Notre Dame Institute for Ethics & Society

Starting tomorrow! Last chance to register for our workshop series on Artificial Intelligence and Christian Wisdom.

Thank you to the 160+ people who joined us last night for our webinar on "Magnifica Humanitas" – Reading Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical on AI. It was excellent to partner with the Plunkett Centre for Ethics ACU to reflect on Pope Leo's call for love and dignity in the age of AI.

Extra thanks to our expert panellists: Bishop Paul Tighe (Secretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education), Associate Professor Xavier Symons (Plunkett Centre for Ethics ACU), Dr Lorenn Ruster (The Australian National University), and Associate Professor Victoria Lorrimar (Director, Centre for Technology and Human Futures)

Victoria Lorrimar on Pope Leo's encyclical - ABC listen In a powerful warning about the dangers and delusions of artificial intelligence, Pope Leo has taken on the self-styled gods of the 21st century. He’s used his first encyclical to argue that whatever good AI might bring, it should never be controlled by a tiny group of ultra-wealthy tech titans. H...

Congratulations to IES research fellow Dr Adam Piovarchy who has been awarded a AU$180,000 research grant from the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Society!

The project investigates the ethical, political, and epistemic dimensions of modern ‘prediction markets’: markets that yield payments based on the outcome of an uncertain future event, which have recently been legalised in the US. By allowing people to profit from correctly predicting what will happen, prediction markets aggregate evidence about a topic to arrive at a ‘price’ that reflects how confident we collectively ought to be in a certain answer, in order to improve forecasting and decision-making. They have significant potential to improve our epistemic commons, but they also generate risks, namely that of providing perversive incentives to make certain outcomes occur.

Well done, Adam! We look forward to discussing this important work with you as the project develops.

The Ethics, Epistemology, and Politics of Predictions Markets – The Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Society The Ethics, Epistemology, and Politics of Predictions Markets Team Member(s): Dan Weijers (University of Waikato) This project investigates the ethical, political, and epistemic dimensions of…

Associate Professor Victoria Lorrimar (Director of the Centre for Technology and Human Futures) spoke with Andrew West on ABC Radio National about Pope Leo's encyclical on artificial intelligence, "Magnifica Humanitas." Great work, Vicki!

Victoria Lorrimar on Pope Leo's encyclical - ABC listen In a powerful warning about the dangers and delusions of artificial intelligence, Pope Leo has taken on the self-styled gods of the 21st century. He’s used his first encyclical to argue that whatever good AI might bring, it should never be controlled by a tiny group of ultra-wealthy tech titans. H...

Pope Leo’s highly anticipated encyclical on AI has been released. Join us for an online panel event featuring international experts discussing the encyclical’s background and themes, and its significance for how we engage with artificial intelligence individually and collectively.

Our panellists bring a range of perspectives to the encyclical’s development and interpretation.

Date: Thursday 4 June
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm AEST
Where: Online via Teams

Get all the details and register here: https://ow.ly/chQ550Z43Hn

The Centre for Technology & Human Futures, together with our friends at the Plunkett Centre for Ethics ACU, is delighted to host an event responding to the upcoming encyclical on artificial intelligence, "Magnifica Humanitas."

The encyclical was signed on 15 May, and will be launched by Pope Leo XIV on Monday 25th May. Please join us for an online seminar featuring national and international experts discussing the encyclical’s background and themes, and its significance for how we engage with artificial intelligence individually and collectively.

Thursday, 4 June (19:00 - 20:15 AEST). Online via Teams. Registration essential.

Prediction markets harness greed for the sake of knowledge - ABC Religion & Ethics Markets are good at generating useful information under the right conditions, but can those conditions be maintained when the stakes are high, the traders are insiders and the events being wagered on involve human lives?

After Bondi — A Light in Dark Times: Rabbi Jonathan Sacks' Jewish Vision of Hope

Join us in July for a four-evening short course at The Central Synagogue Sydney, Bondi Junction, with Rabbi Dr Samuel Lebens (אוניברסיטת חיפה - University of Haifa) on Rabbi Jonathan Sacks' classic book, "A Letter in the Scroll".

The course responds to a painful time for Sydney's Jewish community, drawing on Sacks' writings to ask what hope and meaning look like in dark times.

📆 7, 14, 21 and 28 July, 7:00 – 8:30 PM
📍 The Central Synagogue Sydney, Bondi Junction

Open to Jewish and non-Jewish participants alike.

A partnership between The University of Notre Dame Australia and The Central Synagogue Sydney

Register: https://events.humanitix.com/rabbi-sacks-jewish-vision-of-hope

How can AI-driven measures reshape what we prioritise?

Dr Victoria Lorrimar, Director of Notre Dame’s Centre for Technology and Human Futures, and Dr Tim Smartt, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Ethics & Society, explore why philosophy reminds us to question what truly counts.

Take a read of this insightful piece from The Conversation: https://ow.ly/M8Ls50YYxIM