Technology in Society最新文献

The public discourse concerning the level of (dis)trust in ChatGPT and other applications based on large language models (LLMs) is loaded with generic, dread risk terms, while the heterogeneity of relevant theoretical concepts and empirical measurements of trust further impedes in-depth analysis. Thus, a more nuanced understanding of the factors driving the trust judgment call is essential to avoid unwarranted trust. In this commentary paper, we propose that addressing the notion of trust in consumer-facing LLM-based systems across the insurance industry can confer enhanced specificity to this debate. The concept and role of trust are germane to this particular setting due to the highly intangible nature of the product coupled with elevated levels of risk, complexity, and information asymmetry. Moreover, widespread use of LLMs in this sector is to be expected, given the vast array of text documents, particularly general policy conditions or claims protocols. Insurance as a practice is highly relevant to the welfare of citizens and has numerous spillover effects on wider public policy areas. We therefore argue that a domain-specific approach to good AI governance is essential to avoid negative externalities around financial inclusion. Indeed, as a constitutive element of trust, vulnerability is particularly challenging within this high-stakes set of transactions, with the adoption of LLMs adding to the socio-ethical risks. In light of this, our commentary provides a valuable baseline to support regulators and policymakers in unravelling the profound socioeconomic consequences that may arise from adopting consumer-facing LLMs in insurance.

Digital technology improves the capacity for collecting, processing, and sharing information, enabling corporations to optimize resource allocation. Based on data from Chinese A-share listed corporations between 2008 and 2020, the study investigates the relationship between digital transformation and resource reallocation. The findings indicate that digital transformation significantly enhances the allocation efficiency of capital and labor. Specifically, doubling the frequency of digital transformation terms can correct capital input deviation by approximately 9.5 % and labor input deviation by around 7.3 %. The enhancement primarily stems from mitigating excessive input inefficiencies, while demonstrating insignificant effects on underinvestment scenarios. Moreover, these results are consistent across an array of robustness tests, including Bartik IV and difference-in-differences strategy using the “Broadband China” policy as a quasi-natural experiment. Mechanism analysis reveals that alleviating external information frictions and enhancing internal information utilization constitute the primary channels through which digital transformation fosters resource allocation efficiency. Furthermore, digital transformation not only raises the overall total factor productivity (TFP) through resource reallocation but also directly fosters the growth of corporate TFP.

Social distancing and low-touch services have been fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a paradoxical dilemma for service providers to balance high-quality service and low-touch demand. The introduction of robot services has emerged as a possible solution, yet its full potential in fostering a user-friendly modern society remains underexplored. Our goal is to address this gap via a comprehensive analysis of 16,255 interdisciplinary articles published between 1954 and 2023, elucidating the intellectual, social, and conceptual frameworks underpinning robot service research. Using a parasitical evolutionary lens, which incorporates various stages from low-level parasitism to symbiosis, we investigated the dynamic relationship between robot services and related technologies. Furthermore, we pinpointed six primary application areas for robot services, and charted their historical development, current status, and evolving issues. Additionally, we analysed robot service applications in contemporary society, offering both cross-domain and domain-specific insights. Theoretically, our research combines the integrated interdisciplinary narrative with the evolutionary technological parasitism perspectives on deconstructing robot services research. This contributes to bridging the gap between theory and practice, and expanding the boundaries of applying technology parasitism theory in answering real-world questions. Empirically, this study provides valuable insights for shaping management and innovation policies in this field. Specifically, the opportunities, threats, and future research agendas highlighted in this study can aid the work of policymakers, strategists, and technology implementation teams.

The digital revolution is bringing profound changes to the production, lifestyle, and governance in urban and rural areas. However, the varying impacts of different digitalization dimensions on urban-rural disparity have been understudied, particularly in developing countries. Based on 1931 county-level administrative units, this study used cluster analysis and a novel Bayesian Quantile Regression approach to explore the digitalization characteristics, and how digitalization influences urban-rural disparity at different disparity levels and in different regions. We found three types of digitalization development, including Balanced Digital Progression (29.26 %), Digital Consumption Powerhouse (17.50 %), and Digital Development Potential (53.24 %). Digitalization played an essential role in alleviating urban-rural disparity, with a more pronounced effect in areas with higher levels of disparity. The access to information infrastructure related to the first-level digital divide may exacerbate the urban-rural disparity, while the digitalization dimensions related to the second-level digital divide could mitigate the urban-rural disparity. Regarding the regional effects, information infrastructure adoption has different impacts on urban-rural disparity across various regions, while digitalization usage is consistently mitigating urban-rural disparities. By comprehensively examining the role of digitalization, we provided a scientific basis for formulating more precise and effective policies for a more balanced and integrated urban-rural development.

Novel technologies and materials systems in the fields of biomimetics, biodesign, and bio-based products hold great promise for sustainable development if contributing to sustainability is a planned goal of the bioinspired product.

As part of the methodological foundations for assessments, we analyzed the interface between biomimetics and sustainability research. Using the plant growth form liana as an example, we have analyzed existing biological concepts to sharpen the sustainability strategies of efficiency, consistency, and sufficiency and to derive practical design principles for more sustainable products.

This chapter introduces TAPAS as a new tiered methodological framework for prospective sustainability assessment. With TAPAS and its five stages of analysis, players in the innovation process can conduct autonomous, timely, and robust assessments to identify and minimize risks and to capitalize on opportunities.

