Senior Lecturer
- About
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- Email Address
- p.sweeney@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 272357
- Office Address
- School/Department
- School of Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History
Biography
Paula Sweeney is a philosopher working on digital persons and the ethics of emerging technologies. Her research examines how artificial agents acquire individuality, irreplaceable value and social standing, and how technological change reshapes our moral concepts, relationships and institutions.
Her current work focuses on personal avatars, digital personhood, and the distribution of the benefits and burdens of AI-driven technological progress.
Qualifications
- PhD Philosophy2010 - University of St Andrews
Supervisor: Crispin Wright
- MLitt Philosophy2006 - University of St Andrews
- MA Philosophy2005 - University of St Andrews
External Memberships
In recent years I have been a member of the AHRC Peer Review College, an elected board member of the British Philosophical Association and an appointed trustee of the trust associated with Thought: A Journal of Philosophy.
I have served as external examiner at Lancaster University and the University of St Andrews.
Latest Publications
Trusting Conversational Artificial Intelligence in Mental Healthcare Provision: A Fictional Dualism Model
American Journal of Bioethics, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 101-103Contributions to Journals: Comments and DebatesPersonal Avatars and Personal Autonomy
Reconfiguring Human Autonomy: Conceptual Challenges and Ethical Implications in the Age of AI. 1st edition. Springer Nature, pp. 109-120, 12 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-14537-6_8
Beyond Deepfakes: 'Digital duplicates' or AI Simulations of Real People-An International Ethical Consensus
Working Papers: Preprint Papers- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5730202
The Role of Avatars in Non-death Related Grief
Philosophy & Technology, vol. 38, no. 3, 89Contributions to Journals: ArticlesCreating durable biographies in palliative care: the role of continuing bond avatars
Philosophy & Technology, vol. 38, no. 2, 50Contributions to Journals: Articles
Prizes and Awards
I was co-investigator on the Leverhulme Trust funded project, Relativism and Rational Tolerance, with Professor Crispin Wright.
- Research
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Research Overview
Paula Sweeney is a philosopher working on digital persons and the ethics of emerging technologies. Her research examines how artificial agents acquire individuality, irreplaceable value and social standing, and how technological change reshapes our moral concepts, relationships and institutions.
Her current work focuses on personal avatars, digital personhood, and the distribution of the benefits and burdens of AI-driven technological progress.
Research Areas
Accepting PhDs
I am currently accepting PhDs in Philosophy, Artificial Intelligence.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.
Research Specialisms
- Philosophy
- Artificial Intelligence
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Current Research
Paula is currently working on a monograph to be published by Bloomsbury. It explores the question of what an individual should do when their own values or livelihood are threatened by advances in technology that they are in a position to recognise will bring substantial benefits to others.
Recently Paula has been working on AI Avatars--particularly avatars that seek to represent or 'duplicate' real-life individuals. She has a number of publications in this area, some exploring use cases and others exploring more abstract philosophical questions such as the impact of personal avatars on the value of personhood and uniqueness.
Her research on avatars builds on her work on social robots. Her monograph, Social Robots: A Fictional Dualism modal was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2023. The monograph is a book-length study of her theory of social robots. The theory proposes that when we engage with social robots the emotional response that we have is closer in kind to the response that we have towards fiction than it is to how we respond to persons.
Please see the Publications tab for more of Paula's research.
Supervision
My current supervision areas are: Philosophy, Artificial Intelligence.
I can offer supervision in the Philosophy and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.
Funding and Grants
I was a co-investigator on the Leverhulme funded Relativism and Rational Tolerance (£250K).
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
Undergraduate Teaching
Philosophy of Virtual Worlds
Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
Persons and the Self
Masters Teaching
Legal and Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence.
Philosophy and Society
- Publications
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The No-Proposition View of Vagueness
Grazer Philosophische Studien, vol. 93, no. 2, pp. 179-195Contributions to Journals: ArticlesFuture contingents, indeterminacy and context
Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 96, no. 3, pp. 408-422Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/papq.12077
Contextualism and the principle of tolerance
Grazer Philosophische Studien, vol. 90, no. 1, pp. 289-306Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe Utility of Content-Relativism
Dialectica, vol. 68, no. 4, pp. 563-579Contributions to Journals: ArticlesVagueness and Practical Interest
Vagueness and Language Use. Égré, P., Klinedinst, N. (eds.). Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 249-282, 34 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersIndexicals and utterance production
Philosophical Studies, vol. 150, no. 3, pp. 331-348Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-009-9416-4
