Preamble

AISB and IACAP are delighted to be joining forces to run the above Congress in 2012. The Congress 
serves both as the year's AISB Convention and the year's IACAP conference.  The Congress has been 
inspired by a desire to honour Alan Turing and by the broad and deep significance of Turing's work 
to AI, to the philosophical ramifications of computing, and to philosophy and computing more 
generally. The Congress is one of the events forming the Alan Turing Year 
(http://www.mathcomp.leeds.ac.uk/turing2012/).

The intent of the Congress is to stimulate a particularly rich interchange between AI and 
Philosophy on any areas of mutual interest, whether directly addressing Turing's own research 
output or not.

The Congress will consist mainly of a number of collocated Symposia on specific research areas, 
interspersed with Congress-wide refreshment breaks, social events and invited Plenary Talks. This 
format borrows from the normal AISB Convention practice and the theme-session structure used in 
IACAP conferences. All papers other than the invited Plenaries will be given within Symposia. This 
format is perfect for encouraging new dialogue and collaboration both within and between research areas.

Symposia are expected normally to last for one day or two days, but somewhat shorter or longer 
possibilities can be considered. They will\ probably each involve between ten and fifty participants
but there are no particular limits. Symposia can include any type of event of academic benefit: 
talks, panels, discussions, demonstrations, outreach sessions, etc.

Each Symposium will be organized by its own programme committee. The committee proposes the 
Symposium, defines the area(s) for it, works out a structure for it, issues calls for abstracts/
papers etc., manages the process of selecting submitted papers for inclusion, and compiles an 
electronic file on which the symposium proceedings will be based (locally produced, and not 
precluding publication of papers elsewhere).

The Congress organizers are in charge of everything else: overall schedule, plenary talks, 
registration, creation of the individual symposium proceedings in print, creation of an overall 
electronic proceedings for the Conference, etc.

Some Research Themes

Proposals for Symposia are welcomed in all areas of AI and cognitive science (as at normal AISB 
Conventions) and all areas of philosophy related to computing (as at normal IACAP conferences).

We have identified some research areas as being especially appropriate for the Congress. These are 
as follows, BUT ARE IN NO WAY EXCLUSIVE:

    - the fundamental nature and limits of computation
    - computational theory of mind
    - the nature and possibility of AI
    - testing for intelligence (natural or artificial)
    - consciousness (natural or artificial)
    - creativity (artistic and otherwise), aesthetics, etc.
    - people's attitudes towards and relationships with intelligent machines
    - ethics of AI and computing in general, and how AI may ultimately affect
    ethics
    - the philosophical nature & ramifications (e.g., for notions of person,
    self, agenthood, social cognition) of both intelligent software agents in
    cyberspace and people's virtual identities.

Proposals for symposia touching on these themes will be especially welcome, but we will also very 
much welcome proposals in other areas relevant to AISB and/or IACAP. In particular, WE WELCOME 
SEQUELS to PREVIOUS AISB SYMPOSIA or IACAP THEME SESSIONS.

Symposium Proposal Procedure

Proposers are welcome to submit more than one proposal, or to be involved in some other way in more than one.

Proposers need not already be members of either Society and will not be required to become members. They will of course be encouraged to join!

The deadline for Symposium proposals is 1 September 2011

Submissions should consist of:

    1. a title
    2. a description of between 300 and 1000 words of the research areas of
    the Symposium, the relevance of the Symposium to the Congress, and the
    nature of the academic events within the Symposium (talks, posters, panels,
    demonstrations, etc.); with special mention of any aspects of the Symposium
    that bring together AI and Philosophy in an unusual way;
    3. whether the Syposium is intended as a sequel to a symposium or theme
    session at a previous AISB or IACAP conference - and if so a clear
    indication of which symposium/session and when;
    4. an indication of whether submissions will be by abstract, extended
    abstract or full paper;
    5. your preferences about the intended length of the Symposium as a
    number of days (preferably one day or two, but otherwise anything from half
    a day to three days), together with a brief justification;
    6. a description (up to 500 words) of any experience you have in
    organization of academic research meetings (NB: it is not a requirement that
    you have such experience);
    7. names and workplaces of any invited speakers that you may have in mind
    for the symposium

NB: It is not a requirement to have invited speakers, and indeed it is unlikely that the Congress 
will be able to fund such speakers except in special cases. Therefore you would probably have to 
seek alternative sources of funding for them. However, it would be useful for the Congress chairs 
and proposal-selection group to know about possible invited speakers.)

    1. your names and full contact details, together with, if possible, names
    and workplaces of the members of a preliminary, partial programme committee.

Submitting The Proposal

Please visit http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=turing2012 in the role of an author and 
press the button