AI as a Colleague?

Towards a Social Epistemology of AI

March 26-27, 2026
University of Bern, Switzerland

Welcome!

We're delighted to invite you to this exciting workshop where philosophers from the philosophy of AI and social epistemology come together to explore how AI applications function as social, epistemic agents.

About the Workshop

This workshop aims to understand AI applications and their work using concepts and insights from social epistemology, with a special focus on applications from medicine. We bring together leading researchers to address fundamental questions about AI's role in knowledge production and inquiry.

Key Questions We'll Explore

Agency & Tools

Are current AI applications epistemic agents or mere tools?

Epistemic Roles

Which epistemic roles can current AI tools take in inquiry?

Epistemic Authority

Can, and should, some AI tools be treated as epistemic authorities?

Medical Applications

Which collaborative settings are recommendable for AI use in medicine?

Social Epistemology

Which insights from social epistemology can be transferred to AI use in medicine?

Explainability

What consequences does the social epistemology of AI have for demands of explainability?

Organizers

CB

Claus Beisbart

University of Bern

claus.beisbart@unibe.ch
AW

Andreas Wolkenstein

LMU Munich

andreas.wolkenstein@med.uni-muenchen.de