Light and shadows of digital reality. The image of the engineer in the 21st century (an editorial)

The III All-Russian Scientific Conference with International Participation «Light and Shadows of Digital Reality. The Image of the Engineer in the 21st Century» (28–29 March 2025) served as a platform for discussing humanitarian changes in the contemporary world associated with digitalization. The conference attracted over 100 participants from Russia, post-Soviet countries, and China, bringing together leading scientists, philosophers, engineers, IT specialists, and representatives from industrial enterprises. Discussion topics included the development of artificial intelligence, robotics, engineering ethics, the transformation of human perception, and the role of creativity in the age of digitalization. The editorial provides an analysis of the main content of the articles collected in this thematic issue, these prepared by the conference participants and submitted by some authors independently. The resolution adopted by the conference participants is presented, as well as a plan for the next conference, which will be dedicated to the anniversary of the foundation of the Philosophy and Sociology Department at Perm State University.