Research

P u b l i c a t i o n s

— “Shared Moral Foundations of Embodied Artificial Intelligence” (2019) – Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.

— “Parsimony and the Triple System Model of Concepts” (2011, with Safa Zaki) (commentary in Behavioral and Brain Sciences 33(2)).

— “Is There a Reason for Skepticism?” – (2010) In Knowledge and Skepticism (O’Rourke and Campbell, eds.).

— “The Chimerical Appeal of Epistemic Externalism” (2004, with John Pollock) – In The Externalist Challenge (Richard Schantz, ed.).

— “Epistemology” and “Simulation Theory” (2003) – Entries in the Nature Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science (the latter written with Bob Gordon).

Contemporary Theories of Knowledge, (Rowman & Littlefield, 1999) co-authored with John Pollock, friend, mentor, and collaborator.

— “Mindreading: Mental State Ascription & Cognitive Architecture” (Mind & Language, 13(3), 1998).

— “Simulation and the Psychology of Sociopathy” (commentary in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 20(3), 1997).

 

S e l e c t e d   T a l k s   &   P u b l i c   L e c t u r e s

— “Artificial Intelligence and Ethics” – AI: Philosophy, Ethics and Society, Tehran, Iran, 2019.

Abstract
In this talk, I aim to make explicit how artificial intelligence is a distinct area of moral study separate from wider discussions of technology. The opacity and autonomy of reasons that AIs employ makes them moral agents in their own right, and we need to consider this agency in relation to ours. That consideration applies, of course, to future maximally sophisticated artificial general intelligence, but also to the proto-AI systems that presently have a significant presence in our lives. Overall, I argue that the most pessimistic worries about AI are overstated. In order to achieve intelligence in its full generality, AIs will need to be embodied and will therefore share our moral foundations, namely coordination, sociality, and acknowledgement of shared resources.

— “Shared Moral Foundations of Embodied Artificial Intelligence” – AAAI/ACM Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society, 2019.

— “Knowing How to Reason” – Epistemic Virtues and Epistemic Skills Conference, 2017.

— “Attention and Reason” – The Intersection of Epistemology and Philosophy of Mind Conference, 2015.

— “Why There Is No Mind/Body Problem” – TEDx Williams, Winter 2014.

— “Irrational Thought” – First Conference in Honor of John Pollock, 2012.

— “Two Worlds” – Models of Mind Gallery Talk, Williams College Museum of Art, 2010.

— “Knowing One’s Mind” – Campus faculty lecture, Spring 2007. Podcast, transcript. 

 

P o p u l a r   A u d i e n c e   W r i t i n g

— “Knowledge and Reasons” (2013) Philosophy Now. Vol 96, May/June, 19-22.