Special Collection on Artificial Intelligence and EDUCATION FOR Democracy

In the rapidly advancing field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), ethical considerations are as critical as the technological breakthroughs. The upcoming special issue of the Journal of Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development (JAISD) is dedicated to exploring the “Ethics of Artificial Intelligence”. This issue aims to delve into the multifaceted ethical challenges and opportunities presented by AI technologies, especially in the context of sustainable development. We invite researchers, ethicists, practitioners, and policy-makers to contribute their insights and findings on how ethical frameworks and principles can be effectively integrated into AI development and deployment. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, algorithmic fairness, transparency, accountability, AI’s impact on the environment, data privacy, and the balance between AI innovation and societal well-being. This special issue seeks to provide a platform for critical discourse, case studies, and solution-oriented approaches that address the ethical dimensions of AI, paving the way for responsible and equitable AI solutions in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

• Chair: Vanessa Nurock
• Affiliation: UNESCO EVA Chair (Ethique du Vivant et de l’Artificiel /Ethics of the Living and the Artificial) via IRCAI Programme Committee on AI and Ethics
• Submission: Via the JAISD submission system
  

special collection on Artificial Intelligence, Democracy and public interest: building resilient digital futures

Editors:

• Achim Rettinger, Full Professor and leader of the department Computational Linguistics and Digital Humanities, Trier University, Germany
• Tanja Zdolsek Draksler, Research Associate at Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor; researcher at the International Research Centre on AI under the auspices of UNESCO, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
• George Manias, Assistant Professor at Tilburg University, The Netherlands; Research Associate at University of Piraeus, Greece 

As artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems become increasingly embedded in public governance, media ecosystems, and civic infrastructures, the imperative to ensure their ethical and democratic alignment grows ever more urgent. This special issue brings together interdisciplinary perspectives and research initiatives that explore how AI can be designed, governed, and deployed in ways that reinforce—not undermine—democractic values, institutional trust, and civic agency.

The integration of AI into public services and digital platforms raises complex questions: How can we ensure that algorithmic decisions are transparent and accountable? What mechanisms can safeguard against bias, manipulation, and exclusion? And how can citizens meaningfully participate in shaping the AI systems that affect their lives? Ethical and democratic AI is not just about avoiding harm, it’s about actively designing systems that support human dignity, civic participation, and institutional trust. The future of democracy depends not just on how we govern AI, but on how we use AI to strengthen governance itself.

This special collection assembles interdisciplinary research on how to design, govern, and evaluate AI to serve the public interest and safeguard fundamental human values and rights. We ask: How can algorithmic decisions be made transparent and contestable? Which mechanisms curtail bias, manipulation, and exclusion—especially for marginalized communities? How should citizens, public servants, and civil society participate in the lifecycle of the AI systems that affect them? And how can we measure whether AI actually improves outcomes in health, education, welfare, justice, and media integrity?

Ethical and democratic AI is more than harm avoidance. It requires proactive design choices that uphold human dignity, ensure inclusiveness, enable civic participation, and build durable trust in institutions. Achieving this is a socio-technical task that seeks to:

• Invest in interdisciplinary research that joins AI/ML with human-computer interaction (HCI), ethics, law, political science and social science.
• Integrate Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) frameworks throughout the AI lifecycle to ensure transparency, accountability, inclusiveness, and compliance with fundamental rights.
• Empower meaningful participation so communities can shape problem definitions, data practices, and system governance.
• Build public-sector AI capacity—procurement, standards, evaluation, and accountability—aligned with democratic goals.

We invite contributions that bring rigorous evidence, methodological innovation, and practical pathways to resilient digital futures.

SUBMIT YOUR PAPER to: info@ircai.org

Scope and Topics

This special collection seeks cross-disciplinary, evidence-based research on how AI/ML systems can be designed, governed, and deployed to reinforce—rather than erode—democratic values, institutional trust, and civic agency. We welcome contributions from computer science, data science, law and public policy, philosophy/ethics, media and communication studies, HCI, STS, economics, and the social sciences.

