Bernd Carsten Stahl
University of Nottingham, School of Computer Sciences, Faculty Member
- Bernd Carsten Stahl is Professor of Critical Research in Technology of the School of Computer Science at the Universi... moreBernd Carsten Stahl is Professor of Critical Research in Technology of the School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham. His interests cover philosophical issues arising from the intersections of business, technology, and information. This includes ethical questions of current and emerging of ICTs, critical approaches to information systems and issues related to responsible research and innovation.(Bernd Carsten Stahl is Professor of Critical Research in Technology of the School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham. His interests cover philosophical issues arising from the intersections of business, technology, and information. This includes ethical questions of current and emerging of ICTs, critical approaches to information systems and issues related to responsible research and innovation.)edit
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A fuller understanding of the human brain, better diagnoses and treatment of brain disorders, as well as the development of new brain-like technologies are all goals of the Human Brain Project. Realizing these goals requires the... more
A fuller understanding of the human brain, better diagnoses and treatment of brain disorders, as well as the development of new brain-like technologies are all goals of the Human Brain Project. Realizing these goals requires the collection, storage, curation, and analysis of data of various sorts over extended periods of time. Securing privacy interests and advancing data protection measures are key concerns of the Human Brain Project. Their importance was recognized during the proposal development, taken up by the Ethics and Society Subproject (SP12) and reinforced by the Ethics Review in Jan 2015. The HBP needs to comply with national and European data protection legislation. But it is clear that the HBP must go beyond existing legal protections and show not only that it is ethically sensitive to privacy concerns even when such concerns fall outside regulatory frameworks, but also that it makes appropriate use of data and is able to identify and respond to new, unanticipated threats to privacy as they emerge. This document expresses the opinion concerning data protection and privacy by those involved in the Ethics and Society section of the HBP. This includes the members of the sub-project on Ethics and Society (SP12), members of the Ethics Advisory Board and the Ethics Rapporteurs. We identify some of the main privacy-related concerns within HBP, articulate the basic ethical principles that should guide examination of the issues, and present a brief review of the history of data protection and regulation in Europe, focusing on the current state of such regulation. While aware that misuse of the information must be prevented, we are mindful that a form of privacy protection that would prohibit use of any medical or other records for research would stifle medical and scientific progress making it impossible to achieve expected benefits to health that are in the public interest. Therefore, we offer final recommendations that are intended to minimize potential risks while securing the public benefit anticipated from HBP research. Finally, it is worth noting that there is a more general context to current debates on data protection and privacy. A variety of well publicised events have revealed the extent to which the security apparatuses of different national states acquire covert access to data stored on the internet and mine it in various ways in the course of their work. These revelations influence how citizens think about and how policymakers legislate data protection. The structure of the the Opinion is as follows: it starts with a description of some of the key privacy challenges and concerns raised by the HBP. The Opinion then describes conceptual and empirical research on privacy and data protection undertaken in the context of the HBP. It outlines technical options and the regulatory environment within which the HBP operates. The Opinion concludes with a set of recommendations to the HBP
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As researchers think about Machine Ethics and how ethical decision-making might be implemented in a machine, philosophers such as Torrance[1] and Coecklebergh [2]argue that in order to do so, we must reconsider the boundaries of, and... more
As researchers think about Machine Ethics and how ethical decision-making might be implemented in a machine, philosophers such as Torrance[1] and Coecklebergh [2]argue that in order to do so, we must reconsider the boundaries of, and broaden, our moral community. According to Torrance[3] the quest for an ethical ‘producer’, as a practical research programme involving the engineering of artificial moral agents quickly ‘shades into a broader, more theoretical inquiry in to the nature of ethical agency, moral value...and the extent to which autonomous A.I agents can have moral status of different kinds’. That is, those worthy of ethical treatment in order to include them in our ethical or moral community. Taking these ethical debates as a backdrop, I carried out a qualitative survey of the intuitions of nursing staff and care workers regarding their ethical concerns about the use of robots in two care-of-the-elderly facilities in the Republic of Ireland. Using methodology grounded in Experimental Philosophy[4], a semi-structured interview using apriori themes derived from the literature was used to collect data, which was transcribed and analysed using Template Analysis [5]. Participants were asked to respond to a series of questions in the form of a structured interview which investigated themes such as participant’s knowledge of robots and their feelings about the use of robots in care of the elderly. Participants were asked to consider any ethical