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Friend AI: Personal Enhancement or Uninvited Company?
written by Christopher Register You can now pre-order a friend—or, a Friend, which is designed to be an AI friend. The small, round device contains AI-powered software and a microphone, and it’s designed to be worn on a lanyard around the neck at virtually any time. The austere product website says of Friend that, “When…
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Launch of the Uehiro Oxford Institute
Today we’re launching the Uehiro Oxford Institute – a new interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Oxford. We look forward to new collaborations, research and engagement in helping us to achieve our new mission, responding to the ethical question of how we should act and live in light of the great challenges faced by…
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Are psychedelic Experiences Intrinsically Valuable?
By Katherine Cheung, David B. Yaden, and Brian D. Earp Classic psychedelics, such as psilocybin and LSD, are currently being studied for their potential therapeutic impact — primarily in conjunction with some form of psychotherapy — on a variety of conditions. Within such a clinical frame, the potential value of psychedelic-assisted therapy is largely assumed…
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Humanising the Global Response to MPox: Lessons from COVID-19 and the Humanities?
Utsa Bose (Faculty of History, University of Oxford); Alberto Giubilini (Uehiro Oxford Institute, University of Oxford) Tolulope Osayomi (Department of Geography, University of Ibadan; AfOx-TORCH Visiting Fellow, University of Oxford) Crossposted from TORCH Medical Humanities Blog. This post is also the basis of a workshop on 21 November 2024, to be held at the University of…
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Trampolining Whilst Pregnant And Women’s Autonomy
Written by Rebecca Brown There has been plenty of debate about women’s right to choose how they give birth. Some of it stems from the negative experiences of women who have felt unable to have the birth they want, instead being pressured or even coerced into delivering their child according to health professionals’ preferences. At…
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Humanizing Chatbots Is Hard To Resist — But Why?
Written by Madeline G. Reinecke (@mgreinecke) You might recall a story from a few years ago, concerning former Google software engineer Blake Lemoine. Part of Lemoine’s job was to chat with LaMDA, a large language model (LLM) in development at the time, to detect discriminatory speech. But the more Lemoine chatted with LaMDA, the more…
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PRESS RELEASE: Oxford-led Study Calls for End to “Medically Unnecessary” Intersex Surgeries
New International Consensus Calls for Healthcare Providers to Stop Performing Medically Unnecessary Genital Surgeries in Prepubertal Children and Infants, Regardless of Sex or Gender A new study led by researchers at the University of Oxford’s Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics published today in the American Journal of Bioethics argues that all children (defined in the study as prepubertal minors)…
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Paternalistic AI: The Case of Aged Care
Imagine you are thirty, and you return home after a stressful day at work, wishing for a long bath to relax. After soaking in the tub for half an hour, the alarms suddenly go off, and your phone starts ringing. Your family members have been alerted by sensors in your home that you have been…
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NEW PUBLICATION: AI Morality
Edited by David Edmonds, Distinguished Research Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre, this collection of lively and accessible essays covers topics such as healthcare, employment, autonomous weapons, online advertising and much more. A philosophical task force explores how AI is revolutionizing our lives – and what moral problems it might bring, showing us what to…
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Protected: Philosophy in Prison: Some Thoughts, and Doubts, About the Role of Philosophy
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.