More specifically, the special issue is looking for contributions on the following topics:

1. Fairness, Bias, and Non-Discrimination: metrics, audits, tradeoffs, fairness under distribution shift, impacts on protected groups, disability and accessibility.
2. Trustworthiness, Safety, and Accountability: evaluation frameworks, public-interest safety audits, alignment of AI for civic infrastructure; model/data provenance and post-deployment monitoring.
3. Democratic Governance & Regulation: procurement and standards, risk classification, public sector uses, administrative/constitutional law interfaces, rights impact assessments.
4. Participation & Co-Design: participatory and community-led methods, citizen assemblies for AI, contestability and recourse, public engagement and literacy.
5. Media Integrity, Literacy & Information Ecosystems: recommender systems, content moderation, generative AI and elections, disinformation/misinformation, platform governance and transparency.
6. Public Services & Social Outcomes: health, education, welfare, labor and hiring, housing, credit, policing and justice; measurement of benefit/harms and institutional trust.
7. Data Governance & Privacy: privacy preserving ML, differential privacy, secure data spaces for the public sector, data stewardship, indigenous and community data rights.
8. Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI): integrated frameworks for responsible AI design, societal impact assessments, anticipatory ethics, value-sensitive design, and cross-disciplinary governance of emerging technologies.
9. Evaluation, Benchmarks, and Methods: causal inference and audit methods, socio-technical evaluations, mixed methods designs, simulation and field experiments.

Keywords: Responsible AI, Fairness, Trustworthy AI, Democratic Governance, Regulation, Disinformation, Media Integrity, Public Interest Technology, Participation, Accountability, Transparency, Data Governance, Privacy, Evaluation, AI Literacy.

Type of Papers

We welcome submissions across a variety of article types to showcase impactful research and advance knowledge. Please review the descriptions below to determine the best fit for your work.

1. Original Research Articles: These articles present novel findings from empirical studies. Manuscripts should include a clear structure typically consisting of Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion sections, or a similar logical organization appropriate for the field. Emphasis is placed on rigorous methodology, accurate data presentation, and a thorough interpretation of results.
2. Review Articles: We accept comprehensive reviews of existing literature on focused research topics. These articles synthesize current knowledge, identify key trends and gaps, and offer a critical perspective on the state of the field and potential future research directions. Reviews should be systematic and objective, and should not simply be a compilation of previously published work.
3. Case Studies: These articles detail unique and insightful instances of a phenomenon, intervention, or event. Case studies provide in-depth analysis of specific examples, contributing to understanding complex issues and generating hypotheses for further investigation.
4. Methodologies/Methods & Protocols: This category encompasses manuscripts that describe new or significantly improved procedures, experimental methods, tests, or analytical techniques. Submissions should provide sufficient detail to allow for replication by other researchers and demonstrate the validity and reliability of the described method.
5. Perspective Articles /Position Papers: We invite submissions of well-reasoned, forward-looking articles that present a clear viewpoint on a significant topic or emerging issue in the field of the present Journal’s issue. These articles do not necessarily report original research but offer critical analysis, propose new frameworks, or outline future research directions. A strong rationale and well-supported arguments are essential.

SUBMIT YOUR PAPER to: info@ircai.org

Submission Guidelines

We invite researchers to submit their manuscripts (not abstracts) for this special collection. The call will be open from October 30 to December 31, 2025.

Manuscripts (4000-5000 words) should clearly outline the research focus and relevance to the journal’s scope, methodology, and interdisciplinary contribution, as well as your research findings and implications.

Papers’ review: A rolling review process will begin during the final weeks of the call. This will allow early submissions to receive feedback promptly. All reviews will be completed within two months of the call’s closing.

Once authors receive their peer reviews, they will have a maximum of two weeks to send their final version. The special issue will be published in April 2026.

Submit your paper to: info@ircai.org. Please address your submission to Mrs. Senja Požar and include the issue’s title.

Key Dates

Full manuscript deadline: December 31, 2025
Publication date: April 2026

Contact

For more information, contact the editorial team at info@ircai.org.

Special Collection on Artificial Intelligence in the Justice Sector

Chairs

• Catherine Régis, Full Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Montreal Canada, Research Chair in Health Law and Policy & Canada-CIFAR Chair in Artificial Intelligence / Associate Academic Member at Mila (Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute) / Director of Social Innovation and International Policy at IVADO
• Jake Okechukwu Effoduh, Assistant Professor, Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Toronto Metropolitan University
• Cristina Godoy Bernardo de Oliveira, Professor of Law, Ribeirão Preto Law School, University of São Paulo

Overview

In an era where AI technologies are rapidly reshaping legal frameworks, judicial processes, and the very experience of justice worldwide, this collection offers critical, interdisciplinary, and context-sensitive overview. Guided by the esteemed guest editors Catherine Régis, Jake Okechukwu Effoduh, and Cristina Godoy Bernardo de Oliveira, this issue tackle ethical and legal implications emerging from AI’s integration into courts and legal services globally.