issues relating to the use of robots, attitudes to robots being solely responsible for clinical care and their attitudes to a humanistic relationship developing between the older person and a robot. Overwhelmingly the concept of patient autonomy was to the fore in all of their considerations and responses and was frequently used as the benchmark against which they weighed their responses.The responses of these naive participants, highlighted and matched a significant number of the deliberations and narratives of philosopher experts. A novel finding from this small-samplesize research was the discovery that if the field is to advance, the methods of Experimental Philosophy will need to be relied on more as a method for deriving the necessary information on the successful implementation of ethical comportment in the design of robots. It was clear from respondents that the contract of care, that they recognized as existing between them and their older charges, extended beyond a mere provision of service. Therefore, the danger in designing robots as service providers lies in the 'not fully grasping' of this concept. 1 Vivartes,National College of Art & Design, 40 The Weir ,Kilkenny, Co.Kilkenny, Ireland Email: {denis.roche@vivartes.ie}
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Purpose The purpose of the study detailed here was to engage with Directors of Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) during the first year of their new Centres to form a snapshot view of the nature and type of training that was being... more
Purpose The purpose of the study detailed here was to engage with Directors of Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) during the first year of their new Centres to form a snapshot view of the nature and type of training that was being incorporated and how this might affect the wider institution – in this case the university. Using an organisational learning lens, this paper empirically examines the work-in-progress of the responsible innovation (RI) training in CDTs to assess how new RI understandings are being created, retained and transferred within the CDTs, questioning whether this process represents a programme of “institutionalisation”. Design/methodology/approach During the past decade, RI has become increasingly embedded within the EU and UK research context, appearing with greater frequency in funding calls and policy spaces. As part of this embedding, in its 2018 funding call for CDTs, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) required RI training to be ...
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The Ethics and Society Subproject has developed this Opinion in order to clarify lessons the Human Brain Project (HBP) can draw from the current discussion of artificial intelligence, in particular the social and ethical aspects of AI,... more
The Ethics and Society Subproject has developed this Opinion in order to clarify lessons the Human Brain Project (HBP) can draw from the current discussion of artificial intelligence, in particular the social and ethical aspects of AI, and outline areas where it could usefully contribute. The EU and numerous other bodies are promoting and implementing a wide range of policies aimed to ensure that AI is beneficial - that it serves society. The HBP as a leading project bringing together neuroscience and ICT is in an excellent position to contribute to and to benefit from these discussions. This Opinion therefore highlights some key aspects of the discussion, shows its relevance to the HBP and develops a list of six recommendations.
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Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has an important part to play in our future. These guidelines explain what RRI is, and the way that it will help ensure that research supports innovation in a way that delivers a future that is... more
Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has an important part to play in our future. These guidelines explain what RRI is, and the way that it will help ensure that research supports innovation in a way that delivers a future that is inclusive, healthy and sustainable. The guidelines derive from the GREAT Project that ended in 2016. They offer practical pointers for the actions and activities of a range of interest groups and complement the framework for practitioners and strategic decision-makers, culminating in the publication of a ‘Responsibility Navigator’ that was developed in the parallel Res-AGorA project. The guidelines should be read by all who undertake research or use its outcomes in their economic, social or political activities – at community, regional, national or international levels.
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Responsible research and innovation (RRI) is a key concept in current discourses concerning research governance and policy. The practice of Ethics Management in the European Union (EU) Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship Human... more
Responsible research and innovation (RRI) is a key concept in current discourses concerning research governance and policy. The practice of Ethics Management in the European Union (EU) Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship Human Brain Project (HBP) utilises a concept of ‘meta-responsibility’ in order to further RRI. This chapter will explain the theory and practice of meta-responsibility to demonstrate RRI in practice in the HBP. As a Flagship EC research project, the HBP represents a particular opportunity to espouse the best aspirations of the European research area. In this chapter, particular focus is given to responsible research and innovation as it is theorised and implemented within the HBP. This article focusses specifically on the role and practice of ethics management in the RRI efforts of the HBP. As such, it presents a truncated and incomplete view. This is unavoidable, given the complex nature of the area – the map is not the territory. Other perspectives are...
