Hi Bluesky! 👋 We’re the Philosophical Moral Psychology Lab, based at the Uehiro Oxford Institute. We use experimental philosophy and moral psychology methods to study morality, with the aim of contributing to normative and philosophical debates in ethics. Follow us to keep up with our work!
On Jan 23rd, UOI Research Fellow Madeline G. Reinecke @mgreinecke.bsky.social appeared on the @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social #VerifiedLive programme, where she discussed the UK Government's consultation on a social media ban for those under 16.
#PhilosophyMatters #Ethics #PracticalEthics
"AI is becoming increasingly prominent in the human social world. Could this change what we expect even in human-human relationships?
In focus for our #WomeninEthics today: Cognitive scientist and moral philosopher, Gracie Reinecke.
More about Gracie's work: youtube.com/shorts/6dpnN...
#WiE
Out now in @theguardian.com, you'll find a letter from me and the NEUROSEC team, arguing that protecting young people online extends beyond potential social media limits for under 16s. We must determine whether generative #AI is safe for children.
Read our letter here: tinyurl.com/mry45btm
It was a tremendous honor to comment on the inaugural Oxford Neuroethics Lecture. Thank you again for the thought-provoking talk, @marcelloienca.bsky.social!
It's been an honor to be a part of this team (and to have this be my first empirical paper from my postdoc!). Any feedback welcome!
🔗 Pre-print here: osf.io/preprints/ps...
(4/4)
This work offers a new window into how adolescents navigate the social world. It also reflects our team's long-standing commitment to co-production, as the study design was developed in collaboration with the NeurOx Young People’s Advisory Group. (3/4)
Benchmarking against similar adult data (Hofmann et al., 2014), we observed key similarities in how adolescents moralize everyday experience (e.g., Care/Harm as central moral themes). But unlike adults, adolescents also frequently moralized experiences related to self-discipline. (2/4)
🚨 Pre-print alert: In our latest paper, we go outside of the lab to examine how young people experience #morality in everyday life.
Across more than 2500 real-time reports from UK adolescents aged 12–18, we found that young people moralized daily life far more than previously recognized. (1/4)
What if your best friend was an #AI? What about your favorite teacher or long-term romantic partner? What would that be like?
I had a great time giving a talk on the 'Ethics of Human-AI Relationships' as part of Bitesize Ethics 2025 (@uehiro.ox.ac.uk).
📺 Full talk here: shorturl.at/WbUOs
Tomorrow @mgreinecke.bsky.social continues our Bitesize Ethics summer programme with 'The Ethics of Human-AI Relationships'. Join us to explore the psychological and ethical nuances in our relationships with machines.
www.uehiro.ox.ac.uk/bitesize-eth...
#PhilosophyMatters #ethics
My session will be on the ethics of human-AI relationships (July 2nd); hope to see you there!
🔗 www.uehiro.ox.ac.uk/bitesize-eth...
Whether you're interested in privacy, de-skilling, environmental responsibility, or any other host of topics under the 'AI ethics' umbrella, there's sure to be something here for you. Registration is free!
Next week marks the start of @uehiro.ox.ac.uk's 'Bitesize Ethics 2025' --- which, for the first time, has a theme: Ethics in the Age of #AI.
Glad to see that @theguardian.com published my letter on one of the most urgent dilemmas we face today: how to balance housing needs with protecting nature.
📄 www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Very cool to see this kind of #research on a global scale!
🗞️ Full article: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
A few standout findings:
- 🇮🇩🇲🇾🇹🇭 Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand were the most excited about AI's rise
- 🇺🇸 The U.S. had the lowest trust in its government to regulate AI effectively
- 📈 Globally, 31% believe AI will improve the job market, whereas 35% expect it to get worse
Are English-speaking countries more anxious about #AI? 🤖🇬🇧
A new global survey (n > 23,000, 30 countries) suggests that the UK, US, and Australia express higher anxiety about AI than countries across Europe and Southeast Asia, where public trust in AI governance was higher.
🥳🥳 New paper in @nathumbehav.nature.com: “When development constricts our moral circle." Contrary to popular belief, younger kids may start out with broader moral circles than older ones. Check it out here 👉 rdcu.be/eoaSe
w/ @mattiwilks.bsky.social @karrineldner.bsky.social & Lucius Caviola
Enjoyed speaking with @aifrontiers.bsky.social about one of my favorite topics: what #AI companions could mean for the human social world. 🤖
Read the full article: www.ai-frontiers.org/articles/ai-...
#AIethics
Give our new game a try! last-haven.net
Applications for the Oxford Winter Neuroethics School are closing soon! 🧠🤖
It's going to be an incredible program, so please do join us for a deep dive into #neuroethics, #AI, & more!
Apply here ➡️ www.owns.org.uk
#OWNS2025
Really excited to hear about this work; come by @uehiro.ox.ac.uk this afternoon if you're able! 🤖 #AI #ethics
I read the print version of this story in the NYT last month, but I listened to its podcast release from the Daily this morning. I think about human-AI relationships a lot, but hearing the pain in this user's voice when she 'loses' her ChatGPT boyfriend... Wow.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/p...
The full paper is open access—check it out here: www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/11...
Would love to hear thoughts from those working at the intersection of #AI, #psychology, and #education! 🤖🍎
#Anthropomorphism #CognitiveScience #DigitalLiteracy #EduSky
Grateful to fantastic co-authors Fransisca Ting, Julian Savulescu, and Ilina Singh. Many thanks also to Juliana Gerard and Muskaan Singh, who organized Adaptive Education '24—the wonderful meeting where this work was first presented—and also served as editors for this special issue of proceedings.
We also consider what these tendencies mean for education: Anthropomorphism may boost engagement with AI tools (and perhaps even improve some learning outcomes), but it also risks having students trust inaccurate or misleading content.
Anthropomorphism of LLMs really is a 'double-edged sword.'
✨ New paper out today! ✨
As AI advances, people may increasingly see "minds" in machines. But what drives this tendency—and what are the consequences?
In this work, we look to the #evolution and #developmental psych literatures to consider why people may perceive LLMs as having minds of their own.
What good comes from including psychologists at the 'AI #ethics table'? As a guest on 'Ethical Machines,' I tried to make the case for why understanding human psychology benefits responsible #AI development.
Check it out here:
www.ethicalmachinespodcast.com/episodes/wha...
Looking forward to watching this:
