The Future of Liberalism and the Idea of a Liberal AI

Hosted by the Institute for Ethics in AI and Accelerator Fellowship Programme at the University of Oxford

Join us for a two-day conference that delves into the evolving concept of liberalism and its intersection with artificial intelligence. Using Professor Cass R. Sunstein's (Harvard University) forthcoming book, On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom, as a foundation, we will explore themes such as the essence and justification of liberalism, its ties to the good life, rights, the rule of law, democracy, corporate power, and international relations. The event will culminate with a session dedicated to envisioning a liberal approach to AI.

Conference Agenda (Day one):

25 September, 2025

• Opening Lecture/Discussion:
  Prof Cass R. Sunstein (Harvard University)
  An overview of the main themes from his new book, On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom

• Panel 1: The Meaning of Liberalism – Core Ethical and Political Ideas
  Prof Stephen Holmes (New York University)

• Panel 2: The Backlash Against Liberalism
  Prof Robert P. George (Princeton University)
  Prof David Enoch (University of Oxford)

• Panel 3: Liberalism and the Good Life (Including the Religious Life)

• Panel 4: Liberalism and Rights – Has Liberalism Encouraged a Proliferation of Rights That Is Self-Defeating?
  Sir Noel Malcolm (University of Oxford)

• Panel 5: Liberalism and Democracy – Is Democracy Necessarily Liberal?
  Prof Hélène Landemore (Yale University)
  Dr Tom Simpson (University of Oxford)

Further speakers to be confirmed in the coming weeks. 

More details on how to register for this event will follow soon. For further information, please contact aiethicsevents@philosophy.ox.ac.uk

The Institute for Ethics in AI will bring together world-leading philosophers and other experts in the humanities with the technical developers and users of AI in academia, business and government. The ethics and governance of AI is an exceptionally vibrant area of research at Oxford and the Institute is an opportunity to take a bold leap forward from this platform.

Every day brings more examples of the ethical challenges posed by AI, from face recognition to voter profiling, brain-machine interfaces to weaponised drones, and the ongoing discourse about how AI will impact employment on a global scale. This is urgent and important work that we intend to promote internationally as well as embedding in our own research and teaching here at Oxford.