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Research Interests: Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Science Policy, Corporate Governance, Political Science, and 10 moreGovernance, Science and Technology Policy, Policy Studies of Technology, Multidisciplinary, Emerging Technologies, Civil Society, Emerging Technology, Responsible Research and Innovation, Public Policy, and Science and Technology Studies
This chapter discusses the ethical issues that are raised by the development, deployment and use of AI. It starts with a review of the (ethical) benefits of AI and then presents the findings of the SHERPA project, which used case studies... more
This chapter discusses the ethical issues that are raised by the development, deployment and use of AI. It starts with a review of the (ethical) benefits of AI and then presents the findings of the SHERPA project, which used case studies and a Delphi study to identify what people perceived to be ethical issues. These are discussed using the categorisation of AI technologies introduced earlier. Detailed accounts are given of ethical issues arising from machine learning, from artificial general intelligence and from broader socio-technical systems that incorporate AI.
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Science–policy organisations are expected to be reflexive of their political influence on research and society. In this long-standing discourse on institutional reflexivity, formal organisations have largely been considered as a whole,... more
Science–policy organisations are expected to be reflexive of their political influence on research and society. In this long-standing discourse on institutional reflexivity, formal organisations have largely been considered as a whole, and from a structural, or systemic perspective, whereas much less is known about everyday organisational practices; how individual organisational members reflect on and act upon their own as well as their organisation’s limits of knowledge and pre-commitments, if at all. We address this gap through an analysis of qualitative interviews with one national funding institution’s staff overseeing funding for research into information and communication technologies. We develop a bridging concept between individual and institutional reflexivity, which we call ‘collaborative reflexivity’. Through collaborative reflexive processes, individual employees contribute to the entire organisation’s institutional reflexivity. Our findings help to better understand ‘re...
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The increasing popularity of social media platforms creates new digital social networks in which individuals can interact and share information, news, and opinion. The use of these technologies appears to have the capacity to transform... more
The increasing popularity of social media platforms creates new digital social networks in which individuals can interact and share information, news, and opinion. The use of these technologies appears to have the capacity to transform current social configurations and relations, not least within the public and civic spheres. Within the social sciences, much emphasis has been placed on conceptualizing social media’s role in modern society and the interrelationships between online and offline actors and events. In contrast, little attention has been paid to exploring user practices on social media and how individual posts respond to each other. To demonstrate the value of an interactional approach toward social media analysis, we performed a detailed analysis of Twitter-based online campaigns. After categorizing social media posts based on action(s), we developed a typology of user exchanges. We found these social media campaigns to be highly heterogeneous in content, with a wide ran...
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Research Interests: Business, Business Ethics, Environmental Engineering, Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and 10 moreCleaner Production, Public Relations, Corporate Sustainability, ICT, Engineering Ethics, Manufacturing Engineering, Research and Development, Interdisciplinary Engineering, Responsible Research and Innovation, and Sustainability
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RRI requires doing the best science for the world, not only the best science in the world.
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We explore the ethical implications of HCI's turn to the ‘cultural’. This is motivated by an awareness of how cultural applications, in our case interactive performances, raise ethical issues that may challenge established research... more
We explore the ethical implications of HCI's turn to the ‘cultural’. This is motivated by an awareness of how cultural applications, in our case interactive performances, raise ethical issues that may challenge established research ethics processes. We review research ethics, HCI's engagement with ethics and the ethics of theatrical performance. Following an approach grounded in Responsible Research Innovation, we present the findings from a workshop in which artists, curators, commissioners, and researchers explored ethical challenges revealed by four case studies. We identify six ethical challenges for HCI's engagement with cultural applications: transgression, boundaries, consent, withdrawal, data, and integrity. We discuss two broader implications of these: managing tensions between multiple overlapping ethical frames; and the importance of managing ethical challenges during and after an experience as well as beforehand. Finally, we discuss how our findings extend pr...
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Computing technologies and artifacts are increasingly integrated into most aspects of our professional, social, and private lives. One consequence of this growing ubiquity of computing is that it can have significant ethical implications... more
Computing technologies and artifacts are increasingly integrated into most aspects of our professional, social, and private lives. One consequence of this growing ubiquity of computing is that it can have significant ethical implications that computing professionals need to be aware of. The relationship between ethics and computing has long been discussed. However, this is the first comprehensive survey of the mainstream academic literature of the topic. Based on a detailed qualitative analysis of the literature, the article discusses ethical issues, technologies that they are related to, and ethical theories, as well as the methodologies that the literature employs, its academic contribution, and resulting recommendations. The article discusses general trends and argues that the time has come for a transition to responsible research and innovation to ensure that ethical reflection of computing has practical and manifest consequences.
