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This paper presents prospects for a human-centered design of future industrial labor in a framework depicting the dilemma between what is technologically feasible and labor-politically desirable, under the constraint of an economically reasonable design of work and technology. The analytical approach is the "socio-technical system" which assumes that new technologies will also result in...
In early spring of 2015, an engineering faculty member approached the Director of the Leonhard Center for Enhancement of Engineering Education and asked for a four-hour ethics workshop for Penn State University graduate students who were involved with the National Science Foundation Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST)...
In the corporate world, one comes across titles such as Ethics Counsellor, Compliance Officer, Ethics and Compliance Officer, Ethics Officer and many others. Though the titles differ, all persons working in the Ethics & Compliance programs in corporations share the common goal of promoting responsible conduct in the corporation. With the overarching goal being the same, the approach and strategies...
While societal controversy is often seen as a barrier for technological development, we take the position that controversies can be useful for guiding and steering these developments. Controversies articulate the conflicting values at stake and reveal unanticipated societal and ethical risks. A common reaction to public controversies is to counter public responses to technology with facts and experts'...
The growing proliferation of connected devices in various environments offers an increasing number of opportunities for minors to create and share personal data. Our analysis looks specifically at the privacy of children interacting with Hello Barbie. Hello Barbie is a new smart toy from Mattel, controversial because of its ability to collect, store, and process the information of children. We assess...
The thesis ponders on the existence justification for Robot Warriors Autonomously Employing Lethal Weapons (RWAELW) from the angle of value and non-technique. RWAELW are different from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), robot, etc, in military actions. The former that have certain learning capacity are "quasi-subjects" with autonomy, self-choice, self-determination and free will. However, they...
Numerous emerging technologies promise great, but finite, benefits while also placing humanity at tremendous risk, even the risk of extinction (an infinite loss). This paper argues that these risky technologies need to be developed with great care and that three strategies should be broadly implemented in order to facilitate risk mitigation and adaptation towards these risks. The first strategy is...
The field of neuroprosthetics is rapidly expanding, and with it the controversy surrounding the use of such devices. Even seemingly uncontroversial devices such as cochlear implants are now engendering debate and dis-ease. As members of communities that many consider to be disabled (such as the Deaf) join together to defend those communities (and, by extension, their defining features), the question...
Over 1.1 million older Canadians use assistive technologies (ATs) defined as devices that help to improve or maintain the functional capacity or participation of an individual. Rising demands, geographic spread of potential users, and the lack of community rehabilitation services (e.g., occupational therapy) are problematic factors for the provision of ATs. New approaches have to be developed to empower...
Independent replication has stood up sciences in good stead, allowing for a process of selfcorrection and weeding out spurious claims. The factors related to inability of replication are usually related to lack of resources (e.g. money, primary data sources), uniqueness of study or a lack of time or opportunity. As the cost of irreproducible research escalates, computationally intensive research fields...
Ethical frameworks and principles from philosophy have long been used to characterize human behavior. As driving is transitioning from human control to automated control, these ethical frameworks can be used to guide engineering design decisions for autonomous vehicles in a responsible manner. In particular, moral regulation provides two methods for guiding behavior. Proscriptive strategies emphasize...
Current and developing cybernetic and electronic technologies raise new questions for ethics and also alter the understanding and operation of ethics. Examinations of anime, urban planning, and recent anthropological reflection provide means to grasp agent, evaluation, and the creation of norms for internet systems and ICT devices.
In this paper, a tension in the so-called Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (released by UNEP in 2005) between concerns about intrinsic value on the one hand, and the discourse of "ecosystem services" on the other, is identified and discussed. The tension can be understood to constitute a conflict between intrinsic and extrinsic values. I look at possible ways to resolve this conflict, considering...
Technical design can produce exclusionary and even discriminatory effects for users. A lack of discriminatory intent is insufficient to avoid discriminatory design, since implicit assumptions about users rarely include all relevant user demographics, and in some cases, designing for all relevant users is actually impossible. To minimize discriminatory effects of technical design, an actively anti-discriminatory...
Deep-brain stimulation systems are an accepted and clinically effective form of neuroprosthetic treatment for a variety of common and debilitating neurological movement disorders: Essential Tremor, Parkinson's, and others. Most current implementations of DBS are "open-loop:" they remain active continuously, whether or not the user is experiencing symptoms. Recent research suggests that it...
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