We also present the Bioinspired Sustainability Assessment (BiSA), which is based on the fundamental characteristics of biological systems, namely the interplay between the functions provided and the resources required for these functions. BiSA summarizes the overall social, economic, and environmental aspects of intended functions and unintended burdens (= resource demands) and compares them with the respective reference.

A biological model or the use of a biological material does not necessarily guarantee a sustainable product. Nevertheless, a contribution to sustainability must be the goal of the development process. As shown, we can learn from biological models regarding sustainability in terms of the bioinspired sustainability assessments TAPAS and BiSA and thereby gain a deeper understanding of the sustainability strategies of efficiency, consistency, and sufficiency.

The prominence of digital leadership in social networks has established this role as a crucial area of investigation, particularly because these networks serve as key sources of information, decision-making, and support for countless individuals. Consequently, the actions of digital leaders have far-reaching implications for millions of people's lives. This study investigates the phenomenon of digital leadership within social networks, focusing specifically on the case of Facebook group leaders. One hundred eighty-one Facebook group leaders participated in an online survey assessing their overall Transformational Leadership scores and leadership styles. The findings reveal that the leaders primarily employed an authority-based style while exhibiting Idealized Influence (Behavior) style the least frequently. Furthermore, several factors, such as interpersonal skills and digital literacy, were found to be highly significant in determining leadership styles. In contrast, variables such as information literacy, gender, age, education level, group size, and group-related income played a negligible role, if any, in shaping leadership styles. The research findings have implications for leaders in digital spaces and can be applied to enhance leadership skills and create better groups for members in both the business and private sectors.

With the spread of digitization and regional economic imbalances brought about by industrial structure transformation, the income gap between urban and rural areas in China is increasing and the gap between rich and poor should be considered. Using county-level panel data from 2015 to 2019 in China, this paper first analyzes the overall impact of digital development on the wealth gap and the impact for different sub-points of the sample from the direct effect perspective. Then, it explores the intrinsic mechanism of digital development in migrating the wealth gap from the indirect effect perspective, focusing on industrial structure and consumer spending. The results of the study show that the level of digital development is negatively correlated with the rich-poor gap. When digital development is at a high level, it suppresses the rich-poor gap, and the suppression effect gradually increases. In addition, the impact of digital development on wealth gap is not limited to direct effects but is also manifested indirectly through changes in industrial structure and consumer spending. Within this context, industry structure upgrading, guided by both market and government forces, plays a positive role in narrowing the wealth gap as modifiable mediating variables. Government-led upgrading in industrial structure demonstrates a more comprehensive moderating effect on addressing wealth disparities within the context of digitalization.

As the mainstream of vehicle industry is moving from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs), a multi-perspective analysis of consumer preference for the new EV technology is required. Therefore, this study proposes a new framework for consumer preference analysis—a two-stage choice experiment—and conducts an empirical analysis of the four-wheel independent steering system (4-WISS). In the first stage, we analyzed consumer preference for the availability of 4-WISS in EVs. In the second stage, we investigated consumer preference for the specific technology of 4-WISS in EVs. Stated preference data were collected through a choice experiment survey, and a mixed logit model was used to quantitatively analyze consumer preference and willingness-to-pay. Results show that consumers are willing to pay KRW 19,045,098.6 (USD 13,513.9) to use 4-WISS in high-end EVs. Furthermore, consumers who are female, older, and have more knowledge of autonomous vehicles prefer 4-WISS more. We found that consumers prefer the parallel movement among 4-WISS modes, the touch display for selecting 4-WISS, the steering wheel for operating 4-WISS mode, and dashboard for displaying information. We finally discuss the new business model in the vehicle industry and suggest automakers to establish an effective strategy for the initial market for EVs with 4-WISS.

The present paper investigates the evolution of technology cooperation networks in different industries and the factors influencing them. Based on the cooperative patent data, the technology cooperation networks of the steel, pharmaceutical and solid waste treatment industries are constructed, and the networked evolutionary games model is proposed to study the evolution process of the technology cooperation networks. The effect of cooperation costs, technology spillover, and government support on the evolution of technology cooperation networks is revealed. The results show that reducing cooperation costs and technology spillover and increasing government support can improve the cooperation level and efficiency of technology cooperation networks. Furthermore, there are differences in the impact of these three factors on the evolution of technology cooperation networks in the steel, pharmaceutical, and solid waste treatment industries. This study broadens the research perspective on the evolution of technology cooperation networks and provides practical references for different industries to determine their technical cooperation strategies.

The pursuit of a secure, efficient healthcare system responsive to patient needs remains a crucial goal for developed countries. Governments, grappling with rising healthcare demands, are increasingly turning to technological innovation as a transformative solution. Healthcare 4.0, integrating cutting-edge industrial technologies, aims to enhance patient experience, promote health, control costs, and boost clinical satisfaction. The COVID-19 pandemic has catalysed investments in digitalisation, but the promises of Healthcare 4.0 are still seemingly unrealized. This is especially true in the Central-Eastern European (CEE) region, particularly in Hungary, where substantial Industry 4.0 innovation potential intersects with shrinking financial resources, a challenging political environment, a transitioning healthcare system hindering the widescale transition to Healthcare 4.0. Thus, this paper aims to explore the macro-environmental factors influencing Healthcare 4.0 adoption in Hungary. Leveraging qualitative content analysis of interviews with 21 Hungarian healthcare technology startup founders, we aim to map the catalysts and barriers of a Healthcare 4.0 transition using a PESTLE framework. This explorative study contributes to the literature with valuable insights from the innovators' perspective, serving as a foundation for future policy interventions in the quest for widespread Healthcare 4.0 implementation.