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Intelligent systems that are capable of making autonomous decisions based on input from their environment have great potential to do good, but they also raise significant social and ethical concerns. The discourse on ethics and artificial... more
Intelligent systems that are capable of making autonomous decisions based on input from their environment have great potential to do good, but they also raise significant social and ethical concerns. The discourse on ethics and artificial intelligence (AI) has covered these concerns in depth and developed an array of possible ways of addressing them. This article argues that a shortcoming of this discourse is that it concentrates on specific issues and their mitigation but neglects the nature of intelligent systems as socio-technical systems of systems that are often described as ecosystems. Building on the discussion of ethics and AI, the article suggests that it would be beneficial to come to an understanding of what would constitute responsible AI ecosystems. By introducing the concept of meta-responsibility or higher-level responsibility, the article proposes characteristics that an ecosystem would have to fulfil, in order to be considered a responsible ecosystem. This perspecti...
Artificial intelligence (AI) is producing highly beneficial impacts in many domains, from transport to healthcare, from energy distribution to marketing, but it also raises concerns about undesirable ethical and social consequences. AI... more
Artificial intelligence (AI) is producing highly beneficial impacts in many domains, from transport to healthcare, from energy distribution to marketing, but it also raises concerns about undesirable ethical and social consequences. AI impact assessments (AI-IAs) are a way of identifying positive and negative impacts early on to safeguard AI’s benefits and avoid its downsides. This article describes the first systematic review of these AI-IAs. Working with a population of 181 documents, the authors identified 38 actual AI-IAs and subjected them to a rigorous qualitative analysis with regard to their purpose, scope, organisational context, expected issues, timeframe, process and methods, transparency and challenges. The review demonstrates some convergence between AI-IAs. It also shows that the field is not yet at the point of full agreement on content, structure and implementation. The article suggests that AI-IAs are best understood as means to stimulate reflection and discussion c...
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Abstract This paper introduces a new online resource for the community of scholars interested in computer and information ethics called the" Information Ethics Library". Originally born from the idea to build an... more
Abstract This paper introduces a new online resource for the community of scholars interested in computer and information ethics called the" Information Ethics Library". Originally born from the idea to build an online teaching system for information ethics, the system developed to a community based resource. The paper will recount the rationale and development of the system. It will describe some of the main functionalities and organizational aspects. It will conclude with a discussion of the ethical issues raised by the ...
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Abstract Society is faced with digitised, nanotechnologically enabled autonomous weaponry that without human intervention take decisions to select and strike targets. Little is known outside policy-making cadres of this development or of... more
Abstract Society is faced with digitised, nanotechnologically enabled autonomous weaponry that without human intervention take decisions to select and strike targets. Little is known outside policy-making cadres of this development or of the means of implementation. This paper will discuss the weaponry and the concept C41SR within which the weaponry will operate.
Purpose This paper aims to critically assess approaches to sex and gender in the Human Brain Project (HBP) as a large information and communication technology (ICT) project case study using intersectionality. Design/methodology/approach... more
Purpose This paper aims to critically assess approaches to sex and gender in the Human Brain Project (HBP) as a large information and communication technology (ICT) project case study using intersectionality. Design/methodology/approach The strategy of the HBP is contextualised within the wider context of the representation of women in ICT, and critically reflected upon from an intersectional standpoint. Findings The policy underpinning the approach deployed by the HBP in response to these issues parallels Horizon 2020 wording and emphasises economic outcomes, productivity and value, which aligns with other “equality” initiatives influenced by neoliberalised versions of feminism. Research limitations/implications Limitations include focussing on a single case study, the authors being funded as part of the Ethics and Society Subproject of the HBP, and the limited temporal period under consideration. Social implications The frameworks underpinning the HBP approach to sex and gender is...
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Drawing on more than eight years working to implement Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in the Human Brain Project, a large EU-funded research project that brings together neuroscience, computing, social sciences, and the... more
Drawing on more than eight years working to implement Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in the Human Brain Project, a large EU-funded research project that brings together neuroscience, computing, social sciences, and the humanities, and one of the largest investments in RRI in one project, this article offers insights on RRI and explores its possible future. We focus on the question of how RRI can have long-lasting impact and persist beyond the time horizon of funded projects. For this purpose, we suggest the concept of 'responsibility by design' which is intended to encapsulate the idea of embedding RRI in research and innovation in a way that makes it part of the fabric of the resulting outcomes, in our case, a distributed European Research Infrastructure.
