The role of driverless cars in future transport systems remains debatable, in terms of their potential to replace other transport modes or have a novel, unique, and complementary functionality.
Category: Editorial & Opinion

Driverless Cars Will Make Passenger Rail Obsolete
By Yair Wiseman on June 18th, 2019 in Editorial & Opinion, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
In the age of driverless cars, rail — as a means of transportation that takes many people from one central station to another central station — has lost justification for its existence.

Poem – Sea of Seeds
By Alba Victoria on May 24th, 2019 in Editorial & Opinion, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Podcasts, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact, Video & Podcasts
I am Alba Victoria
A biopsychologist highly interested in conservation
Dedicated to engaging science communication
Who is simply trying to find more sustainable ways
To support our current and future generations

Smart Cities through Smart Regulation
By Gustavo Gil Gasiola on April 26th, 2019 in Editorial & Opinion, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Smart Cities demand new strategies and forms of control. The traditional model of public regulation is challenged by a renewed relationship between technology, government, and society. We highlight the difficulties and possible solutions for regulation in the context of a Smart City, provided by the largest city in Brazil: São Paulo.

The Democracy Lag
By Caroline Lucas on March 28th, 2019 in Editorial & Opinion, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
U.K. democracy is out of date. It isn’t built to deal with digital tools that have unprecedented potential to manipulate the public.

Technology for Governance, Politics, and Democracy
By Tom Kane and Nick Novellil on March 16th, 2019 in Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Innovative Information and Communication Technologies play an important role in e-governance and digital democracy. There is unprecedented opportunity for community collective choice, whereby citizens who are affected by a set of governing rules can help to select policy options and rank spending priorities.

Facts, Policies, and Values– The Democratic Triad
By Jeremy Pitt on March 15th, 2019 in Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Politics required dialogue, deliberation, negotiation, and compromise. But now there is a dispute over the facts themselves.

Assessing Artificial Intelligence for Humanity
By Andrzej Nowak on February 1st, 2019 in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Will AI be our biggest ever advance — or the biggest threat? The real danger of AI lies not in sudden apocalypse, but in the gradual degradation and disappearance of what make human experience and existence meaningful.

Odorveillance and the Ethics of Robotic Olfaction
By Emily Stark on January 25th, 2019 in Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Social Implications of Technology
Given the current lack of regulation, there is nothing in principle to stop unscrupulous organizations from deploying surreptitious robotic olfaction.

Virtual Reality: Ethical Challenges and Dangers
By Ben Kenwright on January 14th, 2019 in Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
As VR has hit the mainstream, much debate has arisen over its ethical complexities. Traditional moral responsibilities do not always translate to the digital world. One aspect we argue is essential to ethical responsibility for virtual reality is that VR solutions must integrate ethical analysis into the design process, and practice dissemination of best practices.

Implantable Technology
By Robert Sobot on January 1st, 2019 in Editorial & Opinion, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Many recent advances in implantable devices not so long ago would have been strictly in the domain of science fiction. At the same time, the public remains mystified, if not conflicted about implantable technologies. Rising awareness about social issues related to implantable devices requires further exploration.

Making It Useful Even When It Seems to Be Useless
By Javier Aracil on October 13th, 2018 in Editorial & Opinion, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Technology has provided the source of intrinsically liberating devices, even if a number of them have proved themselves to be lethal. All this is precisely what defines the technological endeavors that constitute the backbone of our civilization.

Ethics of Robotic Deception
By Ronald C. Arkin on October 9th, 2018 in Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Social Implications of Technology
The time of robotic deception is rapidly approaching. We are being bombarded regarding the inherent ethical dangers of the approaching robotics and AI revolution, but far less concern has been expressed about the potential for robots to deceive human beings.

From Usability to Exploitability
By Jeremy Pitt on September 21st, 2018 in Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
If digital technologies can be designed to maintain or sustain values, then the same technologies can be designed to manipulate or undermine those same values.

From Good Ideas to Practical Solutions
By Roba Abbas on September 20th, 2018 in Editorial & Opinion, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
We define “good” technological ideas, as: sound technological designs, developed using participation-based methods, that seek to promote the beneficial uses of technology (through the harnessing of technological potential) while minimizing/potentially eliminating the undesirable effects on individuals and society. These approaches will ideally lead to the development and deployment of practical solutions that fulfill the need(s) of the intended end-user(s) and/or solve a given problem.

Defending Against Opaque Algorithmic Meddling in Free Elections
By Joe Carvalko on August 11th, 2018 in Editorial & Opinion, Magazine Articles, Privacy & Security, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
As social media serves to transform free speech the world over, a pervasive infiltration of the information highway is underway by individuals and entities using bots and human agencies to invade our privacy and channel extremist, hateful speech in propaganda-like campaigns bent on undermining democratic institutions.

Mundane Is the New Radical
By Rebekah Shirley and Daniel Kammen on August 3rd, 2018 in Editorial & Opinion, Environment, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
The increasing number of dam projects deployed in developing countries over the last two decades that perform poorly illustrate a disconnect between planners, stakeholders, and technological energy solutions of choice.

Publish or Impoverish
By Jeremy Pitt on June 26th, 2018 in Editorial & Opinion, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
It can be glibly asserted that technology makes accomplishing various activities easier. But it is not always obvious for whom it makes it easier to accomplish what. For example, the Internet has had a profound impact on academic publishing, and the transition from printed paper to digital format has ostensibly made it “easier” for academics to put their work in the public domain and, if they can actually get attention in a social-media sound-bite distracted world, reach a wider audience than ever before.

One at a Time, and All at Once
By Jeremy Pitt on March 21st, 2018 in Editorial & Opinion, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact
It is necessary to start somehow, even if you’ve got no map, no knowledge of the destination, and no milometer to measure the distance that has been covered. This can sometimes be the essence of collective action for addressing wicked problems. Sometimes human behavior defies top-down direction and even nudge, and begins instead with a single initiating event and snowballs from there.

Robots and SocioEthical Implications
By Katina Michael on March 7th, 2018 in Editorial & Opinion, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Societal Impact
Is it unreasonable for us to want more from the AI-inspired — something more than, for example, a robot that can get up off the ground, and recover from being hit with a club?