BOOK REVIEW: Talk Radio’s America: How an Industry Took Over a Political Party That Took Over the United States

By on May 8th, 2022 in Book Reviews, Communication Technology, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact

The book documents Limbaugh’s formative role in turning an old technology into an instrument of power that transformed the Republican Party and political discourse in the United States. The talk-radio host proved to be a success as both a propagandist and a ratings builder. Station owners were quick to join his syndicated network and to hire personalities who combined Limbaugh’s smooth delivery, ability to empathize with his audience, biting humor, and relentless attack on all things liberal—real or imagined. Profit mattered but winning the “culture war” counted for as much if not more than Rosenwald cares to consider.

The New York Times Test: An Intersubjective Reconsideration

By on April 28th, 2022 in Articles, Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact

When faced with an ethical problem such as a conflict of interest in which codes of ethics or available ethical problem-solving methods cannot help us decide upon the moral course of action to take. A method claimed to be helpful in such situations is The New York Times Test.

Preparing to Design Robots for Social Contexts

By on April 22nd, 2022 in Articles, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact

Emerging social contexts add new requirements to the knowledge that successful roboticists need. Much of this additional knowledge comes from the social sciences and humanities.

ISTAS 2022: IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society 2022

By on April 5th, 2022 in Articles, Blog Posts, Call for Papers, Conferences, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact, SSIT Announcements

ISTAS is a multi/inter/trans‐disciplinary forum for engineers, policy makers, entrepreneurs, philosophers, researchers, social scientists, technologists, and polymaths to collaborate, exchange experiences, and discuss the social implications of technology.

The Currency of the Attentional Economy: The Uses and Abuses of Attention in Our World

By on March 31st, 2022 in Articles, Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact

By failing to attend to the source, disinformation can be stored along with information, making it difficult to distinguish the good penny from the bad penny.