Call for Papers

Submission guidelines and topics for the Philosophy of AI workshop

Call for Papers

Join the philosophical dialogue on large language models

Submission Deadline 24 August 2025
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Research Invitation

We invite contributions from philosophy, machine learning, cognitive science, and related disciplines that critically examine the conceptual, methodological, and normative challenges posed by large language models. Particular emphasis is placed on foundational philosophical issues, especially those arising in epistemology and the philosophy of science, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of mind.

Topics of Interest

Explore the intersection of philosophy and AI

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Philosophy of Science

Rethinking Explanation, Evidence, and Theory

What counts as evidence when studying non-biological agents? Can traditional notions of theory, representation, or mechanism apply to opaque statistical systems? Should we adopt new epistemological tools tailored to non-human, computational agents?

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Philosophy of Mind

Using LLMs as In Silico Cognitive Organisms

How can their behavior inform theories of mental representation, learning, or inference? What does their success or failure tell us about the structure of mind? Where do analogies to human cognition hold, and where do they fail?

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Learning and Development

Revisiting the Nativist–Empiricist Debate

Is scaling alone sufficient for general intelligence? To what extent are new forms of structure, prior knowledge, or inductive bias needed? What does the study of human development tell us about AI limitations?

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Philosophy of Language

Meaning, Grounding, and Semantic Competence

Can models trained purely on form possess conceptual content? How do foundational issues like the symbol-grounding problem or the distinction between syntax and semantics apply to these systems?

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Intentionality

Mental Content and Representation in Disembodied Systems

Can we meaningfully ascribe intentional states—like beliefs or desires—to LLMs? How should classical theories of intentionality apply here, and what would justify treating their internal representations as genuinely content-bearing?

Consciousness

Theoretical Possibilities for Synthetic Phenomenology

Can LLMs exhibit consciousness in any form? Which theories of consciousness are relevant to their architecture? How might we operationalize tests for awareness, and what empirical signatures would count as evidence?

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Ethics and Political Philosophy

Agency, Moral Responsibility, and Accountability

How can we determine whether LLMs should be considered moral agents and/or patients? What ethical frameworks can accommodate distributed agency in complex AI systems, and what implications might these have for broader normative theory?

Submission Guidelines

📝 Types of Submissions

We welcome both theoretical and empirical submissions. Theoretical papers should demonstrate strong philosophical merit, while empirical papers must clearly articulate implications for philosophical issues.

📄 Paper Formats

  • Short papers: up to 4 pages (excluding references and appendices)
  • Full papers: up to 9 pages (excluding references and appendices)

🚀 Submission Process

  • Submissions via OpenReview as PDFs
  • Choose archival or non-archival status
  • Archival papers appear in official proceedings
  • All accepted papers presented as posters
  • Nine papers selected for 10-minute spotlight talks

👥 Review Process

Papers reviewed by our diverse Program Committee, bringing together philosophers and AI/ML researchers from academia, industry, and leading research institutions.

Important Dates

Submission Open

10 July 2025 (AoE)

Submission Deadline

24 August 2025 (AoE)

Notification of Acceptance

22 September 2025 (AoE)

Camera Ready Deadline

15 October 2025 (AoE)

Workshop Day

6/7 December 2025

Co-located with NeurIPS 2025

The OpenReview submission link will be available closer to the submission opening date.