Philosophy, Misinformation, and Artificial Intelligence

Call for Papers: 21st Murdoch Colloquium

Philosophy, Misinformation, and Artificial Intelligence

Friday 7th November 2025

Murdoch University, South Street Campus

Keynote speaker: A/Prof. Tauel Harper (School of Media & Communication, Murdoch University)

The Murdoch Philosophy Program, together with the support of the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Science at Murdoch University invites abstracts for the 21st Murdoch Colloquium on the theme of “Philosophy, Misinformation, and Artificial Intelligence”.

With a quarter of the twenty-first century already behind us, the disruption brought about by changes in information communication technology is very much characteristic of our ‘new normal’. And yet while these transformations – whether for better or for worse – are hardly unfamiliar to us, in many ways we are yet to make fully sense of them. The contention of this Colloquium is that broader philosophical resources from within the Humanities can help us to focus our often all too pixelated outlook on things. As such, we invite papers that might engage themes including

• Politics and Governance in a hyper-connected age – is the ‘public realm’ now merely just an ‘online space’? How have digital storage and communication practices impacted the function of public administration? What does it mean to be a ‘well-informed’ citizen?   
• Science, Facts, and Data – is there an amount of data that would improve decision-making? Does ‘more data’ alter how we understand complex problems across and within different fields (from, say, ecology to economics)?
• Computational Arts – are traditional values such as authenticity, originality, and creativity still relevant or even possible given our new technologies – or must our appreciation of both performance and artefact be rethought for the digital age?
• AI and the person – Who owns our digital footprint? Do our digital shadows precede us? Have AI-technologies altered our traditional understanding of individuals’ rights to personal privacy? Can we be both anonymous and respected?
• Educational technologies – how are learning experiences and outcomes altered by ‘Ed-tech’? Do we learn better with generative artificial intelligence chatbots, such as ChatGPT, or just differently?   

In keeping with previous Murdoch Colloquia, for local speakers (WA-based) only there is the option to submit papers to the general section for which themes from all areas of philosophy are welcome. We encourage contributions from different disciplines (including different philosophical traditions) that take into account conceptual questions. Work presented can be polished and close to publication, recently published, or work-in-progress.The Colloquium is open to professional academics, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and independent scholars. Each year, we award a prize for the best student paper.

How to submit your abstract:

Deadline for receipt of abstracts: Monday 29th September 2025.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by Monday 6th October 2025.

Contact for information: Dr Tim Flanagan [email protected]