Cognitio 2021 – Active inference and collective intelligence - Young researchers conference in cognitive sciences

You are invited to submit an abstract for a presentation for a paper or a poster presentation at the colloquium Cognitio 2021 – Active inference and collective intelligence, organized by the Cognitive Sciences Institute (ISC) at UQAM.

Active inference has had many practical applications in recent years. It has been used to gain insights and elucidate the dynamics underlying things (Friston 2019; Hipolito 2019), the multiscale nervous system (Friston et al. parcels and particles 2020; Hipolito et al. Markov blankets of the brain 2020), organisms interacting with the environment (Veissiere, TTOM), all the way up to forms of collective intelligence.

This colloquium aims to collect and discuss insights upon forms of collective intelligence using the increasingly insightful tool of active inference under dynamical causal modelling. Specifically, this event focuses on using the insights on collective intelligence for action. The end goal of the colloquium is to (1) gain insights on active inference as a tool; (2) gain insights of collective intelligence of societal organization, or “epistemic communities”, through the lens of active inference; (3) collect insights on real-world ways of implementing real change towards human and social development, where this includes climate change, sustainability, as well as societal segregation, discrimination and minority issues.

Graduates, postgraduates and postdoctoral students will gather to discuss how to use active inference as a means to promote social justice, and improve communication across multiple perspectives and disciplines, including psychology, philosophy, linguistics, education, neuroscience, anthropology, cognitive computing. Talks and poster presentations from young researchers affiliated with a university or a research centre and working on active inference in any of these fields are welcome. Collaborative submissions (more than one discipline and more than two young researchers) will be prioritized. We would particularly encourage submissions from young researchers from underrepresented groups or regions.

The topics of the event include (but are not limited to):

1. Active inference
2. Active inference for collective intelligence
3. Collective action for human and social development

Encouraged sub-themes on active inference are:

• Active inference and transparency
• Designing active inference models that promote social justice
• Representativity in active inference research
• Social issues that can be modeled via active inference
• Neo-materialist and feminist studies of active inference
• Contributions of post/decolonial perspectives on active inference research
• Active inference models of epistemic injustice
• Bridging gaps and forming a common language through active inference
• Learning, Teaching and Communicating about Active inference
• The state of the active inference field as it pertains to diversity
• Appropriation of the active inference tool for capitalistic purposes
• The agency of the researcher in ensuring active inference tools are used for social good

Submission Guidelines

Presentations should be in English. All talks will be 15-20 minutes long (including discussion) and should be intended for an interdisciplinary audience. Guidelines for the poster will be sent upon acceptance. 

Your submission must include:

• A title
• An abstract of about 250 words (2500 characters, spaces included)
• Full name, affiliation and email address of the author and co-authors.
• A minimum of 3 keywords
• The theme and sub-theme relevant to your poster/talk/paper and the discipline(s) studied

Deadline

The submission deadline is March 22, 2021. Notifications of acceptance will be sent to authors by April 30, 2021, with guidelines.

Contact

For more information, visit the Cognitio website: https://www.cognitio2021.com/