The Hub for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (HEET) is a research center affiliated with theInstitute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies founded and headquartered in Turin, Italy, at the Department of Philosophy and Educational Sciences of the University of Turin. Specifically, it is established within ERATO, the department’s main research center on ethics and the anthropology of technology. The goals of the research center are to operationalize the research streams of IEET and to actively build the careers of early career researchers in the field of ethics of technology.
What do we do
Our Mission.
The Hub for Ethics and Emerging Technologies will be formed to study and discuss vital issues such as:
- What is Digital Humanism and how can we articulate such an approach to respond to the needs and challenges arising from digital technologies?
- How can human enhancement technologies be used ethically for socially beneficial purposes?
- How can we educate and train young scholars to design artificial intelligence in a way that is trustworthy, safe and reliable?
- What are the ethical issues and how can we address them practically with regard to AI, quantum technology, and biotechnology?
HEET’s mission is to be a clearinghouse for voices advocating a responsible, constructive and ethical approach to the most powerful emerging technologies. We believe that technological progress can be a catalyst for positive human development, as long as we ensure the safe and just development of technologies.
We aim to draw on the vast experience and world-class expertise of the Department of Philosophy and Educational Sciences (DFE) at the University of Turin in order to provide actionable research that can be widely disseminated and used at European and international levels.
The HEET Group
Steven Umbrello
Team Member
Steven Umbrello is managing director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies and a research fellow at the University of Turin. Currently, his main area of research concerns Value Sensitive Design (VSD), its philosophical underpinnings, and its potential application to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and Industry 4.0.
Cristiano Calì
Team Member
Cristiano Calì received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Italian Switzerland and the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (Milan). He is currently a research intern at the University of Turin, where he works on philosophy of mind, moral philosophy and AI ethics.
Our projects
Human empowerment
Our program on human empowerment will be focused under the direction of Dr. Umbrello at the University of Turin and will be led by Cristiano Calì. As with the Boston-based Future of Work program, the Turin-based program will include lectures, meetings, and edited volumes for the HEET-led Human Empowerment Policy Book Series (De Gruyter). HEET fellows will also contribute to the IEET-run journal, the Journal of Ethics and Emerging Technologies (Class A 11/C3).
Ethics of quantum technologies
Our program on the ethics of quantum technologies will be focused under the direction of Dr. Umbrello at the University of Turin. The Turin-based program will include lectures, meetings and special issues of the International Journal of Quantum Information and Quantum Information Processing on the ethics and policy implications of quantum technologies. HEET fellows will work with European government agencies and research centers to drive Italian adoption of quantum computing, the Internet and sensing in a responsible manner.
Safe, reliable and trustworthy artificial intelligence
The HEET at the University of Turin will build on the rich discussions related to the impacts of AI and automation developed in the work undertaken by the IEET at the Applied Ethics Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The goal of the HEET in this program is to recruit and train early-career researchers on how to design AI systems that are safe, reliable, and trustworthy.
Theology of emerging technologies
HEET's team of experts will explore theological and religious concerns arising in relation to new and transformative technologies. In particular, HEET will explore the theological and religious issues surrounding human biopower, quantum technologies, and artificial intelligence.
