The Digital Ethics Center will host the inaugural Digital Ethics Center Symposium (DECS) on October 16, 2026. This one-day international symposium will address the Governance, Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (GELSI) of digital technologies.
Paper Presentations
When we use a chatbot to work through a question, what happens to our trust in our own sense of when we’ve figured it out? This paper argues that large language models can push us to trust ourselves too much or too little, because a chat can feel like a shared inquiry without being one. A chatbot’s signals that it’s “done” aren’t reliable, since these systems tend to flatter, and ignoring those signals carries no social cost. The paper proposes that AI systems should be modeled on the best human collaborators, not the average one.
Undisclosed AI use gives readers reason to doubt who wrote what they’re reading. This paper argues that AI text detectors make that erosion of trust worse, and that authors should respond by strengthening readers’ reasons to trust them, through disclosure and a demonstration of competence.
This paper defends the architectonic shift, a change in perspective in the epistemological frameworks that inform core issues on the governance, ethical, legal, and social implications (GELSI) of digital technologies.
Governance of AI data errors usually aims to eliminate them. This paper argues that errors can sometimes reveal knowledge that clean data would hide, and that good governance should also remove the obstacles that keep us from using it.
Even when AI models are tested carefully, those built on shared pretrained foundations can look like independent checks on one another when they aren’t. This paper argues that this hidden overlap creates a new kind of monoculture that current audits miss, and that AI alignment should reach earlier into how models are built.
The EU chose to verify high-risk AI through company self-assessment and approved outside bodies rather than a public system. This paper argues that borrowing an existing product-safety framework best explains why, and asks what that choice means for people’s ability to understand and contest decisions affecting their rights.
DECS is designed to support and showcase the work of early-career researchers. We invite PhD students and postdoctoral scholars, whose work examines the ethical and human dimensions of digital transformation. The symposium seeks to foster substantive dialogue between emerging and established scholars within a rigorous and collaborative intellectual forum.
Program At Glance:
- 8:30–9:30 AM · Registration and breakfast
- 9:30–9:45 AM · Welcome, opening remarks, and introduction of first presenter
- 9:45–10:35 AM · Paper presentation I: Alexis Morin-Martel
- 10:40–11:30 AM · Paper presentation II: Anna-Maria Brandtner
- 11:30–12:00 PM · Coffee break (30 mins)
- 12:05–12:55 PM · Paper presentation III: Daniel Barbarrusa
- 12:55–1:55 PM · Lunch
- 2:00–2:50 PM · Paper presentation IV: Chiara Manganini
- 2:55–3:45 PM· Paper presentation V: Joseph O’Brien
- 3:45–4:15 PM · Coffee break (30 mins)
- 4:20–5:10 PM · Paper presentation VI: Michael Sierra
- 5:15–6:15 PM· Closing panel with invited panelists: Alex Carty, Gillian Diebold, Joseph Trevorrow, Lilo Meier, and Natalia Menendez
- 6:15–6:20 PM· Closing Remarks
- 6:20–8:30 PM· Reception and award presentation
Special issue of Philosophy & Technology
All high-quality submissions—whether or not selected for presentation—will be considered for publication in a special issue of
The program will feature peer-reviewed papers selected through a competitive international call for submissions. Each presentation will run 30 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A, moderated by Prof. Luciano Floridi. The symposium particularly welcomes research that can inform policy recommendations and shape governance frameworks across jurisdictions. Selected presenters will be asked to submit their full paper ahead of the symposium so that the discussion on the day can be substantive.
All selected presenters will receive the DECS Best Paper Award in recognition their work; a full travel support, including round-trip transportation and two nights of accommodation in New Haven; and an invitation to collaborate with Prof. Luciano Floridi and DEC researchers during the Spring 2027 semester.
Eligibility
Submissions must be original work that is not formally published, under review, or committed for publication elsewhere. Preprints and working papers are welcome. Applicants must disclose in their submission if the manuscript is currently available as a preprint.
Each applicant may submit only one paper as first author, although may be listed as co-authors on additional submissions.
Application deadline has been closed.
You will be contacted by September 15, 2026 about next steps if you are selected.
Key Details
Symposium Date: Friday, October 16, 2026
Location: 14th Floor, Kline Tower, Yale University in New Haven, CT
Parking lot: Prospect Sachem Garage. Email Mariel Infantes for garage code
Register to attend
Where to stay:
We’ve reserved a block of rooms at a discounted rate at Cambria Hotel for symposium guests. To get the rate, please book by Friday, September 25.
Book the symposium rate. Group code: BRWIDL
Looking for other options? The Yale Visitor Center keeps a current list of hotels near campus: Hotels near Yale →