In the current African society, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming more popular and seeking to cover all facets of human activity. The adoption and use of these modern technologies in the African context are currently low due to... more
In the current African society, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming more popular and seeking to cover all facets of human activity. The adoption and use of these modern technologies in the African context are currently low due to some emerging challenges. Consequently, these difficulties may have a direct influence on African economic development. In this paper, we highlight the challenges facing the adoption of AI technologies in Africa which include skills acquisition, lack of structured data ecosystem, ethics, government policies, insufficient infrastructure and network connectivity, uncertainty, and user attitude. Finally, various solutions to enhance AI adoption in Africa were then proposed.
Ethical and social concerns are a key obstacle to the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the life sciences and beyond. The discussion of these issues has intensified in recent years and led to a number of approaches, tools and... more
Ethical and social concerns are a key obstacle to the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the life sciences and beyond. The discussion of these issues has intensified in recent years and led to a number of approaches, tools and initiatives. Key amongst them is the idea of ex-ante impact assessments that aim to identify issues at the early stages of development. One prominent example of such ex-ante impact assessment is the European Union's (EU) Assessment list for Trustworthy AI (ALTAI). This article uses the findings of a large-scale application of the ALTAI to a large neuro-informatics project as an exemplar to demonstrate the effectiveness and limitations of the ALTAI in practice. The article shows that ex-ante impact assessment has the potential to help identify and address ethical and social issues. However, they need to be understood as part of a broader socio-technical ecosystem of AI. For ALTAI and related approaches to be useful in bio-medical research, they sho...
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This deliverable elaborates the SHERPA dissemination, communication, exploitation and advocacy plans (DCEAP) that will help maximise the impact of the project and secure a legacy for it. The document covers:<br>1. Dissemination... more
This deliverable elaborates the SHERPA dissemination, communication, exploitation and advocacy plans (DCEAP) that will help maximise the impact of the project and secure a legacy for it. The document covers:<br>1. Dissemination channels and tools (benchmarks and key performance indicators) and stakeholder analysis as developed in WP2 (Task 2.1) and dissemination measures<br>2. Communication with key stakeholder groups throughout the project<br>3. Exploitation activities<br>4. Advocacy strategy and activities<br>
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This deliverable describes a three-stage Delphi study undertaken by the SHERPA consortium. It provides the justification for choosing a Delphi study and explains the process of developing the research instrument and the selection of... more
This deliverable describes a three-stage Delphi study undertaken by the SHERPA consortium. It provides the justification for choosing a Delphi study and explains the process of developing the research instrument and the selection of participants. Each of the three stages of the Delphi study is described in detail. Data is presented and analysed and overall conclusions are drawn.
Abstract: This paper will look at research results so far realised from an EU project that has been looking at identifying emerging technologies and their potential related ethical issues. In keeping with the thematic priorities of the... more
Abstract: This paper will look at research results so far realised from an EU project that has been looking at identifying emerging technologies and their potential related ethical issues. In keeping with the thematic priorities of the conference, the paper will focus on Cloud Computing; one of the projects identified technologies, in relation to its potential benefits and potential ethical issues for would be users, especially in the area of business. As findings stem from an EU project mainly concentrating on the EU, the paper will look at benefits and ethical issues of such an emerging technology basing the results on a more general level. However, the paper will also pay particular attention to Africa by looking at implications of Cloud Computing on Africa. This is in order to understand potential commonalities and cross-overs that may result from the adoption and use of Cloud Computing between the two geographical spheres as well as to understand, share and learn of potential e...
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how relationships between different actors are being shaped to allow industry to come to acceptable and desirable uses of research and innovation (R&I) that address societal challenges.... more
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how relationships between different actors are being shaped to allow industry to come to acceptable and desirable uses of research and innovation (R&I) that address societal challenges. Design/methodology/approach Building on existing notions of responsibility proposed in the literature, the paper develops a theoretical account of “networks of responsibility” which capture the interlinked nature of responsibility relationships. The usefulness of the approach is evaluated by exploring two cases of R&I in industry deploying a qualitative research approach that involves interviewing and document analysis. For this, a multinational company from Germany was involved, as well as a small- and medium-sized company from Denmark. Findings The study surfaced 68 responsibility relationships involving a range of different objects, subjects, authorities and norms. By describing overlaps in objects, subjects and other aspects across relationships, th...
