Roxanne van der Puil, Andreas Spahn, Lambèr Royakkers
There are concerns amongst researchers and the general public that social media platforms threaten democratic values. Social media corporations and their engineers have responded to these concerns with various design solutions. Though the objective of designing social media democratically sounds straightforward, the concrete reality is not. The authors discuss what a democratic design for social media platforms could look like by exploring two classical conceptions of democracy, one in the liberal tradition and the other in the deliberative tradition. In particular, they discuss three concerns: 1) mis- and disinformation; 2) hate speech; and 3) the relations between filter bubbles, echo chambers, and public debate. By describing the underlying ideals of the two traditions and translating these into design guidelines, the authors make explicit how varied and contrary the implications of different conceptions of democracy can be for addressing public concerns and designing for democratic social media. With these things in mind, this article responds to a call, which is to raise awareness among social media corporations, engineers, and policymakers about varying democratic ideals and the implications that these may have for social media.
{"title":"Which Democratic Way to Go?","authors":"Roxanne van der Puil, Andreas Spahn, Lambèr Royakkers","doi":"10.4018/ijt.331800","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijt.331800","url":null,"abstract":"There are concerns amongst researchers and the general public that social media platforms threaten democratic values. Social media corporations and their engineers have responded to these concerns with various design solutions. Though the objective of designing social media democratically sounds straightforward, the concrete reality is not. The authors discuss what a democratic design for social media platforms could look like by exploring two classical conceptions of democracy, one in the liberal tradition and the other in the deliberative tradition. In particular, they discuss three concerns: 1) mis- and disinformation; 2) hate speech; and 3) the relations between filter bubbles, echo chambers, and public debate. By describing the underlying ideals of the two traditions and translating these into design guidelines, the authors make explicit how varied and contrary the implications of different conceptions of democracy can be for addressing public concerns and designing for democratic social media. With these things in mind, this article responds to a call, which is to raise awareness among social media corporations, engineers, and policymakers about varying democratic ideals and the implications that these may have for social media.","PeriodicalId":42986,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Technoethics","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135047659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
From the perspective of political philosophy, this article examines the extent to which artificial intelligence (AI) applications in higher education contain totalitarian elements. Drawing on the theoretical considerations of Hannah Arendt, the author first identifies the key characteristics of total domination and then relates these to two AI applications in the field of higher education: adaptive learning systems and AI-based text generators. On this basis, the article elaborates on the similarities between concrete AI technologies and totalitarian structures. Finally, the author formulates questions that can be used to examine if concrete AI applications exhibit totalitarian traits. The aim of this theoretical contribution is to provide a perspective that will help to identify new dangers of AI or to see already known dangers in a new light, leading to a deeper and broader discourse on the consequences of AI.
{"title":"Exploring Totalitarian Elements of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education With Hannah Arendt","authors":"Alice Watanabe","doi":"10.4018/ijt.329239","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijt.329239","url":null,"abstract":"From the perspective of political philosophy, this article examines the extent to which artificial intelligence (AI) applications in higher education contain totalitarian elements. Drawing on the theoretical considerations of Hannah Arendt, the author first identifies the key characteristics of total domination and then relates these to two AI applications in the field of higher education: adaptive learning systems and AI-based text generators. On this basis, the article elaborates on the similarities between concrete AI technologies and totalitarian structures. Finally, the author formulates questions that can be used to examine if concrete AI applications exhibit totalitarian traits. The aim of this theoretical contribution is to provide a perspective that will help to identify new dangers of AI or to see already known dangers in a new light, leading to a deeper and broader discourse on the consequences of AI.","PeriodicalId":42986,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Technoethics","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2023-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43630252","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Despite its enormous success, the internet has recently faced new challenges that hinder its natural development. Different institutions outside the internet are trying to control and prevent certain behaviors on the net, causing a twist in the development of the internet. This article describes the fundamental principles that define the internet in the context of the human society as well as the impact of such practices in the development of the internet. Additionally, this article proposes a new definition of the term internet and contributes with a set of universal laws that establish a pathway for the development of the internet at its own pace.
