Collaboration with Portuguese academic institutions: Building a foundation for network development — Prof. Deguchi, Prof. Gabriel visit three cities

Professor Gabriel is currently serving a five-month term as a Visiting Professor at the University of Porto’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, supported by a research grant from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Taking advantage of his stay in Porto, Professors Deguchi and Gabriel traveled together to various research hubs across Portugal to expand KIP’s international academic network.

On November 24, the University of Porto’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities and its Institute of Philosophy, in collaboration with KIP and other organizations, hosted a workshop titled AI and Values in a Transforming Society. The workshop brought together around 60 participants. After an introduction to KIP’s mission by Research Fellow Maiko Tsuji, Professor Deguchi delivered the opening keynote, “The WE-Turn of Value.”

The afternoon session featured lively discussions with researchers from the University of Porto and Coimbra, covering topics such as the epistemic characteristics of AI systems, emotions and values in the age of AI, and hermeneutic approaches to social analysis. Professor Gabriel followed with a second keynote, “In What Sense Can AI Systems Understand Social Relations?: Social Hermeneutics and Social Ontology after the Large Language Model Revolution.” The day concluded with a roundtable on “AI and the Transformation(s) of Contemporary Societies,” featuring Professors Deguchi and Gabriel along with Prof. Alípio Jorge (Faculty of Sciences) and Prof. José Meirinhos (Director of the Institute of Philosophy) from the University of Porto.

The dialogue continued the next day, November 25, at the University of Coimbra, one of Europe’s oldest universities (est. 1290). A workshop on “Social Hermeneutics and Social Ontology” was co-organized by the Centre for Classical and Humanistic Studies (Coimbra), the MLAG Research Group (Porto), and KIP. Before the session, speakers enjoyed a guided tour of the Joanina Library, famously celebrated as “the most beautiful library in the world.”

With about 30 attendees, the workshop opened with KIP research fellow Tsuji introducing the institute, followed by a keynote from Professor Deguchi. A panel discussion ensued featuring researchers from the University of Porto, the American University of Sharjah (UAE), and the University of Coimbra. Professor Gabriel delivered the closing keynote to wrap up an intellectually stimulating day.

The final leg of the visit took place on the following day at Lusófona University in Lisbon, Portugal’s largest private university known for its extensive networks in the Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) world. Hosted by the School of Communication, Arts and Information and the Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies at the invitation of Rector José Bragança de Miranda, the public talk was titled “AI and Megatrends in Technology.”

In an intimate dialogue with around 20 participants, Professors Deguchi and Gabriel explored themes of AI ethics and social transformation, deepening the discussion through the lenses of the WE-Turn and New Realism.