Technology in Society最新文献

Virtual humans are embodied agents with a human-like appearance. Despite the recent booming development that has sparked widespread academic interest, how people perceive these seemingly human but entirely fictional creations remains unclear. To explore the status, trends, emotional tendencies, and focus of attention of the Chinese public towards virtual humans, this paper utilizes text mining techniques to collect and analyze popular posts related to virtual humans on Chinese social media. The results indicate that public discussions primarily focus on the technological and industrial development of virtual humans, applications in the fields of virtual idols and virtual streamers, and the corporate investment and policy development of virtual humans. Despite positive emotions dominating, there is an increasing trend in negative emotions. Concerns are related to service failures, the uncanny valley effect, ethical crises, and technological unemployment. The research findings contribute to policymakers, industry stakeholders, and the public in understanding the general attitudes toward virtual human technology, enabling informed decision-making.

Researchers have long been interested in the transportation industry, recognizing its significant impact on human societies. Specifically, the automobile industry and its components have garnered special attention due to the evolving nature of transportation technologies. With this in mind, this study aims to explore the current and future technologies within the tire industry as a technological-based component of the automotive industry. Additionally, the research examines the key topics, leaders of technology, and strategies of technology-owning companies in these topics. To carry out this investigation, we employed a combination of methods including patent analysis and topic modeling. The selection of leading technology companies was based not only on the number of patents but also on the impact and quality of their patents, which was carefully evaluated. By leveraging these methods and results, tire companies and other industries can gain a competitive edge in technology, acquire insights into the current and future market share of leading companies, and develop effective roadmaps for their own advancement.

Research exploring how extra-legal institutional aspects might impact corporate investment policy in innovation is still in its early stages. This lack of research is even greater when it comes to studying the role of media attention in corporate innovation. This study extends prior literature by investigating the relationship between media visibility and research and development (R&D) investment in a continental European context. Using a sample of Spanish listed firms in the 2008–2022 period, results indicate that media attention has a positive effect on corporate innovation. The results provide support for arguments that the media reduce agency conflicts, facilitate fundraising, and increase the reputational risk of internal agents as well as the pressure to meet stakeholder demands and the chances of obtaining external help to develop new ideas and projects. Moreover, we show that media attention encourages innovation in companies who are more isolated from stakeholder demands, who face greater agency conflicts, or who suffer from financial difficulties.

The relationship between innovation and economic development has been extensively analyzed, highlighting how the national environment influences business innovation dynamics. In this context, the concept of the Triple Helix is introduced, identifying universities, firms, and governments as the main drivers of innovation development. The main objective of this paper is to deepen the understanding of the impact that cooperation and coopetition between these actors have on innovation dynamics. To achieve this, we compare two EU countries, focusing on product innovation following the Schumpeterian idea that economic development is driven by the introduction of new products. Data from 31,105 Spanish and 8224 Portuguese firms from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) 2018 were analyzed. The results confirm that these collaborative dynamics have a positive impact on product innovation. Furthermore, human resource management is shown to be a fundamental aspect in driving innovation processes within an organization. The national context has positioned itself as a determining factor in innovation dynamics. In particular, in this study, Portuguese companies demonstrate a greater positive impact of innovation in human resources on product innovation compared to Spanish companies. The strength of this research lies in the comparative framework established between the two countries, allowing for the detection of the influence of governments, universities, and other agents in the collaborative processes that drive innovation dynamics in companies. The model proposed in this research could be extended to compare other countries, helping to explain the relationship between innovation levels and the influence of the country effect on their economic development.

With the intensification of technological innovation competition and the surge in the number of patents in modern society, companies' technology activities such as technology R&D, technology licensing and technology transfer now regularly involve large patent portfolios, as well as a rising risk of patent infringement. However, the existing patent infringement risk assessment methods are only designed for individual patents, which is not enough to meet the companies' practical need for assessing and managing the infringement risk of large patent portfolios. Therefore, this study proposes a combined approach using network analysis and intuitionistic fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (IF-TOPSIS), which can assess and rank the infringement risk of a company's patent portfolio relative to each of its competitors' patent portfolios, thereby providing a scientific base for the company's management decisions on patent portfolios. In this approach, one-mode weighted patent proximity networks are constructed to extract topology information of patent portfolios, and the IF-TOPSIS method is combined to obtain and rank the risk results under a proper fuzzy framework. The case study uses patent portfolios containing a total of 6736 standard-essential patents (SEPs) in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry as test data, and verifies the practicality and validity of this intelligent approach. Managerial implications for technology managers and patent attorneys are elaborated.