Research Interests: Business, Economics, Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Responsibility, and 8 moreSocial Responsibility, Social Desirability, Emerald, Innovation process, Responsible innovation, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Responsible Research and Innovation, and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)
Research on Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) often aims to provide solutions for vulnerable populations, such as individuals with diseases, conditions or disabilities that keep them from using traditional interfaces. Such research thereby... more
Research on Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) often aims to provide solutions for vulnerable populations, such as individuals with diseases, conditions or disabilities that keep them from using traditional interfaces. Such research thereby contributes to the public good. This contribution to the public good corresponds to a broader drive of research and funding policy that focuses on promoting beneficial societal impact. One way of achieving this is to engage with the public. In practical terms this can be done by integrating civil society organisations (CSOs) in research. The open question at the heart of this paper is whether and how such CSO integration can transform the research and contribute to the public good. To answer this question the paper describes five detailed qualitative case studies of research projects including CSOs. The paper finds that transformative impact of CSO integration is possible but by no means assured. It provides recommendations on how transformative imp...
Research Interests: Genetics, Microbiology, Neuroscience, Science Policy, Research Design, and 15 moreMental Health, Political Science, Biotechnology, Cancer, Qualitative Research, Public Health, Infectious Diseases, Community Participation, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, BCI, Humans, Brain Computer Interfaces, Organizations, and PLoS one
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This article examines the global digital divide and discusses conditions and circumstances that have contributed to its creation. An important issue this article explores is whether there is a convergence, absolute convergence,... more
This article examines the global digital divide and discusses conditions and circumstances that have contributed to its creation. An important issue this article explores is whether there is a convergence, absolute convergence, divergence, or relative divergence in the application and diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) between developed countries and Least Developed Countries (LDSs), and if so, which of these conditions will continue. A second issue addressed by this article involves the basic conditions required in a country to facilitate technology transfer, application, and diffusion of ICTs. This article draws on several highly respectable data sources and an extensive body of literature to provide a fairly clear picture of how the ICT revolution is shaping up globally. For a number of reasons, mostly related to data availability, data timeliness, and data accuracy, the article does not pretend to be a full assessment of the ICT global situation between countries.(Publication abstract)
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This paper discusses one aspect of the relationship that the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in business has with the use of ICT in government and administration. It argues that democracies rely on their ethical... more
This paper discusses one aspect of the relationship that the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in business has with the use of ICT in government and administration. It argues that democracies rely on their ethical legitimacy and that framing e-Government and e-Democracy in commercial terms can jeopardise this legitimacy. For this purpose the paper distinguishes between e-Government as service delivery and e-Democracy as the more radical use of ICT for democratic deliberation and policy formulation. It argues that the commercial paradigm can support some of the moral values underpinning democracy but it can also have a negative effect on them by equating customers and citizens, by likening the political and the economic system and by promoting hidden agendas and ideologies. The conclusion argues that democratic decision makers need to pay attention to these relationships. Otherwise they not only endanger the success of e-Government and e-Democracy but may even thr...
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Ethical, social and human rights aspects of computing technologies have been discussed since the inception of these technologies. In the 1980s, this led to the development of a discourse often referred to as computer ethics. More... more
Ethical, social and human rights aspects of computing technologies have been discussed since the inception of these technologies. In the 1980s, this led to the development of a discourse often referred to as computer ethics. More recently, since the middle of the 2010s, a highly visible discourse on the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) has developed. This paper discusses the relationship between these two discourses and compares their scopes, the topics and issues they cover, their theoretical basis and reference disciplines, the solutions and mitigations options they propose and their societal impact. The paper argues that an understanding of the similarities and differences of the discourses can benefit the respective discourses individually. More importantly, by reviewing them, one can draw conclusions about relevant features of the next discourse, the one we can reasonably expect to follow after the ethics of AI. The paper suggests that instead of focusing on a technical a...
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The responsibility of industry towards society and the environment is a much discussed topic, both in academia and in business. Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has recently emerged as a new concept with the potential to advance... more
The responsibility of industry towards society and the environment is a much discussed topic, both in academia and in business. Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) has recently emerged as a new concept with the potential to advance this discourse in light of two major challenges industry is facing today. The first relates to the accelerating race to innovate in order to stay competitive in a rapidly changing world. The second concerns the need to maintain public trust in industry through innovations that generate social value in addition to economic returns. This Special Issue provides empirical and conceptual contributions that explore corporate motivations to adopt RRI, the state of implementation of concrete RRI practices, the role of stakeholders in responsible innovation processes, as well as drivers and barriers to the further diffusion of RRI in industry. Overall, these contributions highlight the relevance of RRI for firms of different sizes and sectors. They also provide insights and suggestions for managers, policymakers and researchers wishing to engage with responsibility in innovation. This editorial summarizes the most pertinent conclusions across the individual articles published in this Special Issue and concludes by outlining some fruitful avenues for future research in this space.