A new annual series and accompanying conference has been launched: Oxford Studies in Philosophy of AI and Computing (OSPAIC).
The executive editor of OSPAIC is Seth Lazar (Johns Hopkins). Its associate editors are Jeffrey Howard (UCL) and Rachael Sterken (University of Hong Kong). Ned Howells-Whitaker (JHU and Pittsburgh) is the assistant editor.
Lazar writes:
Rapid AI progress is raising so many philosophical questions; but philosophers aren’t as involved in the conversation as they should be, for many different reasons.
One is that, aside from some work in logic and philosophy of mind, philosophy of AI and computing has often sat on the margins of the discipline. One reason for that is that so many philosophers working on AI have had to do so basically on their own, figuring things out for themselves as they go along, without a real community around them.
OSPAIC is going to help fix this! We’re going to have an annual conference and volume. The conference (in DC! where much of the future of AI will be decided) is especially important as we think about the nature of intellectual life in a world where AI systems can one-shot a superficially-plausible philosophy paper. OSPAIC sees philosophical progress as being about more than just the accumulation of true claims. The conference is a big part of our vision for how we contribute to philosophical progress.
Just as other Oxford Studies in Philosophy volumes have accompanying prizes, so too will OSPAIC. The Cosmos Institute is running an AI and philosophy manuscript competition with a $10,000 prize.
Lazar adds that one aim of the conference and series is “to help philosophers be part of the broader public conversation” and “to that end we’re… encouraging everyone who submits to OSPAIC to also upload their draft to arXiv (at present, use keyword PFAI).”
Oxford Studies in Philosophy of AI and Computing‘s inaugural call for submissions is open.
Neat. arxiv has an endorsement process. given how relatively small Philosophy of AI is and how it is not yet mainstream for philosophers to put preprints on arxiv, how should budding philosophers find themselves someone to endorse their philosophical (rather than CS) contribution?