International conference "Re-examining AI / Rethinking Modernity: Critical philosophical, anthropological and interdisciplinary perspectives on technology" - Call for papers

Department of History & Digital Humanities
School of Humanities
Ionian University
Political philosophy and Digital Technologies Laboratory

&

Research project “A(I)nthropology during the Anthropocene”
Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Re-examining AI / Rethinking Modernity

Critical philosophical, anthropological and interdisciplinary perspectives on technology

Corfu, 22-23 October 2026

Conference scope

In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly transformed multiple sectors, from healthcare and finance to education and entertainment. However, amidst the excitement surrounding these technological developments, it is essential to critically revisit the philosophical foundations of this plural technology and, on this basis, examine the societal, ethical, political, economic, and ecological challenges it presents. This conference focuses primarily on this foundational dimension and, through such critique, seeks to offer a deeper perspective on the notions, assumptions, and frameworks of modernity at large. Which modern understandings of nature, the human, intelligence, imagination, the body, the mind, or reason were taken for granted in the development of what is now called “Artificial Intelligence”? Have these onto-epistemological foundations proved adequate, or have they produced problems that become visible today through the socio-political, economic, and ecological crises associated with AI? Also, an anthropological lens is crucial here, as AI exposes how culturally situated, rather than universal, the modern Western assumptions about the human, reason, and technological agency have always been. By bringing these foundations into dialogue with alternative anthropologies, including non-Western and Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies, the conference also seeks to rethink entrenched West/East divides that structure contemporary imaginaries of both "intelligence" and technological "progress".

While we wish to approach AI with a critical lens, this conference is not grounded in technophobia or anti-AI sentiment. We recognize the transformative reality and potential of AI but we don’t align with neo-Luddite efforts to “destroy” or reject this technology altogether. Instead, our aim is to foster a constructive dialogue that acknowledges AI’s profound influence on our lives while addressing its underlying ontological and epistemological challenges. By bringing together scholars, researchers, and practitioners from diverse fields, this conference seeks to refine our understanding of AI while also identifying flaws within our current phase of modernity that become visible through the global impact of this technology.

Call for papers

In this context, we invite scholars, researchers, and thinkers to contribute to a critical examination of Artificial Intelligence in all its forms at our upcoming Critical philosophical, anthropological and interdisciplinary perspectives on technology international conference.

We are particularly interested in papers that interrogate (but are not limited to) the following areas:

• Philosophical and Ontological Foundations of AI.
• Alternative ontologies and/or epistemologies that can either stand as foundations for (a different) AI or critique current AI.
• AI and Modernity (drawing lines between modern thinkers and contemporary AI).
• Socio-Political, Economic, and Ecological Implications based on elements of AI that stem from ideas rooted in modernity).
• Epistemology and Knowledge Production in the Age of AI.
• Constructive Critique Beyond Technophobia (grounded in renewed modern theories -Critical Theory, Phenomenology, Anthropology of Technology, Bergsonian Vitalism, etc. - or in thinkers who were previously overlooked or not typically associated with AI).

This conference focuses on theoretical approaches to Artificial Intelligence and in this context, we welcome contributions from a range of fields, including philosophy, anthropology, sociology, media studies, and cultural theory, but despite its theoretical orientation, the conference also welcomes technical approaches, as well as contributions from computer engineers, code developers, and other branches of informatics, provided these approaches are situated within the broader philosophical roots of AI. Our aim is to cultivate a space for critical engagement with AI, which, while informed by its technical foundations, transcends the hype and focuses on the onto-political impacts of this field of study and technology.

Keynote Speakers

Agostino Cera, Associate Professor, Humanities Department, University of Ferrara

More Keynote Speakers tba)

Conference Language

English

Abstract submission

You are kindly requested to send both your abstract (max. 300 words) and a short CV (max. 150 words) in one .doc file at:  aicene.research@gmail.com

Important Dates

Abstract submission deadline: June 15, 2026

Abstract acceptance notification: July 31, 2026

Conference Program: September 2026

Scientific Committee

Fotini Vaki, Associate Professor, Department of History and Digital Humanities, Ionian University.

Konstantinos Aggelakos, Professor, Department of History and Digital Humanities, Ionian University.

Anna Apostolidou, Assistant Professor, Department of History and Digital Humanities, Ionian University.

Giannis Perperidis, Adjunct Lecturer, Department of History and Digital Humanities, Ionian University.

Organizers

• Political Philosophy and Digital Technologies Laboratory, Department of History and Digital Humanities, Ionian University, Greece.
• Research Project “A(I)nthropology during the Anthropocene: Hybrid research and creative pedagogy at the limits of the human”, funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (2025-2028).

Visit the conference website