Critical AI: Ethics and Power
We are excited to announce the Call for Papers, for the upcoming Bleeding Edge Summit to be held ONLINE, in Partnership with CIDS (Critical Inquiry into DAOs working for SDGs) at the University of Turku, on Wednesday 16th December 2026.
Submission Deadline: 4th December 2026
What makes AI ethical, and who has the power to decide?
AI raises fundamental questions about how we treat one another: whose dignity is protected, whose opportunities are constrained, whose knowledge is recognised, and who bears responsibility when harm occurs.
As intelligent systems increasingly shape work, public services and everyday decisions, ethical responsibility extends across their design, ownership, deployment and governance. Fairness, privacy, safety and human autonomy depend on both technical choices and the institutions making them.
The inaugural CATS Conference invites scholars, engineers and practitioners to examine how AI can serve human flourishing while remaining accountable to the people and communities it affects.
The programme will include opening remarks from Dr. Outi Korhonen, principal investigator and lead research sponsor, setting the context for interdisciplinary discussion on ethical AI, institutional responsibility and power.
We welcome research into discrimination, exclusion, manipulation and surveillance; the distribution of benefits and harms; and the concentration of authority over increasingly consequential technologies. We also invite constructive proposals for systems and institutions that support dignity, justice, meaningful consent and human agency.
Drawing on Philip Agre’s concept of Critical Technical Practice, the conference brings ethical, philosophical and political reflection into dialogue with technical design. Contributions should explore how ethical commitments can become practical engineering choices, organisational responsibilities and enforceable rights.
Organised by CIDS (University of Turku) and The Bleeding Edge Summit, the conference launches the CATS: Critical Approaches to Tech and Society Paper Series.