76133 Karlsruhe
As algorithms shape the choices we make, traditional assumptions about autonomy and deliberation come under pressure. By curating what is visible, relevant, or recommended, algorithmic outputs play a formative role in human deliberation and action. These developments raise well-known yet unresolved philosophical questions: What does it mean to act and think autonomously in contexts mediated by algorithms? How do algorithmic environments affect inquiry or deliberation? What are the implications for democratic autonomy? Furthermore, how are we to assess all this normatively?
This workshop aims to examine these issues within the frameworks of philosophy of autonomy, ethics of AI, social epistemology, and political philosophy. We welcome contributions that address conceptual foundations, engage in normative evaluation, analyze epistemic dynamics in algorithmic environments, and reflect on their institutional or societal implications.
Topics of Interest (not exhaustive)
- Conceptual analysis of autonomy under algorithmic influence
- Epistemic autonomy and algorithmic recommendation systems
- Responsibility gaps and distributed agency
- Algorithmic nudging, manipulation, and consent
- Autonomy in surveillance and data-intensive environments
- …
Programm
All abstracts are found here.
Thursday, 11 June 2026
KIT, Building 50.41, Room 145/146
| Time | Talk |
|---|---|
| 10:00 | Welcome & Intro |
| 10:10 | Carina Prunkl When does reliance on AI become a threat to autonomy? |
| 11:20 | Coffee Break |
| 11:40 | Keith Harris Can epistemic Autonomy survive AI? |
| 13:00 | Lunch @ Mensa am Adenauerring, Adenauerring 7 |
| 14:10 | Simona Chiodo From the right to health to the duty to health? Emerging technologies, self-surveillance and the fate of human autonomy |
| 15:20 | Coffee Break |
| 15:40 | Alina Jacobs Epistemic autonomy and the Electronic Patient Record (ePA) |
| 16:50 | Margherita Mattioni Epistemic Autonomy under Algorithmic Mediation in Social Media Platforms |
| 19:00 | Conference Dinner @ My Heart Beats Vegan, Kriegsstraße 94 |
Friday, 12 June 2026
KIT, Building 50.41, Room 145/146
| Time | Talk |
|---|---|
| 10:00 | Joshua Habgood-Coote A Planning Theory of Deskilling |
| 11:10 | Coffee Break |
| 11:30 | Nicola Mößner Science Tracking: Scientific Autonomy at Risk |
| 13:00 | Lunch @ Kulturküche, Kaiserstraße 47 |
| 14:10 | Leonie Buschhoff Surveillance and Democracy: A Double-Edged Relationship in the Age of Algorithms |
| 15:10 | Coffee Break |
| 15:40 | Otto Sahlgren On the Ethics of Memorization in Machine Learning Models |
Newspeak, Doublethink and Beliefs of One’s Own: Reconsidering (Epistemic) Autonomy in Times of Artificial Deliberation | |
16:50 | Wrap-Up |
This event is part of the DFG project “The Ethics of State Mass Surveillance”.
For inquiries, please contact the organizers at alina.jacobs@kit.edu.
Alina Jacobs
PhD candidate
