CFP: Memory and AI

Workshop: Memory and AI

Date and place: 5 November - Facultade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

Keynote speaker: John Sutton (University of Stirling, UK)

Organizers: Steven Gouveia (Universidade de Porto, Portugal)

                    Marina Trakas (Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal)

From writing and archives to photographs and other recording devices, cultural artifacts have long been deeply integrated into human cognitive life. As Merlin Donald's seminal work has shown, these technologies do not merely store information for us; they transform human memory itself, shaping not only what we remember, but also how we remember and how we relate to our personal and collective pasts. In recent years, AI has emerged as a new kind of cognitive artifact whose role in human cognition may extend far beyond that of earlier technologies. Building on the work of John Sutton and others on distributed and socially extended memory, this workshop seeks to examine how AI systems interact with, support, transform, and distort human memory and remembering processes and practices.

Topics might include (but are not limited to):

How do AI systems shape the formation, retention, and retrieval of memories?

How do AI systems transform autobiographical memory, narrative identity, or the sense of self?

Does AI differ in significant ways from previous memory technologies and cultural artifacts in its integration with human memory?

Can AI help individuals overcome memory biases, distortions, and misinformation?

Conversely, can AI reinforce, amplify, or create new forms of memory bias?

Can AI be used for therapeutic purposes in memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease?

What kinds of epistemic dependence arise when individuals increasingly rely on AI-mediated remembering?

What role might AI play in collective memory, public history, and cultural remembrance?

Can AI contribute to the preservation of endangered memories, traditions, and cultural heritage?

How might AI reshape individual and collective processes of forgetting?

What are the ethical implications of AI systems that influence what individuals and societies remember?

How should responsibility for memory errors be understood in contexts of human-AI interaction?

What new forms of mnemonic injustice and epistemic injustice might emerge through AI-assisted remembering?

Can AI systems remember? And forget?

How does machine unlearning compare to human forgetting, and what are its ethical stakes?

Is there an ethical duty for AI systems to remember and to forget certain types of data?

The language of the workshop is English, there are no fees, and researchers from all disciplines and career stages are welcome! Note however that we are unable to provide financial support for accepted speakers.

Submissions should be sent to [email protected], and should include two separate files:

1. A short bio with identification and academic affiliation

2. Title of the talk and anonymized abstract (max. 500 words)

Deadline for submissions: 25 July