Professor, Philosophy
Ariela Tubert specializes in ethics/moral philosophy, action theory, and the philosophy of artificial intelligence. Her research connects themes in the philosophy and ethics of AI to her broader work on decision-making, including the reasoning processes, values, and the range of psychological motives and social and environmental influences on choices and actions. Her most recent published work is a series of articles discussing various existential themes related to topics in artificial intelligence, including the existential risk that AI poses, the limitations of AI models as moral advisor, and what it would take to have an authentic romantic relationship with a chatbot. She also has research interests in Latin American and Latinx philosophy, legal philosophy, and environmental ethics.
She was co-director of the Dolliver NEH project and faculty seminar: Humanities and Artificial Intelligence and has received an NEH collaborative research grant for the book project Robot Existentialism: Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of Rationality.
Tubert is the Secretary-Treasurer for the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association and holds multiple roles within the University of Puget Sound as well. She leads the AI and Human Values Initiative, and will be the director of the innovative AI and Human Values Program, launching in Fall 2026 as the first such program in the Pacific Northwest. Tubert led the development of this new interdisciplinary program, in addition to her service on the Bioethics Advisory Committee and on the Committee for Latin American Studies. Preceding the AI and Human Values Program launch, she received an NEH collaborative research grant for the book project Robot Existentialism: Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of Rationality and co-directed the Dolliver National Endowment for the Humanities project: “Humanities and Artificial Intelligence” from 2022-2025 with Professor of Philosophy Justin Tiehen.
She regularly teaches courses such as PHIL 104: Existentialism; PHIL 250: Moral Philosophy; PHIL 285: Environmental Ethics; PHIL 286: Ethics, Data, and AI; PHIL 312: Latin American & Latinx Philosophy; PHIL 350: Moral Psychology & Metaethics; PHIL 378: Philosophy of Law; CONN 121: Ethics in Practice. In addition to these classes, Tubert also established a recurring Ethics Bowl program within the Department of Philosophy in 2012, which gives University of Puget Sound students the opportunity to participate in the APPE Northwest Regional Ethics Bowl and earn experiential learning credit for the associated course.
Tubert’s recent published works include, “Authentic Artificial Love” with Justin Tiehen (Oxford Intersections: AI in Society, 2025); “Existentialist Risk and Value Misalignment” with Justin Tiehen (Philosophical Studies, 2024); “Value alignment, human enhancement, and moral revolutions” with Justin Tiehen (Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy, 2023); "Existential Choices and Practical Reason” (Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy, 2023); “Environmental Racism: A Causal and Historical Account” (Journal of Social Philosophy, 2021); "Nietzsche and Self-Constitution” (The Nietzschean Mind, 2018); and “Ethical Machines?” (Seattle University Law Review, 2018).
She received a B.A. with majors in Computer Science and Philosophy from New York University and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin. Before coming to Puget Sound, she was a Visiting Fellow at the Parr Center for Ethics and a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.