From Virtual to Virtue: Ethics, Epistemology, and Education

June 15-16, 2026

Ljubljana, Slovenia (venue: National Museum of Slovenia – Metelkova)

Conference call

We are delighted to announce a conference dedicated to exploring virtue, virtuousness, and related concepts in the context of emerging AI technologies and the digital realm. Grounded in the understanding that human beings are fundamentally relational, and that virtues are formed through lived experience, the conference examines how these processes are challenged and reshaped within digital environments. Submissions may address questions of ethics, epistemology, or education in relation to virtue and digital or AI-mediated contexts. They are not required to engage with all three areas; focused treatments within a single domain are equally welcome.

The event welcomes the employment of several disciplines, including but not limited to philosophy, computer science, educational sciences, cultural anthropology, bioethics, law, and their interdisciplinary permeation. Adopting this interdisciplinary approach, the conference brings together these perspectives to address the normative and practical implications of the development and use of AI systems in digital culture. Particular attention will be given to questions of responsible technological design, digital well-being, and the impact of digital technologies on everyday life.

Suggested themes include (but are not limited to):

Attaining human virtues and virtuousness in digitally mediated life
Moral and epistemic responsibility and accountability in human–AI interaction: knowledge, authority, and authorship
Virtue ethics beyond the individual: institutional design, practices and cultures in the digital era
Ethical and related aspect of the use of AI in education: virtues in/of AI-mediated learning environments
AI-supported personalization and its implications for educational equity, inclusion, and justice
The role of educators and educational institutions in shaping responsible AI use
Epistemic dependence, autonomy, and trust in AI-assisted educational processes and the concept of digital well-being
The role of science communication in the post-truth era: addressing the impact of fake news, misinformation, and declining institutional trust
Imaginaries of technology, artifacts, and human-machine relations
Novelty and defining characteristics of AI-mediated, virtual, and digital (religious) experience
Ethical training of LLMs across languages and cultural contexts
Responsible governance of AI protocols (documentation, auditability, explainability, escalation)
Cultural variability, minority perspectives, and vulnerable groups in the context of the development and operation of AI systems

Student section and workshops

The conference will include workshops and poster presentations devised for PhD candidates and early-career researchers. These workshops and presentations will provide a supportive environment for presenting work in progress, receiving feedback, and engaging in methodological and conceptual discussions fostering academic growth. (Students are invited to apply at the contact email below.)

Deadlines and other instructions

The deadline for submitting your abstract for review is March 2nd, 2026.

Submissions should include the title, a short abstract (between 300 and 450 words), your affiliation, e-mail address, academic title and/or position. Applicants will be notified of the acceptance of the paper by April 3rd, 2026.

You can submit your application and abstract to the following e-mail address: mateja.centastrahovnik@teof.uni-lj.si or info@ethics-ai.eu

The conference is planned as an exclusively in-person event. Each lecture will last 30 minutes (followed by 15 minutes of Q&A).

Accommodation: Upon acceptance of their paper, participants will be provided with detailed information and recommendations regarding accommodation options in Ljubljana, together with practical guidance for attending the conference and making the most of a visit to the city.

Conference fee: In alignment with the Centre’s commitment to open and accessible science, there is no registration fee for this event.

All presenters will receive complimentary coffee, snacks, and lunch on both days of the conference. Additionally, presenters will receive a conference swag bag and an invitation to submit a full paper for a peer-reviewed collection (to be published by an international academic publisher, TBD).

Full paper submission (optional): The deadline for submission is tentatively scheduled for early autumn 2026.

Program committee

Vojko Strahovnik
Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana
Director of the Centre for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence and the Ethics of New Technologies

Mateja Centa Strahovnik
Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana
Leader of the research programmeThe Intersection of Virtue, Experience, and Digital Culture: Ethical and Theological Insights

Diana C. Daly
Associate Dean, Graduate Academic Affairs, University of Arizona iSchool

Ivan Cerovac
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka

Contact person

Mateja Centa Strahovnik
Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana
info@identity.ethics-ai.eu

About the Venue

National Museum of Slovenia – Metelkova
The new venue of the National Museum of Slovenia is housed in the ex-barracks complex on Metelkova street. The transformation of the one-hundred-year-old barracks complex, comprising the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Art, The Slovenian Cinemateque and the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, was designed by the local Architectural Bureau Groleger and Miroslav Kvas. In the glass-clad extension the Museum building has a string of restoration workshops as well as a lecture room, while the exhibition galleries are on the ground floor (for temporary exhibitions and displays) and on the first and the second floors the permanent exhibition History and Arts Collections.

(images courtesy of: National Museum of Slovenia)

Info about visiting Slovenia: https://travelslovenia.org/