Co-organized by Ophélie Desmons (INSPE de Paris, Sorbonne Université) and Martin Gibert (Université de Montréal). For a workshop le 17 mai 2024.

With the support of GREEA (environmental and animal ethics research group), CRÉ (Centre de recherche en éthique) and UMR 8011 “Sciences, Normes, Démocratie”, Sorbonne University. 

Artificial intelligence systems are not without consequences for humans. However, we too often forget that they also have consequences for non-human animals. We should therefore seek to evaluate them morally in this respect: are such and such algorithms for guidance (autonomous cars), recommendation (YouTube, Facebook) or generation (MidJourney, chatGPT) beneficial for animals? Do they respect appropriate moral standards? Do they create or reproduce injustices?

There’s a lot to think about when examining some of the intersections between animal ethics and AI ethics: how do these two fields of applied ethics clash or complement each other?

These questions are beginning to attract the attention of ethics researchers.(BOSSERT & HAGENDORFF, 2021; COGHLAN & PARKER, 2023; HAGENDORFF 2022; OWE & BAUM, 2021; SINGER & TSE, 2022; ZIESCHE, 2021). 

This workshop aims to promote the discovery of these issues, particularly in the French-speaking world. We are interested in any paper that combines elements of animal ethics and AI ethics.

We are particularly (but not exclusively) interested in proposals on:

• Moral evaluation of a particular system or application involving animals
• AI monitoring of animals
• Benefits of AI for animals
• Classification of types of harm or damage to animals
• The epistemic harms of algorithms that generate or recommend false and/or harmful beliefs for animals
• The ethics of the autonomous slaughterhouse
• The ethics of autonomous cars in relation to animals
• Algorithmic biases against animals
• What AI ethics do to animal ethics
• What animal ethics do to AI ethics

The hybrid event is scheduled for May 17, 2024.

Paper proposals (title and half-page abstract) should be sent by February 15 to martin.gibert[at]umontreal.ca and ophelie.desmons[at]sorbonne-universite.fr

References cited:

BOSSERT Leonie, HAGENDORFF Thilo, 2021, “Animals and AI. The Role of Animals in AI Research and Application – An Overview and Ethical Evaluation », Technology in Society, Elsevier, 67(C).

COGHLAN Simon, PARKER Christine, 2023, “Harm to Nonhuman Animals from AI : a Systematic Account and Framework”, Philosophy & Technology, 36(25).

HAGENDORFF Thilo, 2022, “Blind spots in AI ethics”, AI and Ethics, 2, p. 851-867.

OWE Andrea, BAUM Seth, 2021, “Moral Consideration of Nonhumans in the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence”, AI and Ethics, 1, p. 517-528.

SINGER Peter, TSE Yip Fai, 2022, “AI Ethics : the Case for Including Animals », AI Ethics, 3, p. 539-551.

ZIESCHE Soenke, 2021, “AI Ethics and Value Alignment for Nonhuman Animals”, Philosophies, 6(2): 31.