendees to be present in person, we will also have a livestream available. Please contact Dr David Storrs-Fox with any additional questions about accessibility.
For further information about the event and how to register, please email david.storrs-fox@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
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The Institute for Ethics in AI will bring together world-leading philosophers and other experts in the humanities with the technical developers and users of AI in academia, business and government. The ethics and governance of AI is an exceptionally vibrant area of research at Oxford and the Institute is an opportunity to take a bold leap forward from this platform.
Every day brings more examples of the ethical challenges posed by AI, from face recognition to voter profiling, brain-machine interfaces to weaponised drones, and the ongoing discourse about how AI will impact employment on a global scale. This is urgent and important work that we intend to promote internationally as well as embedding in our own research and teaching here at Oxford.
Kendy M. Hess is the Brake-Smith Associate Professor in Social Philosophy and Ethics at the College of the Holy Cross, and a Senior Research Fellow at Oxford's Saïd Business School. She holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Colorado Boulder and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and is a former corporate environmental lawyer. Her research explores corporate agency, moral obligation and responsibility, capitalism, the environment, and the nature of work.
Dr Kenneth Silver is an Associate Professor in Business Ethics at Trinity Business School and a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Southern California, where he also completed a postdoctoral fellowship. Kenneth's interdisciplinary research spans business ethics, corporate personhood, causation, financial ethics, ontic vagueness, and strategic management. In 2023 he received a €1.37 million grant from the European Research Council for a five year project on Corporate Moral Progress.
Prof Alan Morrison is the Intesa Sanpaolo Professor of Business, Ethics, and Finance at Oxford's Saïd Business School, and a Fellow of Merton College. He holds a DPhil in Finance from Oxford and an MSc in Information Technology from Imperial College London. Prior to his academic career, Alan worked in the City of London at Morgan Grenfell and S.G. Warburg. His research ranges across business ethics, law, finance, economics, and social ontology. Much of Alan's current work focuses on organisations: what they are, how people can live well within them, and how they should be regulated.
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Dr David Storrs-Fox is an Early Career Research Fellow at the Institute and a Junior Research Fellow at Jesus College. He is also a Lecturer in Philosophy at St Catherine's College and a Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in Technology, Hamburg University of Technology.