{"title":"Redefining the Internet","authors":"Oscar Novo","doi":"10.4018/ijt.315805","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijt.315805","url":null,"abstract":"Despite its enormous success, the internet has recently faced new challenges that hinder its natural development. Different institutions outside the internet are trying to control and prevent certain behaviors on the net, causing a twist in the development of the internet. This article describes the fundamental principles that define the internet in the context of the human society as well as the impact of such practices in the development of the internet. Additionally, this article proposes a new definition of the term internet and contributes with a set of universal laws that establish a pathway for the development of the internet at its own pace.","PeriodicalId":42986,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Technoethics","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43483830","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Philosopher Jeremy Weissman theorizes a new approach to social media surveillance by utilizing a familiar theoretical model: the Panopticon. In effect, Weissman argues that social media has transformed ordinary people into prison guards within the Panopticon’s public watchtower and endowed ordinary individuals with the power to track, survey, and discipline elite officials, once shielded from public scrutiny. This new power, however, comes with a catch. Social media subsumes individuals within an anonymous, de-individualized public which erases individual difference while simultaneously and paradoxically promising to amplify that very difference. This review critically examines this paradoxical tension and the ethical concerns and challenges raised by social media’s propensity to elicit anonymity.
{"title":"Reviewing the Ethics & Philosophy behind Social Media’s Crowdsourced Panopticon","authors":"Amanda Furiasse","doi":"10.4018/ijt.302627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijt.302627","url":null,"abstract":"Philosopher Jeremy Weissman theorizes a new approach to social media surveillance by utilizing a familiar theoretical model: the Panopticon. In effect, Weissman argues that social media has transformed ordinary people into prison guards within the Panopticon’s public watchtower and endowed ordinary individuals with the power to track, survey, and discipline elite officials, once shielded from public scrutiny. This new power, however, comes with a catch. Social media subsumes individuals within an anonymous, de-individualized public which erases individual difference while simultaneously and paradoxically promising to amplify that very difference. This review critically examines this paradoxical tension and the ethical concerns and challenges raised by social media’s propensity to elicit anonymity.","PeriodicalId":42986,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Technoethics","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70471607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The coronavirus pandemic has led the world not to shut down but to move from the physical to the virtual. Various technologies have been used to maintain a sense of normalcy during the pandemic, as we can now work online, shop online, and socialize online. The perceived success of this technological resiliency in the face of a global health crisis has given rise to questions about whether the move from the physical to the virtual should be maintained even after the pandemic. Given the possibility that this “new normal” could soon become simply what is considered as “normal,” this paper will investigate what it means that we have indeed been able to use technologies to maintain order in a time of global disorder. To answer this question, this paper will focus on the technology that has become most synonymous with the pandemic—Zoom—and use postphenomenology, critical theory of technology, and Arendt's political philosophy in order to investigate its use during the pandemic.
{"title":"Zooming Through a Crisis","authors":"Nolen Gertz","doi":"10.4018/ijt.309097","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijt.309097","url":null,"abstract":"The coronavirus pandemic has led the world not to shut down but to move from the physical to the virtual. Various technologies have been used to maintain a sense of normalcy during the pandemic, as we can now work online, shop online, and socialize online. The perceived success of this technological resiliency in the face of a global health crisis has given rise to questions about whether the move from the physical to the virtual should be maintained even after the pandemic. Given the possibility that this “new normal” could soon become simply what is considered as “normal,” this paper will investigate what it means that we have indeed been able to use technologies to maintain order in a time of global disorder. To answer this question, this paper will focus on the technology that has become most synonymous with the pandemic—Zoom—and use postphenomenology, critical theory of technology, and Arendt's political philosophy in order to investigate its use during the pandemic.","PeriodicalId":42986,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Technoethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45791630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Large companies' engineering design process rarely considers the ethical and moral dimensions of innovation projects. This need for ethics is increasingly felt, particularly with the advent of digital technologies. Our research mainly focuses on product designers in large companies during the innovation/creativity phase. We propose and evaluate the efficiency of a method allowing them to consider ethics from this first stage of product development. A specific database incorporating ethical categories and problems from the early stages of idea generation supports this study. This database is inspired by a research project funded by the European Commission called ETICA. We evaluate our proposal with a detailed case study in a large automotive company. This case study highlights the contribution of our extended ethical design method from an ethical point of view and a financial one for the company. We believe that our proposal will boost creativity by addressing innovative product designers' usual fixations.
