Anastasia Siapka

I’m a PhD Candidate at the KU Leuven Centre for IT & IP Law (CiTiP). I was previously a Research Associate at CiTiP, conducting ethical and legal research on emerging technologies for interdisciplinary projects funded by the European Commission. My research lies at the intersection of AI, law and ethics, with a specific focus on the future of work, and is supported by the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO).

I’ve studied law, public administration, and philosophy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, and King’s College London, respectively. Beyond academia, I’ve been a long-time advocate of equal and diverse representation in the IT industry.

selected publications

2023

Towards a post-work "utopia": a political and legal exercise in imagination

Anastasia Siapka

In Shaping Utopia Through Law – How the law does (not) provide an answer to societal challenges , Jun 2023

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AI-driven Automation as a Pre-condition for Eudaimonia

Anastasia Siapka

In Proceedings of the 2023 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society , Aug 2023

Abstract URL

The debate surrounding the ‘future of work’ is saturated with alarmist warnings about the loss of work as an intrinsically valuable activity. Instead, the present doctoral research approaches this debate from the perspective of human flourishing (eudaimonia). It articulates a neo-Aristotelian interpretation according to which the prospect of mass AI-driven automation, far from being a threat, is rather desirable insofar as it facilitates humans’ flourishing and, subsequently, their engagement in leisure. Drawing on virtue jurisprudence, this research further explores what this desirability may imply for the current legal order.

2022

Towards a Feminist Metaethics of AI

Anastasia Siapka

In Proceedings of the 2022 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society , Jul 2022

Abstract URL

The proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has sparked an overwhelming number of AI ethics guidelines, boards and codes of conduct. These outputs primarily analyse competing theories, principles and values for AI development and deployment. However, as a series of recent problematic incidents about AI ethics/ethicists demonstrate, this orientation is insufficient. Before proceeding to evaluate other professions, AI ethicists should critically evaluate their own; yet, such an evaluation should be more explicitly and systematically undertaken in the literature. I argue that these insufficiencies could be mitigated by developing a research agenda for a feminist metaethics of AI. Contrary to traditional metaethics, which reflects on the nature of morality and moral judgements in a non-normative way, feminist metaethics expands its scope to ask not only what ethics is but also what our engagement with it should be like. Applying this perspective to the context of AI, I suggest that a feminist metaethics of AI would examine: (i) the continuity between theory and action in AI ethics; (ii) the real-life effects of AI ethics; (iii) the role and profile of those involved in AI ethics; and (iv) the effects of AI on power relations through methods that pay attention to context, emotions and narrative.

2021

Digital Tools and COVID-19: Shifting Public–Private Boundaries

Anton Vedder , Anastasia Siapka, and 2 more authors

Philosophical Papers, Sep 2021

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Bleeding data: the case of fertility and menstruation tracking apps

Anastasia Siapka, and Elisabetta Biasin

Internet Policy Review, Dec 2021

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Apps to help track fertility and menstruation proliferate, and so does the commodification of user data. How is this tendency viewed in light of the GDPR and the UCPD?