Ori Freiman

With a formal background in Analytic Philosophy and Information Studies, I joined the STS program. My dissertation, The Role of Knowledge in the Formation of Trust in Technologies, is situated between STS, Social Epistemology, and the Philosophy of Technology. It deals with trust in two emerging technologies: conversational AIs (such as chatbots and virtual assistants) and blockchain networks. While the first emphasizes interpersonal trust and anthropomorphism in human-machine relations, the second mostly regards trust as the outcome of a reliable technical architecture with social governing mechanisms. I explore the social shaping of trust and the role of one's knowledge in its formation. My main argument is that some philosophers who neglect the role of technologies in the epistemic analysis of trust, and some technologists who try to bypass the role of humans in socio-technical systems - are misguided. I suggest a framework for the analysis of trust that considers what both sides focus on separately - socio-cognitive and technical aspects.

I am currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Ethics of AI Lab at the University of Toronto's Centre for Ethics.