Neurons and Machines:

Philosophy, Ethics, Policies, and the Law

Credit: Alarmy

Registration: Participation to the conference is free for all, but all participants and contributors are required to register for organisational purposes. Please follow this link to register. The deadline for registering is November 5, 2025.

Confirmed Invited Speakers:

• Vincent C. Müller, A. v. Humboldt Professor, “Philosophy and Ethics of AI”
  Director, Centre for Philosophy and AI Research (PAIR), Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU).
• Emma Gordon, Lecturer in Applied Ethics in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, Head of Interdisciplinary Research at the COGITO Epistemology Research Centre, and steering commitee member of UofG’s Centre for Neurotechnology
• J. Adam Carter, Professor of Philosophy, Co-Director: Cogito Epistemology Research Centre, University of Glasgow.
• Fereniki Panagopoulou, Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, Data Protection Law, and Bioethics, Director of European Laboratory of Bioethics, Technoethics and Law, Panteion University, Greece.
• Pavlos Sourlas, Professor Emeritus, School of Law, National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Member of the Academy of Athens
• Anastasia Siapka, Research Fellow at the KU Leuven Centre for IT & IP Law and an Affiliated Researcher at the Autonomy  Institute in London
• Byron Kaldis, Professor of Philosophy, Head of Humanities and Director of the Laboratory of Theoretical and Applied Philosophy, History and Sociology of Science and Technology, School of Applied Mathematical and Physical Sciences, The National Technical University of Athens.

Description

Already, computer scientists, legal scholars and policy makers have been invited to consider whether new digital ontologies—such as ‘neural data’ and ‘mental data’—should complement the familiar categories of data and metadata. Likewise, as brain-computer interfaces and other neurotecnologies increasingly blur the boundaries between human and machine, new ethical, legal and technological challenges have emerged regarding the protection and empowerment of bio-technologically augmented individuals.

At the same time, the ubiquitous presence of AI and its increasingly general capabilities—manifesting a wide array of human-level and human-like skills—reveal entirely uncharted territories. One interesting possibility is the gradual integration of humans with AI through neurotechnologies and brain-computer interfaces. Another possibility is the development of AIs operating autonomously. In either scenario, unprecedented questions emerge, surrounding the moral status, legal personhood, and citizenship of AI-powered minds.

Though distinct, these and similar issues—at the critical points where philosophy of mind and cognitive science, ethics, legal and political philosophy and emerging cognitive technologies intersect—share a common thread: They all invite us to introduce new—or reinterpret existing—ethical principles, legal frameworks as well as national and international policies to navigate the unprecedented changes that these transformative innovations generate for biological, hybrid, and artificial minds.

By bringing together diverse perspectives from fields such as (but not limited to) philosophy of mind, metaphysics, neuroscience, law, computer science, artificial intelligence, and anthropology, we aim to collaboratively examine this emerging theme and explore pathways toward ethical and equitable solutions.

Topics

The conference aims to address a wide range of topics unified by their common focus on the ethical, legal, and political ramifications of emerging cognitive technologies such as brain-computer interfaces, neurotechnologies, and Artificial Intelligence.

The following is an indicative list of questions falling under this general theme. You are welcome to expand the list by suggesting your own questions in your submitted proposals.

• What are the ethical, legal or political ramifications of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs)?
• What are the ethical, legal or political ramifications of neurotechnologies?
• What are the differences (if any) between BCIs and neurotechnologies, and how may they affect the way we should regulate the development and use of the technologies?
• What social and political issues may arise from society’s increasing reliance on BCIs and neurotechnologies?
• How may underprivileged groups be affected by the emergence of such technologies?
• What social inequalities may appear or become exacerbated with the advent of such technologies? How should we respond?
• To respond to challenges such as the ones mentioned above, do we need new legal tools, a re-interpretation of existing ones or is the present legal framework capable of dealing with them as it currently stands?
• How will freedom of thought and specific aspects of it–e.g., mental privacy, mental integrity, mental autonomy, cognitive liberty–be affected by the widespread use of BCIs and neurotechnologies?
• What might be the ramifications of these technologies for individuals?
• What might be the social ramifications of such technologies?
• Is the law sufficient for dealing with the problems emerging from the widespread use of such technologies or must we call for technological solutions?
• Does the advent of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) necessitate the attribution of rights and responsibilities that are equal to those of humans?
• Would the advent of Super AGI necessitate the attribution of rights or responsibilities to it that go beyond existing human rights and responsibilities?
• How could we regulate the development of AGI and Super AGI to ensure their use for peaceful purposes?
• What might motivate the insistence that AGIs do not deserve any rights? How should we interpret and asses such claims and what lessons can the history of human rights teach us with respect to the way we respond to the emergence of AGI?
• What might be promising solutions to the value alignment problem?
• What kind of social changes may be caused by the widespread presence of AGI?
• How should states respond if AGI causes a sudden and massive loss of jobs?
• We often hear that AGI–like many other technologies–is going to cause the disappearance of certain jobs, but it will also lead to the emergence of new ones. Given AGI is supposed to be a machine that can do everything that the average person can do equally well, how might humans become irreplaceable components of the work force?
• Should we welcome the advent of anthropoids? How might their design affect the way we perceive and treat other humans?
• What are the ethical issues that neural organoids bring to the fore?

Important Dates

• Abstracts Submission Deadline: June 10, 2025
• Notification of acceptance: July 10, 2025

Submission Guidelines

• Please prepare a 500-words abstract of your proposed research paper for blind review (references are not included in the word count).

Paper Submission

Please follow the link in order to submit your paper

Submit Your Paper

Registration

Participation to the conference is free for all, but all participants and contributors are required to register for organisational purposes. Please follow this link to register. The deadline for registering is November 5, 2025.

Childcare

If you are interested in participating but have childcare responsibilities that may affect your ability to attend, please contact us (at politechadmin@uoi.gr) by 15 September. The organisers are committed to supporting participants with childcare needs and will do their best to offer assistance.

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