Notre Dame Institute for Ethics & Society

02/06/2026

In a powerful warning about the dangers and delusions of artificial intelligence, Pope Leo has taken on the self-styled gods of the 21st century. He’s used his first encyclical to argue that whatever good AI might bring, it should never be controlled by a tiny group of ultra-wealthy tech titans. H...

01/06/2026

Congratulations to IES research fellow Dr Adam Piovarchy who has been awarded a AU$180,000 research grant from the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Society!

The project investigates the ethical, political, and epistemic dimensions of modern ‘prediction markets’: markets that yield payments based on the outcome of an uncertain future event, which have recently been legalised in the US. By allowing people to profit from correctly predicting what will happen, prediction markets aggregate evidence about a topic to arrive at a ‘price’ that reflects how confident we collectively ought to be in a certain answer, in order to improve forecasting and decision-making. They have significant potential to improve our epistemic commons, but they also generate risks, namely that of providing perversive incentives to make certain outcomes occur.

Well done, Adam! We look forward to discussing this important work with you as the project develops.

The Ethics, Epistemology, and Politics of Predictions Markets Team Member(s): Dan Weijers (University of Waikato) This project investigates the ethical, political, and epistemic dimensions of…

28/05/2026

Associate Professor Victoria Lorrimar (Director of the Centre for Technology and Human Futures) spoke with Andrew West on ABC Radio National about Pope Leo's encyclical on artificial intelligence, "Magnifica Humanitas." Great work, Vicki!

In a powerful warning about the dangers and delusions of artificial intelligence, Pope Leo has taken on the self-styled gods of the 21st century. He’s used his first encyclical to argue that whatever good AI might bring, it should never be controlled by a tiny group of ultra-wealthy tech titans. H...

28/05/2026

Pope Leo’s highly anticipated encyclical on AI has been released. Join us for an online panel event featuring international experts discussing the encyclical’s background and themes, and its significance for how we engage with artificial intelligence individually and collectively.

Our panellists bring a range of perspectives to the encyclical’s development and interpretation.

Date: Thursday 4 June
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm AEST
Where: Online via Teams

Get all the details and register here: https://ow.ly/chQ550Z43Hn

21/05/2026

The Centre for Technology & Human Futures, together with our friends at the Plunkett Centre for Ethics ACU, is delighted to host an event responding to the upcoming encyclical on artificial intelligence, "Magnifica Humanitas."

The encyclical was signed on 15 May, and will be launched by Pope Leo XIV on Monday 25th May. Please join us for an online seminar featuring national and international experts discussing the encyclical’s background and themes, and its significance for how we engage with artificial intelligence individually and collectively.

Thursday, 4 June (19:00 - 20:15 AEST). Online via Teams. Registration essential.

20/05/2026

Markets are good at generating useful information under the right conditions, but can those conditions be maintained when the stakes are high, the traders are insiders and the events being wagered on involve human lives?

19/05/2026

After Bondi — A Light in Dark Times: Rabbi Jonathan Sacks' Jewish Vision of Hope

Join us in July for a four-evening short course at The Central Synagogue Sydney, Bondi Junction, with Rabbi Dr Samuel Lebens (אוניברסיטת חיפה - University of Haifa) on Rabbi Jonathan Sacks' classic book, "A Letter in the Scroll".

The course responds to a painful time for Sydney's Jewish community, drawing on Sacks' writings to ask what hope and meaning look like in dark times.

📆 7, 14, 21 and 28 July, 7:00 – 8:30 PM
📍 The Central Synagogue Sydney, Bondi Junction

Open to Jewish and non-Jewish participants alike.

A partnership between The University of Notre Dame Australia and The Central Synagogue Sydney

Register: https://events.humanitix.com/rabbi-sacks-jewish-vision-of-hope

14/05/2026

How can AI-driven measures reshape what we prioritise?

Dr Victoria Lorrimar, Director of Notre Dame’s Centre for Technology and Human Futures, and Dr Tim Smartt, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Ethics & Society, explore why philosophy reminds us to question what truly counts.

Take a read of this insightful piece from The Conversation: https://ow.ly/M8Ls50YYxIM

12/05/2026

IES researcher Professor John Lippitt's latest paper, “Social Comparison and the Vices of Pride: A Kierkegaardian Perspective,” has been published open-access in Philosophia. The article explores how many forms of social comparison are not just psychologically corrosive but also epistemically dangerous, encouraging self-deception and obstructing our pursuit of truth and understanding. Great work, John!

This article connects Kierkegaard’s warnings about social comparison to “vices of pride” such as self-righteousness, domination, presumption, vanity and hyper-autonomy. In Sect. 1, I stress the ways these vices use social comparison and show their connections with self-importance. In Sect. 2, ...

11/05/2026

"Enthusiasts who want to expand prediction markets to more domains of public life need to answer whether the institutional and moral costs of letting them do so are ones we should be prepared to bear."

IES Research Fellow Adam Piovarchy explores the perils and promises of the recent rise of prediction markets in his latest public piece for ABC Religion and Ethics. Great work, Adam!

Markets are good at generating useful information under the right conditions, but can those conditions be maintained when the stakes are high, the traders are insiders and the events being wagered on involve human lives?