Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 39, No. 150.
Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
Hosted by DH-Cologne
www.dhhumanist.org
Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org
Date: 2025-10-01 13:35:32+00:00
From: Fabio Ciotti <fabio.ciotti@uniroma2.it>
Subject: CfP: Do Humans Also Dream of Electric Sheeps? Technoscientific, Cultural, and Cognitive Challenges of AI, Rome, February 27-28, 2026
Dear colleagues,
I am happy to share the Call for Papers for the following conference:
Do Humans Also Dream of Electric Sheeps?
Technoscientific, Cultural, and Cognitive Challenges of AI
International Conference – Rome, February 27-28, 2026
Organized by:
University of Rome Tor Vergata
Res Viva – Interuniversity Research Center on the Epistemology and
History of Life Sciences
Italian Society for the History of Science (SISS)
With the support of CNR – Institute for the History of Philosophical and
Scientific Thought in Modern Age (ISPF), Naples
Conference Theme
The rapid development of Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the boundaries
between the living and the artificial, the natural and the technological. The
conference Do Humans Also Dream of Electric Sheeps? Technoscientific,
Cultural, and Cognitive Challenges of AI aims to explore this shifting
terrain by bringing together diverse perspectives across disciplines.
We seek to examine AI not only as a technological innovation but also as a
cultural, epistemological, and cognitive phenomenon. By looking at AI
through the lenses of philosophy, history of science, science and
technology studies (STS), psychology, cognitive science, and related
fields, the conference aims to open a dialogue that bridges the humanities
and the natural sciences.
In particular, we invite papers that:
* Address the epistemological foundations of Artificial Intelligence and its
claim to simulate or replicate human cognition and life processes.
* Explore historical trajectories linking AI to earlier scientific and
technological visions of the machine, the organism, and their interplay.
* Investigate cultural narratives, imaginaries, and metaphors of AI as a
“technological living being."
* Analyze practices of simulation, modeling, and embodiment across
biological and artificial systems.
* Discuss the psychological and social dynamics of human–machine
interaction, from everyday life to professional domains.
* Reflect on ethical, political, and environmental implications of
algorithmic governance and the expanding role of AI in society.
Submissions are particularly encouraged from:
• Philosophers and historians of science, especially those working
on epistemology, theories of information, cognition, or the history of
cybernetics and AI.
• STS scholars, focusing on the socio-technical imaginaries,
governance, and practices surrounding AI.
• Humanities and social science scholars engaging with the
cultural, literary, artistic, and anthropological dimensions of AI.
• Researchers from STEM disciplines interested in the
interdisciplinary implications of their work on AI, cognition, and life
sciences.
The conference welcomes both theoretical contributions and case-based
analyses, as well as interdisciplinary collaborations that highlight the
complexity of Artificial Intelligence as a phenomenon at the crossroads of
life, mind, and machine.
Main Topics
* We invite contributions engaging with the following thematic areas (though
not limited to them):
* The naturalization of AI: epistemological and theoretical challenges
* Biological and artificial models of embodied cognition
* Epistemologies of simulation and Artificial Intelligence
* Socio-cultural narratives of the technological living
* Psychosocial phenomena in human–machine interaction
* Algorithmic governance and its environmental and ethical implications
Submission Guidelines
• Abstract length: max. 500 words (plus a short biographical note,
150 words)
• Language: English
• Deadline for submission: 20 November 2025
• Notification of acceptance: 8 December 2025
Abstracts should be submitted in PDF format to:
resviva.conference2026@proton.me . In addition to standard paper
presentations, the conference will also feature a poster session. When
submitting, please indicate whether you would like your proposal to be
considered for a poster presentation instead of (or in addition to) a talk.
Venue
University of Rome Tor Vergata – Rome, Italy, 27-28 February, 2026
Scientific Committee
• Carmela Morabito (University of Rome Tor Vergata, Director of Res
Viva)
• Silvia Caianiello (National Research Council of Italy)
• Barbara Continenza (Member of the Scientific Committee of Res
Viva)
• David Ceccarelli (University of Roma 3)
• Mattia Della Rocca (University of Rome Tor Vergata)
Organizing Committee
Giorgia Sardi, Martina Massimi, Alberto Bitti.
Contact
For further information, please write to:
resviva.conference2026@proton.me
Updates will be available on the official website of Res Viva.
--
Professor Fabio Ciotti
Dept. Studi letterari, filosofici e di storia dell’arte
University of Roma Tor Vergata
Director MA program "Communication and Artificial Intelligence" (ComunIA)
Editor-in-Chief, "Umanistica Digitale" https://umanisticadigitale.unibo.it/
@fabio-ciotti.bsky.social
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabio-ciotti/
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