CALL for PAPERS

Overview

We are excited to announce the Call for Papers, for the upcoming Bleeding Edge Summit to be held ONLINE, in Partnership with CIDS (Critical Inquiry into DAOs working for SDGs) at the University of Turku, on Wednesday 16th December 2026.

This academic symposium is your opportunity to showcase your original contributions to cutting-edge research, enhance the global dialogue on AI, blockchain and cryptocurrency advancements, and connect with top researchers, developers, and industry leaders. 

The Bleeding Edge Summit was established to solely push research advancements in distributed technologies, through working with research led protocols, and now touches on emerging technologies. Top research submissions will have the chance to present their findings to leading academics, researchers, industry experts, fostering collaboration and driving innovation.

What makes AI ethical, and who has the power to decide?

AI raises fundamental questions about how we treat one another: whose dignity is protected, whose opportunities are constrained, whose knowledge is recognised, and who bears responsibility when harm occurs.

As intelligent systems increasingly shape work, public services and everyday decisions, ethical responsibility extends across their design, ownership, deployment and governance. Fairness, privacy, safety and human autonomy depend on both technical choices and the institutions making them.

The inaugural CATS Conference invites scholars, engineers and practitioners to examine how AI can serve human flourishing while remaining accountable to the people and communities it affects.

The programme will include opening remarks from Dr. Outi Korhonen, principal investigator and lead research sponsor, setting the context for interdisciplinary discussion on ethical AI, institutional responsibility and power.

We welcome research into discrimination, exclusion, manipulation and surveillance; the distribution of benefits and harms; and the concentration of authority over increasingly consequential technologies. We also invite constructive proposals for systems and institutions that support dignity, justice, meaningful consent and human agency.

Drawing on Philip Agre’s concept of Critical Technical Practice, the conference brings ethical, philosophical and political reflection into dialogue with technical design. Contributions should explore how ethical commitments can become practical engineering choices, organisational responsibilities and enforceable rights.

Organised by CIDS (University of Turku) and The Bleeding Edge Summit, the conference launches the CATS: Critical Approaches to Tech and Society Paper Series.

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Themes and Topics

We welcome research papers, abstracts, and academic contributions on the following topics, though submissions are not limited to these areas:

1. Ethical AI by Design: Values, Safety and Responsibility

How can ethical commitments shape the development and evaluation of AI?

• Fairness, discrimination and unequal performance across populations.
• Safety, robustness and foreseeable misuse.
• Value alignment, moral disagreement and cultural pluralism.
• Explainability, transparency and the limits of ethical benchmarks.
• Human oversight and responsibility in autonomous systems.
• Critical Technical Practice and participatory engineering.

2. Human Dignity, Agency and Rights

How can people retain meaningful freedom and protection when interacting with AI?

• Privacy, consent and the ethical use of personal data.
• Manipulation, persuasion and cognitive autonomy.
• Surveillance and its effects on individual and collective freedom.
• Accessibility, inclusion and the experiences of vulnerable communities.
• Rights to challenge decisions, obtain redress and refuse automated systems.
• Human relationships, care, professional judgement and AI mediation.

3. Justice, Labour and the Distribution of Power

Who benefits from AI, who bears its costs, and what would a fairer distribution require?

• Market concentration and control over models, compute and data.
• Algorithmic management, invisible labour and worker dignity.
• Economic displacement, bargaining power and productivity gains.
• Data extraction, cultural representation and global inequalities.
• Environmental responsibilities across AI supply chains.
• Open models, decentralised architectures and collective ownership: ethical benefits and trade-offs.

4. Accountable Governance and Ethical Futures

What arrangements make ethical commitments credible and enforceable?

• Corporate responsibility, independent oversight and ethical auditing.
• Liability, remedy and accountability across the AI supply chain.
• Democratic participation, regulatory capture and public-interest governance.
• Ethical deployment in healthcare, education, finance and public services.
• Privacy-preserving engineering, verifiable systems and interoperable infrastructure.
• Cooperative governance, DAOs and applications to sustainable development.
• The responsibilities and limitations of centralised and decentralised approaches.

Relevant disciplines and subjects

We welcome interdisciplinary submissions from:

• Computer Science & AI: Fairness, alignment, explainability, safety, generative systems and autonomous agents.
• Engineering & Systems Design: Responsible design, human oversight, reliability and ethical evaluation.
• Cybersecurity & Cryptography: Privacy, surveillance resistance, provenance and verifiable accountability.
• Economics: Distributional justice, competition, market concentration and access to AI’s benefits.
• Law: Human rights, liability, data protection, discrimination and due process.
• Politics & Public Policy: Democratic accountability, regulation, public services and digital sovereignty.
• Philosophy & Ethics: Dignity, autonomy, justice, moral responsibility, pluralism and human flourishing.
• Sociology & Science and Technology Studies: Structural inequality, institutional power and the social consequences of technical design.
• Business & Management: Corporate responsibility, ethical leadership, governance and organisational accountability.
• Media & Communication: Misinformation, persuasion, representation, knowledge gatekeeping and public discourse.
• Design & Human–Computer Interaction: Meaningful consent, accessibility, participatory design and contestability.
• Labour & Industrial Relations: Worker dignity, surveillance, professional autonomy and collective participation.

These subjects are indicative rather than exhaustive. We welcome competing perspectives and contributions that examine ethical tensions, practical limitations and unintended consequences.

 

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Submission Guidelines 

Each submission should include an abstract, as well as the name and email address of a nominated author who will present the paper at the workshop. The abstracts of around 1000 words, and should be in English. Any mention of the authors’ names or affiliations should be removed from the submitted abstract. Submitted papers will be reviewed by the Scientific Committee of the Bleeding Edge Summit workshop. Extended abstract/Papers should be submitted in PDF format through link below.

Selection Process and workshop participation 

The workshop’s Scientific Committee will blindly review all abstracts/papers submitted by the deadline in terms of their quality, their policy relevance and the potential level of interest, while ensuring an overall balance of topics, stakeholder interests and approaches. By submitting their papers, authors also agree to revise them based on the discussion at the conference and to allow them to be published on the conference website.

1. 1. Paper Types Accepted:
      
      • • Full research papers (up to 10 pages)
      • • Abstracts (up to 2 pages)
      • • Position papers or whitepapers

1. 1. Formatting:
      
      • • Submissions must be in PDF format.
      • • All papers must be written in English.

1. 1. Submission Process:
      
      • • All submissions must be made via Submission Link

1. 1. Review Process:
      
      • • Submissions will be peer-reviewed by a committee of leading researchers, industry experts, and representatives from top blockchain protocols.
      • • Accepted papers will be selected based on relevance, originality, and impact.

1. 1. Important Dates:
      
      • • Submission Deadline for Abstract: 4th Dec 2026
      • • Notification of Acceptance: 7th Dec 2025

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Presentation Opportunities

• • Conference Presentation: Accepted papers will be presented for the online seminar on Wednesday 16th December 2026.

• • Industry Collaboration: Top protocols and industry leaders will be attending, providing unique opportunities for collaboration, funding, and implementation.

• • Publication: Selected papers will be published in a conference proceedings journal:

    CATS: Critical Approaches to Tech and Society Paper Series

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Benefits for Authors

• • Present your research to leading blockchain protocols and academics.

• • Gain recognition for contributions to the blockchain and crypto ecosystem.

• • Connect with industry leaders and academic peers.

• • Collaborate with top protocols and blockchain communities.

• • $250 for winning papers

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Contact Information

For inquiries regarding submissions, conference details, or review processes, please contact:

papers@bleedingedgesummit.com

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Closing Notes

We encourage academics, researchers, and industry practitioners from all disciplines to contribute their insights and innovations to this groundbreaking conference. Together, let’s shape the future of blockchain technology and decentralized systems.

Submit your work today and be a part of this cutting-edge academic initiative!

Submission Link: Below
Deadline: 4th December 2026