{"title":"Improving the ethical dimension in the innovation process–Proposal for an ethical engineering design method","authors":"","doi":"10.4018/ijt.302628","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijt.302628","url":null,"abstract":"Large companies' engineering design process rarely considers the ethical and moral dimensions of innovation projects. This need for ethics is increasingly felt, particularly with the advent of digital technologies. Our research mainly focuses on product designers in large companies during the innovation/creativity phase. We propose and evaluate the efficiency of a method allowing them to consider ethics from this first stage of product development. A specific database incorporating ethical categories and problems from the early stages of idea generation supports this study. This database is inspired by a research project funded by the European Commission called ETICA. We evaluate our proposal with a detailed case study in a large automotive company. This case study highlights the contribution of our extended ethical design method from an ethical point of view and a financial one for the company. We believe that our proposal will boost creativity by addressing innovative product designers' usual fixations.","PeriodicalId":42986,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Technoethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49509936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Internet's design and raison d'être are complete freedom, but complete freedom might lead to anarchy and to harmful and anti-social activities. In this paper I address the concepts of moral and social responsibility, applying them to the Internet realm in considering the most troubling phenomenon of cyberbullying that results in loss of life. Specifically, I probe the moral and social responsibilities of Internet users (agents), of parents and of the education system in fighting cyberbullying. Balance needs to be struck between two most important principles: freedom of expression and social responsibility. Illustrative examples in which this disturbing and harmful phenomenon of cyberbullying had cost young life are mentioned. It is argued that all relevant stakeholders need to think of the consequences of their conduct, that Internet abusers should be accountable for their wrongdoing and be penalized, and that people who have the ability to stop or at least reduce the risk of cyberbullying should take proactive steps, exhibiting zero tolerance to cyberbullying.
{"title":"Fighting Bullying and Cyberbullying","authors":"","doi":"10.4018/ijt.291552","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijt.291552","url":null,"abstract":"The Internet's design and raison d'être are complete freedom, but complete freedom might lead to anarchy and to harmful and anti-social activities. In this paper I address the concepts of moral and social responsibility, applying them to the Internet realm in considering the most troubling phenomenon of cyberbullying that results in loss of life. Specifically, I probe the moral and social responsibilities of Internet users (agents), of parents and of the education system in fighting cyberbullying. Balance needs to be struck between two most important principles: freedom of expression and social responsibility. Illustrative examples in which this disturbing and harmful phenomenon of cyberbullying had cost young life are mentioned. It is argued that all relevant stakeholders need to think of the consequences of their conduct, that Internet abusers should be accountable for their wrongdoing and be penalized, and that people who have the ability to stop or at least reduce the risk of cyberbullying should take proactive steps, exhibiting zero tolerance to cyberbullying.","PeriodicalId":42986,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Technoethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45205869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Projects of radical life extension have been discussed amongst scientists for years. Some bioethicists express reservations about this endeavor. A common objection appeals to demography: if the human lifespan is dramatically expanded, humanity would face an overpopulation problem. In this essay, the authors reply to this objection. They posit that radical life extension is unlikely to lead to overpopulation because overpopulation is determined more by fertility rates than by longevity, and as a result of the advanced phases of industrialization, fertility rates are likely to be reduced, and therefore, population size would become stable. However, they argue that although overpopulation is not a concern for the foreseeable future, it is still important to acknowledge its potential harms. Finally, they argue that even if overpopulation becomes a problem caused by radical life extension, there are plausible ways to solve it.
