This presentation explores the relationship between technology and nature, between the digital world and biodiversity, by investigating the impact of new technologies on climate change and social exclusion, in the awareness that technology can help mitigate environmental problems and therefore social inequalities, but that it can also aggravate them. Drawing inspiration from philosophical, historical, and social studies of the biological, medical, and environmental sciences, I build an alternative vision for artificial intelligence, and discuss various examples of collaboration between citizens, institutions, and researchers to create a digital world that truly serves the planet. A vehicle that we have used in Italy to experiment with these ideas is Pianeta Lab, a collaboration between the NGO Pianeta and the public science laboratory of the University of Munich in which we support institutions, people and communities committed and sensitive to socio-environmental issues, and mobilize a network with activities and advocacy tools towards institutions, offering skills, experiences, structure, relationships and places of discussion. Find out more at this link: www.pianeta.org

References:
Leonelli, S. Environmental Intelligence: Reframing AI from the Data Up. Manuscript under contract with Milan University Press.
Leonelli, S. (2025) Environmental Intelligence: Redefining the Philosophical Premises of AI. Harvard Data Science Review
7(4) https://doi.org/10.1162/99608f92.ac7c1504

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This event is part of The Sixth Conference of the East European Network for Philosophy of Science (EENPS), organized by EENPS in co-operation with the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Bucharest and New Europe College – Institute for Advanced Study.