We are very pleased to announce the second edition of the Interactive Causal Learning Conference (ICLC), generously sponsored by the A. P. Sloan Foundation, the Madden Center for Value Creation (Florida Atlantic University), and the Desautels Center for Integrative Thinking (University of Toronto). The goal of this initiative is to promote research aimed at understanding causal learning in interactive social systems -- both in terms of identifying causal relations from data generated by such systems as well as developing models of causal learning on the part of the people inhabiting them.

Fruits from the recent burst of interdisciplinary research on causal modelling and machine learning already highlight the potential for mutual benefit through idea-sharing and integration. The ICLC brings two additional disciplines into the conversation. The first is game theory, which has much to say about interactive decision making in dynamic social systems under a broad range of learning dynamics. The second is philosophy, which has much to say about the relationship between human conceptualization and the world in which they find themselves.

We are casting a wide net to draw in a broad range of cutting-edge work investigating various aspects of causality in interactive social systems as well as how to identify causal relations in data generated by such systems. Broad agendas to which we hope to foster contributions include:

i. Empirical methods and applications relating to causal identification in social systems;

ii. Theories of how people learn about causality in interactive, social environments; and

iii. The development of “human-like AI” with an ability to learn about causality

Examples of the kinds of topics that we would welcome include advances in:

• The estimation of causal relations in social systems

• Identification or causal discovery leveraging multiple data sources

• Predicting the consequences dynamic policy interventions

• Sensitivity analysis and bounds of causal effects in social settings

• The automation of the causal learning process

• The integration of causal inference and reinforcement learning

• The integration of causal inference and decision making

• The incorporation of game theoretic equilibria in the analysis of causal models

• Games in which agents seek to influence the causal beliefs of their rivals

• The role of explicit causal theories in human-like AI

• The causal analysis of mechanisms, mediation, explanation, blame and responsibility in social systems

• One-shot or few-shot causal learning in AI applications

• The limits to causal learning implied by models of causal epistemology in relation to explicit ontological primitives

Meals will be provided for all participants. Hotel rooms will be provided for invited presenters. The conference will also reimburse economy airfare and taxi expenses for presenters: up to $1,000 (USD) for those travelling from North America and up to $1,800 (USD) for those travelling internationally.

Please submit papers or extended abstracts through the Paper Submission Form. The application deadline for paper submissions is July 31, 2023.

Please note: a google account is required to access the submission form. If you do not have a google account, please reach out to us at causal.learning.conference@gmail.com.

The 2023 conference will be held from Friday, December 1 through Saturday, December 2, 2023 at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. A welcome reception will be held for those arriving on November 30. Registration Details will be provided once the agenda has been finalized – which we expect will be by the end of August.