Ethics & AI

DESCRIPTION

Chair Productions: Chair Productions: Ethics & AI Chair, operating under the umbrella of the Grenoble MIAI Institute, is both rooted in philosophy (research unit affiliation: Grenoble Institute of Philosophy, UGA) and firmly multidisciplinary, as it includes members from the following disciplines: computer science, robotics, cognitive and clinical psychology, information and communication sciences, and management sciences. It aims to foster a better understanding of the social, moral, and political implications of AI deployment, as well as to establish ethical guidelines for a democratic AI, in collaboration with its economic and social partners.

The Ethics & AI Chair aims to develop a philosophical understanding of Artificial Intelligence through research, training, and knowledge transfer. It is rooted in philosophy and reflects the activities of the Institut de Philosophie de Grenoble (IPhiG), a research unit at Grenoble Alpes University. These activities include meta-ethics, normative ethics, applied ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of law, and philosophy of cognition. This diversity of viewpoints provides the Chair with the potential for in-depth research into topics arising today from the relationship between ethics and AI. The Chair’s project leader, who specializes in public ethics and the philosophy of innovation, oversees the productive interaction among these diverse perspectives. The Chair contributes to the “Ethics and Society” pillar of MIAI and maintains close ties with the research conducted within the institute’s other pillars. Researchers in computer science are thus invited to serve on the Chair’s Scientific Steering Committee. Through the initiatives and projects it develops, the Chair also brings together researchers from other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences (such as clinical and social psychology, information and communication sciences, management sciences, and marketing).
 
The Chair intends to address five scientific challenges:
  1. What is intelligence (natural, human) in and for artificial intelligence?
  2. What kind of society "is being promoted through AI"?
  3. What are the most relevant procedures, rules, and values for both the design and the practices and uses of AI?
  4. What is the right approach to defining "democratic" AI?
  5. What impact does AI have on (the state of the art in) ethics?

SELECTED LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 

  • Ménissier, T., “Trust in Artificial Intelligence and the Authority of Machines,” *Storia e politica*, vol. XIII-2, 2021, pp. 264–287.

  • Ménissier, T., “Facial Recognition Systems: A Challenge for the Ethics of AI,” Klesis Philosophical Journal [online], No. 49: https://www.revue-klesis.org/pdf/klesis-49-varia-04-Thierry-Menissier-dispositifs-reconnaissance-faciale-defi-ethique-intelligence-artificielle.pdf.

  • Ménissier, T., “A ‘Machiavellian Moment’ for Artificial Intelligence: The Montreal Declaration on the Responsible Development of AI,” Raisons Politiques, 2020/1 (No. 77), pp. 67–81. https://doi.org/10.3917/rai.077.0067

  • Cézon, M., Ménissier, T., “AI and Coaching: An Ethical and Forward-Looking Reflection on Their Mutual Contributions,” European Coaching Journal, No. 10, April 2020: https://revue-europeenne-coaching.com/numeros/numero-10-04-2020/ia-et-coaching-une-reflexion-ethique-et-prospective-sur-leurs-apports-reciproques

  • Martin-Juchat, F., “Religions, Technologies, and Civilizations: Neo-animism of the Internet of Things in Connected Societies,” in Ugur Bakan & Lara Martin Lengel (eds.), Social Media Archaeology from Theory to Practice, MacroWorld, pp. 41–61, 2021.

  • Ménissier, T., “How Recent Developments in Healthcare Technology Are Transforming the State of Emergency and the Concept of the Exceptional,” Lecture for the ODISSEURO 2021 Summer School: “The Issue of Emergencies Between Freedom and Security,” Catania, Italy (via videoconference), September 3, 2021.

  • Favier-Baron, E., “Is Government as a Platform a Neoliberal Concept?,” presentation at the SPT 2021 conference—“Technological Imaginaries”: The Society for Philosophy and Technology Conference, online, June 28, 2021.

  • Bretel, A., “Fears and Expectations About Technology,” presentation at the SPT 2021 conference—“Technological Imaginaries: The Society for Philosophy and Technology Conference,” online, June 29, 2021.

  • Benlaksira, S., “The Gendered Imaginary in Retro-Futuristic Universes of Video Games,” presentation at the SPT 2021 conference—“Technological Imaginaries”: “The Society for Philosophy and Technology Conference,” online, June 30, 2021.

  • Ménissier, T. “AI Through Its Applications: From Trust to Authority?” guest lecture at the 88th ACFAS Congress, Montreal, Canada, session titled “Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: Principles, Practices, and Governance Models” (via videoconference), May 7, 2021.

  • Bretel, A., “The Contribution of Hans Jonas, Hannah Arendt, and Günther Anders’ Concept of Responsibility to the Ethics of Algorithms,” presentation at the seminar “Ethics of Algorithms,” Center for Research in Ethics (CRE) at the University of Montreal, Canada (via videoconference), February 12, 2021.

  • Ménissier, T., “The Relevance of the Theory of Voluntary Servitude in the Algorithmic Society,” lecture presented at the symposium *Présence de La Boétie: History and Contemporary Relevance of the Enigma of Voluntary Servitude*, Brussels, Université Libre, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, September 25, 2020.

  • Reigeluth, T. & Castelle, M., “What Kind of Learning Is Machine Learning?”, in Roberge, Jonathan, & Castelle, Michael (Eds.): *The Cultural Life of Machine Learning: An Incursion into Critical AI Studies*, Routledge, 2020, pp. 79–115. ISBN 978-3-030-56286-1

  • Ménissier, T., “What Ethics for AI?”, in Various Authors, The Origins and Development of Artificial Intelligence in Grenoble: From Vaucanson to 21st-Century Developments, Académie Delphinale Symposia, 2020.

Published on October 14, 2026
Updated on October 14, 2026