SPT 2025 in Eindhoven: The MoralPLai Lead Presents Expert Study Findings

From June 25–28, 2025, the Eindhoven University of Technology hosted the 24th biennial international conference of the Society for Philosophy and Technology (SPT), under the title “The Intimate Technological Revolution”.

Organized by the Philosophy and Ethics Group of the Faculty of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, the conference brought together scholars and practitioners from around the world to explore the ethical, social and philosophical implications of emerging technologies.

The central theme called for a re-examination of ethical frameworks and social practices in light of rapidly advancing technologies, some of which are reshaping not only industries but also intimate aspects of human life. Across four days of keynotes, symposia, workshops and paper presentations, both in-person and online, participants engaged in lively discussions on topics such as AI, agency, privacy, responsible innovation and the role of education in engineering ethics.

Among the keynote speakers were: Prof. Sabina Leonelli (Technical University of Munich), Dr. Robert Rosenberger (SPT President, Georgia Institute of Technology), Prof. Jens Schlieter (University of Bern) and Prof. Shannon Vallor (University of Edinburgh).

In her talk, Prof. Sabina Leonelli, Chair of Philosophy and History of Science and Technology at TUM, presented “Environmental Intelligence: Subverting the Philosophical Premises for AI”. She underscored the value of open research and, amongst others, also mentioned artistic collaboration as catalysts for public engagement in ethical AI.

Prof. Shannon Vallor’s keynote, “De-coding Our Humanity: Reflections on Intimate and Immanent Technologies”, explored how AI affects the core of human identity. In her talk, she also quoted her book The AI Mirror and stressed: “AI does not threaten us as a future successor to humans. It threatens us from within our humanity. In the words of a well-worn horror trope: ‘The call is coming from inside the house’”.

The conference also highlighted the growing importance of interdisciplinarity in tech ethics and touched upon the contribution of artistic methods to research and education. Sessions explored, for example, the intersections between science fiction, education and technological design. In the symposium “Technologies at the Limits of Language”, for example, Dr. Kanta Dihal (Imperial College London) spoke about how science narratives, particularly in fiction, shape public perceptions and expectations of science and AI. In the symposium, “Teaching Engineering Ethics Through Aesthetic and Embodied Experiences”, Prof. Santoni de Sio (TU Eindhoven), Jordi Viader Guerrero (TU Delft) and Aarón Moreno Inglés (TU Delft) organized an interactive experimental session to present and discuss a new teaching approach that uses performative arts to examine the concepts of space and power. The symposium concluded with a presentation by Vivek Ramachandran (Ph.D) (University College London), exploring how care ethics and empathy can transform engineering education by embedding Responsible Innovation into curricula.

Dr. Franziska Poszler, postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence and lead of the MoralPLai Project, presented her talk: “LLM-based Chatbots – The Moral Advisor in Your Pocket… Why Not?” in the Values session that was focused on the ethical dimensions of AI-powered tools.

Drawing on interviews with thirteen experts in ethics, psychology and computer science, Dr. Poszler presented both the potential and risks of using AI chatbots as sources for moral guidance. Benefits included, for example, their 24/7 accessibility, anonymity and ability to offer diverse perspectives, particularly valuable in navigating shame-related issues. Risks and challenges included, amongst others: echo chambers, framing bias, feedback loops, moral deskilling, AI hallucinations and the diffusion of responsibility.

“In the interviews, I spoke with researchers about their personal experiences and current work related to the topic of LLM-based chatbots as moral dialog partners. We discussed use cases, emerging trends, the broader societal implications and recommendations for design and governance. Many open questions remain that require future research: developing a standardized test to assess chatbot responses over time, analyzing real-world usage patterns, evaluating the effectiveness of different design interventions and response formats, identifying the ideal degree of personalization and examining the long-term effects on human relationships and many more…” – Dr. Franziska Poszler

Her talk concluded with expert recommendations for the responsible design of moral AI tools, including, for example, content moderation, multi-perspective prompting, triangulating advice and an increased public literacy around AI.

To conclude her talk, Dr. Poszler presented a short video summarizing the artistic outcome of the MoralPLai Project, The Third Voice, performance, which creatively brought the study’s findings to life through theater.

Other paper presentations in this session included: “Artificial moral discourse and the future of human morality” by Prof. Elizabeth O’Neill and “Recognition through technology: Design for recognition and its dangers” by Nynke van Uffelen.

The abstracts of the three (working) papers presented in this session can be found here.

The SPT 2025 conference offered a timely and thought-provoking platform to reimagine how ethics, philosophy and design can help us navigate our increasingly intimate relationship with technology. Here is more information about the SPT 2025 “The Intimate Technological Revolution” international conference.

Learn more about the MoralPLai Project.