Seth Lazar, Jeffrey Howard, Rachel Sterken
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a deeply philosophical enterprise. The rise of highly capable general-purpose AI systems is reshaping our societies and our self-understanding in ways that demand philosophical scrutiny.
We invite the submission of papers for the inaugural Oxford Studies in Philosophy of AI and Computing (OSPAIC) conference, to be held June 28-30, 2027 in Washington, D.C. at the Johns Hopkins University School of Government and Policy.
Call for PapersThe best paper presented at the conference will receive a $10,000 prize, funded by the Cosmos Institute and selected by an expert panel chosen by the executive editor.
Papers written by AI may not be submitted to OSPAIC.
Read the AI Usage PolicyOxford Studies in Philosophy of AI and Computing (OSPAIC), our annual volume, to be published by Oxford University Press, will galvanise an emerging subfield that both harnesses philosophy to steer the AI revolution, and studies AI advances to inspire first-order progress in philosophy itself.
Recent radical breakthroughs in AI are the crest of a wave that first formed in World War II, with the introduction of task-specific electronic digital computers. We cannot assume that what was true of computing twenty years ago holds for powerful AI systems to come.
OSPAIC encourages work that situates philosophy of AI in a broader understanding of computing at large, recognising both continuities and discontinuities.
The demand for a flagship venue focused on the philosophy of AI and computing is shaped by three sources: philosophy itself; the technical and empirical disciplines building the AI transition; and society at large.
Our priority is to publish work that is philosophically rigorous and innovative, while being technically- and empirically-grounded, and either inherently accessible to non-philosophical audiences, or accompanied by explanatory material that is.
OSPAIC will welcome research on all philosophical questions raised by AI and computing.
Papers must be about AI and/or computing. They must meet the epistemic standards of analytic philosophy (but need not otherwise adhere to any specific tradition). These are the only scope restrictions.
AI is a contentious topic. The editors are committed to preserving space for reasonable disagreement.
Submissions must be prepared for blind review and must include an abstract. There is a limit of one submission per person; co-authored papers count against this limit for all authors. Submitting a paper implies agreement to publish that paper in the resulting volume of OSPAIC if invited to do so. Papers under consideration elsewhere must not be submitted.
The editors will select papers for presentation at the conference based on a rigorous review process. Authors of selected papers will be informed by March 31, 2027. Approximately 10 papers will be selected for Spotlight presentation; these will feature a longer talk and in-depth discussion. Approximately 20 papers will be selected for Lightning presentations. Papers selected for either Spotlight or Lightning presentation are eligible to be invited for submission to the volume.
This will be the first of an ongoing series of annual conferences, each of which will result in the open access publication by Oxford University Press of a volume of papers selected from those presented at the conference.
Funding for travel and accommodation will be available for participants who would otherwise be unable to attend the conference.
On the basis of the submitted paper and its presentation at the conference, the editors will expect to invite 12-14 papers to be considered for the volume; this invitation does not guarantee acceptance, which will be decided only after peer review. Papers invited for the volume will be due for review by Aug 31, 2027, and reviewers will receive an honorarium to ensure prompt review. Reviewers’ reports will be returned to authors by Nov 1, 2027, revised papers will be due by Dec 1, 2027, and final decisions will be made by Dec 15, 2027.