Human-AI Relationships Workshop

A workshop exploring the philosophy and ethics of Human-AI Relationships

Location: Interdisciplinary Ethics Applied Centre (Boardroom), University of Leeds

Register: To register, email Ruby Hornsby: pr17rjh@leeds.ac.uk

Speakers:

• Paula Sweeney (University of Aberdeen): ‘Talking to oneself’
• Jörg Löschke (University of Stuttgart): ‘Moral Obligations Towards Robots: The Associative Account’
• Ruby Hornsby (University of Leeds): ‘Can we be friends with robots?’
• Rebecca Wallbank (University of Geneva/Uppsala University): ‘Should we be Pessimists about the Value of Human-AI Relationships?’
• Micah Lott (Boston College): ‘With Friends Like These: Love and Friendship with AI Agents’

In 2025, The Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre will turn 20! To celebrate, the centre will be hosting a number of events across the year. To kick this off, PhD student Ruby Hornsby (member of CLSR) is organising a workshop exploring the philosophy and ethics of Human-AI Relationships. Over the course of two days, five international expert speakers will share their insights on the kinds of relationships humans can form with a range of sophisticated social AI systems, including digital duplicates, deathbots, social/sex robots, AI therapists, VR avatars, and companion chatbots. On the last day, all workshop attendees are invited to a round-table event where we will dive into some of the most pressing issues, and consider what we ought to do about them. The goal of the workshop is to draw conclusions about the extent to which intimate human-AI relationships can play a role in the good human life. 

This event is generously funded by the Society for Applied Philosophy.