This paper explores the effects of integrating Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) into decision-making processes within organizations, employing a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design. The study examines the synergistic interaction between Human Intelligence (HI) and GAI across four group decision-making scenarios within three global organizations renowned for their cutting-edge operational techniques. The research progresses through several phases: identifying research problems, collecting baseline data on decision-making, implementing AI interventions, and evaluating the outcomes post-intervention to identify shifts in performance. The results demonstrate that GAI effectively reduces human cognitive burdens and mitigates heuristic biases by offering data-driven support and predictive analytics, grounded in System 2 reasoning. This is particularly valuable in complex situations characterized by unfamiliarity and information overload, where intuitive, System 1 thinking is less effective. However, the study also uncovers challenges related to GAI integration, such as potential over-reliance on technology, intrinsic biases particularly ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking without contextual creativity. To address these issues, this paper proposes an innovative strategic framework for HI-GAI collaboration that emphasizes transparency, accountability, and inclusiveness.

In recent years, Japanese manufacturers' quality fraud has significantly impacted society, and restoring confidence in product quality has become a challenge. Quality fraud is the fabrication or falsification of inspection data related to product or service quality. This study aims to extend understanding of quality fraud mechanisms and suggest lessons for technological management. Among five Japanese manufacturers that developed seismic isolation rubber, we focus on two companies that entered the market simultaneously and operated in the same competitive environment, comparing a company that committed fraud with another that did not. Specifically, we analyze each company's technological influence through its behavior in product development, patent applications, and patent disputes. We show the relationship between technological capabilities and unethical behavior, as well as the nature of technology that influences them. We identify the following mechanism of quality fraud: a company that misassesses its technological capabilities engages in unethical behavior by overlooking technological issues. The inherent nature of technology (i.e., competitiveness, goal orientation, and uncertainty) contributes to this outcome. It is possible that a successful experience in a competitive environment leads to a focus on specific options to achieve goals, resulting in myopia and failure to objectively recognize self-assessment. Uncertainty makes it difficult to determine technical standards or evaluation methods based solely on rigorous theory, leading to technologically ambiguous decisions through trade-offs, which can blur ethical implications and lead to unethical behavior.

Driving range (mileage) limitations and long charging times associated with electric vehicle (EV) usage have necessitated the emergence of battery-swappable electric vehicles (BSEV) for sustainable mobility. In enhancing BSEV proliferation, a thorough comprehension of consumer adoption is needed. Understanding consumer adoption or hesitancy of BSEV is important for environmental sustainability. Consequently, this study explores the adoption intention of BSEVs by extending an amalgamated technology acceptance model (TAM) and the innovation resistance theory (IRT) with knowledge. Using 552 responses obtained through a survey, hypotheses were assessed using a structural equation model (SEM). Results from the study expressed that the conceptual framework explained 70.2 % of the overall variance, better than the individual TAM (40.7 %) and IRT (20.2 %), as well as the integrated model (60.7 %). Perceived ease-of-use, attitude, and perceived usefulness were positive in influencing BSEV. Value barrier and usage barrier were negatively significant in influencing BSEV adoption intention. However, the barrier of risk was insignificant in affecting the adoption intention of BSEVs. Tradition and image barriers were negative in influencing attitude. Perceived usefulness and attitude were discovered as mediators. This research provides policymakers and stakeholders with apt recommendations to promote acceptance and mitigate BSEV adoption hesitancy.

This study investigates the impact of the service sector digitalization on the upstream positioning of manufacturing industries within the Global Value Chains (GVCs). The empirical analysis is conducted using the data from 65 countries (regions) and 17 manufacturing sectors during the period 2000–2018. The findings suggest that the digitalization of service sector contributes to the upward evolution of manufacturing industries within the GVCs by stimulating technological innovation among manufacturing firms. This effect is more pronounced in labor-intensive manufacturing industries, peripheral countries, and the “snake-type” GVC pattern. The robustness of the findings is confirmed by a series of tests, including an examination of the endogeneity issue.

This study employs the theoretical model of the influence of presumed influence to examine the mechanisms that drive online users to engage in information authentication and social correction, which are critical for countering misinformation. In particular, this study examines how the perceived prevalence and presumed influence of misinformation affect the intention to verify and correct misinformation, and how the use of different online platforms (i.e., social networking sites, video platforms, instant messaging applications, and news websites) for political news shapes these perceptions. This research draws on survey data from 2,589 respondents in Taiwan. The findings indicate that perceived prevalence has a positive relationship with presumed influence, which in turn, leads to authentications and corrections. Moreover, using social networking sites and video platforms for political news is positively related to perceived prevalence, whereas instant messaging applications have a negative association.