[csaa-forum] CFP: Economies of Virtue: The Circulation of ‘Ethics’ in AI and Digital Culture

[Thao Phan]

*Call for Chapters*

*INC Theory on Demand* <https://networkcultures.org/publications/> *Edited
Collection*

*Economies of Virtue: The Circulation of ‘Ethics’ in AI and Digital Culture*


Edited by Thao Phan, Jake Goldenfein, Monique Mann, and Declan Kuch

Who funds research into the ethics of AI technologies? How does AI ethics
relate to issues of power? And how does an industry-sponsored ethics agenda
impact the production of knowledge about AI systems? This edited volume
will explore these questions in the context of such issues associated with
emerging forms of socially responsible and ethical AI and related automated
decision-making systems.

In response to campaigners, industry insiders and civil society actors
raising concerns about ‘bad AI’ there has been a wave of social science led
research around AI ethics. This field has been instrumental in driving new
agendas and initiatives in algorithmic fairness and justice and the
development of AI ethics frameworks across industry, government, and
academia.

As this field of inquiry and practice grows and becomes more mainstream, it
too is at risk of its own ethical crisis. Accusations of wide scale “ethics
washing
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338271524_Ethics_As_An_Escape_From_Regulation_From_Ethics-Washing_To_Ethics-Shopping>”,
in which initiatives towards ethical AI have delivered either underwhelming
results or have been panned as performative PR, have led to urgent
questions about whether ethical AI is possible within current systems of
social organisation. The social and political pressures for companies to
behave ethically has been met with an industry-led agenda encompassing
conferences, new institutions and more.

The influence of industry (and industry funding) in the field has raised
such questions as: if AI ethics is concerned with understanding the causes
and effects of AI failures, identifying approaches to ‘fix’ these problems,
and designing mechanisms to make AI ‘ethical’, who should fund it and to
what effect? The influx of industry support is occurring against a backdrop
of eroding public funding to the university sector, pushing researchers to
turn to the private sector for research income. At what cost do these new
arrangements come to society?

In this context we are seeking contributions to the edited collection that
seek to address the following types of questions:



   - *Ethics Owners:* how is ethics managed at a practical level within
   organisations? Who devises metrics and accountability mechanisms for
   ethical conduct and outcomes?
   - *Funding Ethics:* what funding structures are associated with
   industry-led agendas for “ethical AI” and how might these create conflicts
   of interest, compromise academic independence, or research integrity? How
   might this relate to the politicisation of the university as an industry
   sector and as an institution?
   - *AI and the New Extractivism: *How can we expand on narrow
   conceptualisations of AI ethics as merely detrimental algorithmic outputs
   to address broader issues including the ethics of extraction? What can be
   learned from fields such as political economy, labour studies, political
   ecology, critical race studies, and activism in order to centre power,
   politics, and history over abstract terms like ‘ethics’?
   - *Ethics Onwards: *what futures are imagined by ‘Ethical AI’ and how
   might these be re-imagined? What alternatives might we look to aside from
   ‘ethics’ as a model for social responsibility and social justice? How can
   we resist these developments?

This edited collection follows on from the two-day Academy of Social
Sciences in Australia funded workshop in July 2021. For more information
visit:
https://socialsciences.org.au/workshop/economies-of-virtue-the-circulation-of-ethics-in-ai-and-digital-culture/

We now welcome submissions from actors both in and outside of academia,
including activists and civil society groups. Co-authorship,
group-authorship, or network authorship is also encouraged.

*Deadline and Review Process*

Potential contributors should submit a 500 - 700 word abstract with chapter
title and short author bio(s) to editorial assistant Wynston Lee
wynston.lee at deakin.edu.au by *Friday 27th August, 2021.*

Abstract submissions will be selected by the editorial team and successful
submissions will be invited to submit full chapters of 4,000 - 6,000 words
in length by *19th November, 2021. *We aim for publication June 2022.

This collection will not be produced through a traditional model of blind
peer-review but will instead adopt a collective editorship model. Chapter
authors will be openly allocated other chapter manuscripts to review by the
editors. This will discourage disciplinary gatekeeping, accommodate
challenging topics and themes, and to encourage reviewers to be accountable
for their feedback while working together to improve the quality of the
text and argument.

For questions or enquiries regarding the CFP or review process, contact Dr
Monique Mann at monique.mann at deakin.edu.au and Dr Declan Kuch
d.kuch at westernsydney.edu.au
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