Call for Papers
CFP for Special Issue on “Language and AI” in new open access journal “Philosophy of AI”
In recent years, stunning breakthroughs in AI have emerged in systems whose primary interaction with human users is verbal: These include chatbots and Large Language Models (LLMs). The success of such systems raises questions about how we should conceptualize their communicative proficiency. Do they perform speech acts in any of the established uses of that notion found in pragmatics and the philosophy of language, or does their communicative proficiency fall below those standards? If so, is that an in-principle difference or one that stands to be overcome with further technological innovation? Does the (in)ability of chatbots and LLMs to make promises, ask questions, issue commands, or make statements in ways relevantly similar to what human beings do carry ethical implications for our relationship with AIs? Finally, would the embodiment of a chatbot, LLM, or other language-using technology inside a social or a humanoid robot carry implications for any of the above questions?
A short bibliography of works that have addressed the issue recently:
- Arora, C. 2024. “Proxy Assertions and Agency: The Case of Machine-Assertions.” Philosophy & Technology 37.
- van Woudenberg, R., Ranalli, C., & Bracker, D. (2024). Authorship and ChatGPT: a Conservative View. Philosophy & Technology, 37(1), 34.
- Butlin, P. 2023. “Sharing Our Concepts with Machines.” Erkenntnis 88.
- Dung, L. 2024. “Understanding Artificial Agency.” The Philosophical Quarterly 7.
- Gubelmann, R. 2024. “Large Language Models, Agency, and Why Speech Acts are Beyond Them (For Now) – A Kantian-Cum-Pragmatist Case.” Philosophy & Technology 37.
Submissions, which should be between 6000 to 9000 words in length (excluding bibliography but including footnotes), may address any of the above questions, or make a strong case for addressing another question not listed above, but still of relevance to language and AI.
Prepare submissions for blind review.
Deadline for submission: October 1, 2024.
Submissions can be made through the journal website:
For further information please contact the editorial team of the journal:
Guido Löhr g.lohr@vu.nl
Or one of the guest editors:
