Italian philosopher Maurizio Ferraris will give a public talk in Paphos on Tuesday, November 3 on how the economic value of the data people generate in their daily lives could be redistributed to benefit society.
The talk, titled ‘Webfare: Transforming Data into Public Good’, begins at 6.30pm in the auditorium of the American University of Beirut – Mediterraneo (AUB Mediterraneo), the Paphos branch campus of the American University of Beirut. It is open to the public, will be delivered in English and will be followed by a question-and-answer session. Those wishing to attend are asked to complete an online registration form.
Ferraris’s Webfare project proposes a form of digital welfare built on the idea that everyday human activity produces data with economic value. It examines how that value could be redistributed to support collective well-being, and who benefits from the data people produce.
“AI literacy includes asking who benefits from the data we generate,” said Ana Ilievska, an assistant professor of global liberal arts at AUB Mediterraneo. She said Ferraris’s work offered a starting point for the discussion and that the university looked forward to bringing students and the public together to explore the issue.
The talk forms part of the university’s AI Literacy course, which Ilievska co-teaches with Rafael Papallas and Claudia Franzè. It is sponsored by the Italian Embassy in Nicosia.
Ferraris is a full professor of philosophy at the University of Turin and president of LabOnt – Center for Ontology. He founded the philosophical movement known as New Realism and has written more than 70 books, which have been translated into several languages.
His Webfare project is funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research and is set out in his 2024 book ‘Webfare: A Manifesto for Digital Well-Being’, which Ilievska translated.
