Digital Economy Ethics of AI Workshop
About this Event
Join us for an engaging and timely workshop exploring the ethical challenges emerging from the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence across research, industry and policy.
Dr. Arash Hajikhani (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland; LUT University) will deliver a thought-provoking talk on the ethics of artificial intelligence, focusing on how recent methodological advances—particularly large-scale generative AI—are increasingly embedded in decision-making systems across research, industry, and policy.
Room Location: Nancy Rothwell Building, Room 2A.012
The talk highlights that responsible and ethical design is not an afterthought but a fundamental design choice, especially as major GPAI providers often streamline adoption in ways aligned with commercial incentives. Drawing on his work in AI-for-policy and socio-technical systems, he will examine the long-term consequences of deploying opaque, black-box models without meaningful human-in-the-loop mechanisms, emphasizing the risks of reduced accountability, limited diagnosability, and systemic bias. The session offers a grounded perspective on how to design and govern AI systems responsibly before such architectures become too complex to interrogate or correct.
A panel of University of Manchester colleagues will join the conversation, responding to themes raised in Arash’s talk and offering perspectives from across disciplines.
Full panel details will be confirmed and shared closer to the event.
Panellists:
Prof. Philip Shapira, Professor of Innovation Management and Policy, Alliance Manchester Business School | His expertise includes research and innovation analysis in the emerging technology domains of artificial intelligence, generative AI, nanotechnology, graphene, synthetic biology, green goods technologies, and next generation manufacturing technologies. He is especially interested in responsible research and innovation, and new methods to understand and anticipate developments in emerging technologies.
Prof. Manuel López-Ibáñez, Professor of Optimisation, Alliance Manchester Business School | His expertise focuses on development and empirical analysis of algorithms to solve complex mathematical optimization problems.
Dr. Emily Collins, Dame Kathleen Ollrenshaw Fellow | Her key research themes include trustworthiness and verification; responsibility and accountability; and the centrality of human psychology and socio-political factors to effective RAI deployment in the real world.
This workshop is ideal for:
- Researchers and students working in AI, ethics, digital futures, or socio‑technical systems
- Professionals in technology, governance, policy, or innovation
- Anyone interested in the societal and ethical implications of AI
About Digital Futures:
Digital Futures is a highly interdisciplinary network that operates across the whole range of the University’s digital research. We aim to present a coherent overview of The University of Manchester's digital research activity to external stakeholders and bring together research communities to explore new research areas and address strategic opportunities.
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Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 0.00
