19 May 2023

Prof. Dr. Judith Simon is guest speaker at University of Milan HuME Seminar series on May 19, 2023. In her talk, Judith Simon will investigate different epistemic and ethical requirements for trustworthy systems and conclude her talk with some thoughts on the relation of knowledge, trust and trustworthiness.

When: 19.05.2023, 10:30-12:30
Where: Sala Malliani, via Festa del Perdono, 7, Milano.

Link to event page

Trusting in and knowing with AI: epistemic delegation & socio-technical interdependence

Judith Simon (Universitat Hamburg)

Abstract
Recent advances in data analysis have led to the development and utilization of an abundance of technologies to support humans in many societal domains. Such applications, often labeled artificial intelligence, also profoundly affect our knowledge practices in science and everyday-life as we rely on them for various epistemic purposes such as classification or prediction. On the one hand, such epistemic delegation may enhance and improve epistemic practices, e.g. by reducing errors or improving the accuracy of analysis and decision-making processes. On the other hand, data-based AI systems are prone to various epistemic (and ethical) challenges, most notably related to issues around bias  on the one hand and a lack of understandability on the other. The question then arises whether and under what conditions we can or should trust such systems for epistemic purposes. In my talk I will first turn to the question whether we can sensibly talk about trust in AI systems. Proposing a socio-technical view on AI, I will argue that we can trust AI systems, if we conceive them as systems consisting of networks of technologies and various human actors, but that we should trust them if and only if they are/prove to be trustworthy. I will investigate different epistemic and ethical requirements for trustworthy systems and conclude my talk with some thoughts on the relation of knowledge, trust and trustworthiness.