Title: Ethics in the Age of AI: Foundations and Challenges

Speaker: Mattia Petrolo (LASIGE/FCUL)
Date: September, Monday 08, 2025, 9h00
Where: FCUL, C6.3.27
(coffee break included)

Abstract: The rapid deployment of Artificial Intelligence across domains such as healthcare, finance, and governance has intensified the need for systematic ethical reflection. Alongside its potential for innovation and progress, AI also raises pressing ethical challenges: from issues of fairness, bias, and transparency to questions of accountability, responsibility, and the impact on human autonomy. This introductory talk will provide an accessible overview of some of the key debates in AI ethics, outlining the main risks and opportunities, and exploring how ethical frameworks can guide the development of trustworthy and responsible AI systems. The aim is to equip participants with the conceptual tools to critically reflect on the social and ethical implications of AI and to foster a constructive dialogue between technology and values.

Bio: Mattia Petrolo is FCT research fellow at LASIGE. He obtained his PhD from the University of Paris 7–Paris Diderot, and has previously held positions as a postdoctoral fellow at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris and as a tenured assistant professor of Logic at the Federal University of ABC. His research spans computational logic — especially proof theory, type theory, and the proofs-as-programs paradigm — as well as formal epistemology and epistemic logic. He is currently leading the individual research project “Algorithm and Knowledge – Towards an Epistemic Approach to AI”, focusing on the logic and epistemology of human–AI interaction and trustworthy AI.