ART-AI Seminar
We are pleased to have Jessica Woodgate, who is a PhD student at the University of Bristol in the department of computer science, join us for this ART-AI seminar entitled ‘Ethical Decision-Making in Multi-Agent Systems’.
This seminar will take place in person, in room 8 West 1.34, on Thursday 4th September 2025, 13.15pm-14.15pm (GMT). There is also an option to join online. For more information, please e-mail [email protected].
Title
Ethical Decision-Making in Multi-Agent Systems with Jessica Woodgate
Abstract
Consequential decision-making is increasingly guided by artificial intelligence (AI) in diverse social settings, from resource allocation to balancing preferences of stakeholders. Whilst AI has beneficial uses, its sociotechnical nature entails it often adopts default social norms (standards of expected behaviour) and power structures of society, which includes systematic injustices and inequalities. Resource allocation may treat some recipients more favourably, or the preferences of minorities may be overlooked. Realising the benefits of AI across society necessitates addressing ethical implications, understood as what is morally good or right. Many ethical concerns are multi-agent in nature, involving one party’s concern for another. Multi-agent systems (MAS), which are collections of multiple agents interacting in a shared environment, are thus an appropriate setting to examine ethical implications of AI and encompass social factors such as norms. To advance ethical decision-making in MAS, operationalising principles from normative ethics – the philosophical study of practical means to determine right from wrong – helps support interdisciplinary insights and guide decision-makers in making evaluative judgements.
Bio
Jessica is a PhD student at the University of Bristol in the department of computer science. She holds a BA in philosophy from the University of Sheffield and MSc in computer science from the University of Bristol. Her research interests encompass the ethical implications of AI for society across a range of domains from multi-agent systems to data ethics, environmental robotics, and AI for citizens.