This special volume features compelling contributions that explore AI’s multifaceted impact on crucial areas. Enhancing access to justice, ensuring procedural fairness and judicial efficiency. Building institutional trust and redefining the roles of legal professionals. We showcase diverse methodological approaches and foster collaborative works that bridge the essential domains of law, technology, social sciences, and public policy, offering insights for academics, practitioners, and policymakers alike. 

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT or PAPER to: info@ircai.org (Mrs. Senja Požar)

Submission deadline extended until October 31, 2025

We recently faced technical difficulties with the website and submission platform which deprived some authors from submitting their abstracts in appropriate conditions. We sincerely apologize for this situation and the inconvenience it caused.

To ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate, we have decided to extend the deadline until October 31, 2025. Please note that only the abstract is expected at this stage.

Please send your abstract and affiliation to Mrs. Senja Požar at info@ircai.org. We look forward to reading your submissions.

Key dates

Abstract submission deadline: October 31, 2025
Full paper submission deadline: December 31, 2025
Publication date: March 2026

Context

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how justice is understood, administered, and experienced. As legal systems, legal actors and justice institutions like courts across the world experiment with digital innovations, there is an urgent need for critical, context-sensitive scholarship and engagement that bridges the gap between technology like AI and law.

Within this evolving and complex landscape, this special issue on AI in the Justice Sector from the Journal of AI for Sustainable Development emerges: a pioneering, open-access international journal committed to interrogating and illuminating the intersections of AI, justice, and the rule of law.

AI in the Justice Sector will be designed not simply as a repository of research but as a platform for vibrant exchange among practitioners, scholars, technologists, policymakers, and the broader public.

Scope

This special issue will focus on AI within the operational ecosystem of the justice sector. It will examine the use and feasibility of AI technologies across justice institutions and among key legal actors including judges, lawyers, notaries, prosecutors, arbitrators, court staff, and other judicial officers. It invites rigorous practical, theoretical, interdisciplinary or empirically grounded analysis of AI tools within courts, tribunals (including arbitral tribunals), legal services, and dispute resolution systems at the domestic, regional, and international levels.

More specifically, the special issue is looking for contributions on the following topics:

• Explorations of how AI impacts access to justice, procedural fairness, daily operations (caseload, procedures, roles and relationships among colleagues) within institutions, and institutional trust.
• Reflections on how AI can assist judicial efficiency without undermining judicial independence.
• Case-study analysis on how AI is being developed for or used by key legal actors across the world
• Explorations of collaborative dialogues between legal professionals and AI developers to co-design responsible technological solutions.
• Assessments of capacity, governance, and accountability frameworks for deploying AI within justice systems.
• Analysis of AI literacy initiatives within legal institutions, including how courts, judicial schools, and bar associations are developing training programs and professional development strategies to foster critical understanding and responsible adoption of AI technologies in legal practice.

Interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach

AI in the Justice Sector welcomes contributions from a wide array of disciplines. It recognizes that understanding the ethical, legal, and operational dimensions of AI in justice cannot be achieved within disciplinary silos. Thus, the journal should invite scholarship and practice-based work from fields including Law and Legal Studies, Computer Science and Machine Learning, Science and Technology Studies (STS), Judicial Informatics and Legal Practice, social sciences, political science, sociology, communication etc.

Works that model collaboration or knowledge exchange between domains (for example, co-authored articles by a judge and a data scientist, a legal scholar working alongside an ML engineer, two judicial officers from different jurisdictions, academics and judicial actors, etc.) are welcome.

Submission guidelines and publication timeline

• Call for abstracts: The call for abstracts will be open from July 15th to October 31st 2025. Abstracts (300–500 words) should clearly outline the research focus and relevance to the journal’s scope/pillar, methodology, and interdisciplinary contribution, as well as anticipated findings or implications.
• Review of abstracts: A rolling review process will begin during the final weeks of the call. This will allow early submissions to receive feedback promptly. All reviews will be completed within one month of the call’s closing. Selected authors will receive invitations to submit full manuscripts.
• Manuscript development window: Authors will have until December 31st to submit manuscripts between 4,000 and 5,000 words. Manuscripts will then undergo peer review. Once authors received their peer reviews, they will have a maximum of 6 weeks to send their final version. The special issue will be published in March 2026.

Conference Mila/UNESCO:

A flagship online conference organized by Mila (Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute) and UNESCO is being explored to support this special issue of the journal. This convening would bring together selected authors to present their contributions, exchange feedback and methodological insights, and foster future collaborations among contributors and other participants.