{"title":"Is Concern With Overpopulation a Good Argument Against Radical Life Extension?","authors":"M. Redondo, G. Andrade","doi":"10.4018/ijt.312574","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijt.312574","url":null,"abstract":"Projects of radical life extension have been discussed amongst scientists for years. Some bioethicists express reservations about this endeavor. A common objection appeals to demography: if the human lifespan is dramatically expanded, humanity would face an overpopulation problem. In this essay, the authors reply to this objection. They posit that radical life extension is unlikely to lead to overpopulation because overpopulation is determined more by fertility rates than by longevity, and as a result of the advanced phases of industrialization, fertility rates are likely to be reduced, and therefore, population size would become stable. However, they argue that although overpopulation is not a concern for the foreseeable future, it is still important to acknowledge its potential harms. Finally, they argue that even if overpopulation becomes a problem caused by radical life extension, there are plausible ways to solve it.","PeriodicalId":42986,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Technoethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45236254","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
It is a common misconception in risk management, from classical purely quantitative risk assessments as being coined in banking to qualitative approaches to evaluating new technologies such as AI, and hybrids like scenario techniques in the middle, that a certain toolkit and a specific set of methods serve as a panacea for all challenges risk managers may face. Given the lurking pitfalls in this area of risk management, the call for an avoidance strategy cannot be ignored. In this article, we outline six guidelines that should be followed on the way to more decision-making competency in risk management.
{"title":"Technology Assessments and Effective Risk Management","authors":"Christian Hugo Hoffmann","doi":"10.4018/ijt.306639","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijt.306639","url":null,"abstract":"It is a common misconception in risk management, from classical purely quantitative risk assessments as being coined in banking to qualitative approaches to evaluating new technologies such as AI, and hybrids like scenario techniques in the middle, that a certain toolkit and a specific set of methods serve as a panacea for all challenges risk managers may face. Given the lurking pitfalls in this area of risk management, the call for an avoidance strategy cannot be ignored. In this article, we outline six guidelines that should be followed on the way to more decision-making competency in risk management.","PeriodicalId":42986,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Technoethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49624462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The paper deals with a review of Sorgner's new book, Philosophy of Posthuman Art. The review highlights Sorgner's positioning of postmodern art as emerging from a way of dealing with the realities of ontological naturalism and epistemic perspectivism. It is also highlighted why the author believes that the avant-garde and modernist aesthetic is lacking in dealing with a world of technology embedded post-modernity. In this sense, Sorgner's arguments for the totalitarian aspects of the avant-garde are presented. The paper also offers a critique regarding Sorgner's continental focus, and an argument for why his 10 aesthetics of posthuman art could be boiled down to eight, before finalizing with a walk through Sorgner's view on a posthuman total work of art and his view leisure within a posthuman era.
{"title":"Review of Sorgner's Philosophy of Posthuman Art","authors":"Andrei Nuțaș","doi":"10.4018/ijt.313197","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/ijt.313197","url":null,"abstract":"The paper deals with a review of Sorgner's new book, Philosophy of Posthuman Art. The review highlights Sorgner's positioning of postmodern art as emerging from a way of dealing with the realities of ontological naturalism and epistemic perspectivism. It is also highlighted why the author believes that the avant-garde and modernist aesthetic is lacking in dealing with a world of technology embedded post-modernity. In this sense, Sorgner's arguments for the totalitarian aspects of the avant-garde are presented. The paper also offers a critique regarding Sorgner's continental focus, and an argument for why his 10 aesthetics of posthuman art could be boiled down to eight, before finalizing with a walk through Sorgner's view on a posthuman total work of art and his view leisure within a posthuman era.","PeriodicalId":42986,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Technoethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44262506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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