The wearable industry is responding to the needs of researchers and consumers with improved UV-wearable technologies.
Category: Magazine Articles
Co-Designing the Future With Public Interest Technology
By Roba Abbas on October 6th, 2021 in Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
PIT acknowledges that technological potential can be harnessed to satisfy the needs of civil society. In other words, technology can be seen as a public good that can benefit all, through an open democratic system of governance, with open data initiatives, open technologies, and open systems/ecosystems designed for the collective good, as defined by respective communities that will be utilizing them.
How Universal Is Our Message?
By Clint Andrews on October 1st, 2021 in Articles, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, President's Message, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Critical thinking is a mainstream part of some educational traditions, but is it universally valued? Only some truths have an objective basis and many others depend on the eye of the beholder. No real society values everyone equally.
The Need for Public Interest Technology
By Jeremy Pitt on September 7th, 2021 in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Systems can be designed using methodologies like value-sensitive design, and operationalized, to produce socio-technical solutions to support or complement policies that address environmental sustainability, social justice, or public health. Such systems are then deployed in order to promote the public interest or enable users to act (individually and at scale) in a way that is in the public interest toward individual and communal empowerment.
Electric Light: An Architectural History
By A. David Wunsch on September 3rd, 2021 in Book Reviews, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology
The author’s intention is to study cases that “suggest an architectural history of spaces that have been generated or extensively reconstituted by electric light.” His thesis is “the electric light changes the underlying nature of a space.”
SSIT Student Essay Contest – Deadline Extended!
By Heather Love on September 2nd, 2021 in Announcements, Conferences, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
If you are an undergraduate student interested in examining the social implications of technology, submit your work for a chance to publish your work and win cash prizes!
Reflection for a More Equitable World Post-Pandemic
By Christine Perakslis on September 2nd, 2021 in Ethics, Human Impacts, Last Word, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Reflective thinking allows humans to examine the past with intentionality, learn from what happened, and adapt accordingly. We explore thoughts, feelings, and actions, mine out insights, and enhance awareness.
Book Review: Edison
By Eric P. Wenaas on August 30th, 2021 in Book Reviews, Ethics, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Morris’s book is difficult to read, not only because it is written in reverse chronological order, but because he does not understand the technology he is writing about.
Covid-19 in Conversations
By Louise Gordon on August 21st, 2021 in Articles, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Health & Medical, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
The fiercest public health crisis in a century has elicited cooperative courage and sacrifice across the globe. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic is producing severe social, economic, political, and ethical divides, within and between nations. It is reshaping how we engage with each other and how we see the world around us. It urges us to think more deeply on many challenging issues—some of which can perhaps offer opportunities if we handle them well. The transcripts that follow speak to the potency and promise of dialogue. They record two in a continuing series of “COVID-19 In Conversations” hosted by Oxford Prospects and Global Development Institute.
IEEE SSIT Student Discussion Forum in Association with ASU PIT
By terribookman on August 9th, 2021 in Announcements, Articles, Blog Posts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, SSIT Announcements
Tuesday 5.30 – 7.00 p.m. (EDT), 2.30 pm – 4.00 pm (MST), Wednesday 7.30 am – 9.00 am (AEST); ;– “IP Location Services and Automated Biometric Recognition”
Bias and Discrimination in AI: A Cross-Disciplinary Perspective
By Xavier Ferrer on August 7th, 2021 in Articles, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Digital discrimination is becoming a serious problem, as more and more decisions are delegated to systems increasingly based on artificial intelligence techniques such as machine learning. Although a significant amount of research has been undertaken from different disciplinary angles to understand this challenge—from computer science to law to sociology— none of these fields have been able to resolve the problem on their own terms. We propose a synergistic approach that allows us to explore bias and discrimination in AI by supplementing technical literature with social, legal, and ethical perspectives.
Vaccines, Public Health, and the Law
By Johnna Wallace on July 21st, 2021 in Articles, Editorial & Opinion, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology
Disease prevention due to successful vaccination is a double-edged sword as it can give the illusion that mass vaccination is no longer warranted. Antivaccination movements are not completely absent throughout history, but for example, most recently, parents have been declining childhood vaccines at alarming levels [2, S9]. Safety concerns and misinformation seem to be at the forefront of these movements.
If a Colleague Asks: “Will My Innovation Have Unintended Consequences?”
By Clint Andrews on June 20th, 2021 in Articles, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, President's Message, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Unintended consequences of technological development matter in practice and thus are not just of academic interest. SSIT would do well to spark constructive and practical discussion about managing unintended consequences.
AI vs “AI”: Synthetic Minds or Speech Acts
By Jeremy Pitt on June 10th, 2021 in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Just as the “autonomous” in lethal autonomous weapons allows the military to dissemble over responsibility for their effects, there are civilian companies leveraging “AI” to exert control without responsibility.
And so we arrive at “trustworthy AI” because, of course, we are building systems that people should trust and if they don’t it’s their fault, so how can we make them do that, right? Or, we’ve built this amazing “AI” system that can drive your car for you but don’t blame us when it crashes because you should have been paying attention. Or, we built it, sure, but then it learned stuff and it’s not under our control anymore—the world is a complex place.
ISTAS 2021 Invites Paper Submissions for October 28-31 Conference
By Heather Love on June 9th, 2021 in Announcements, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact
ISTAS 2021 will be jointly hosted by the University of Waterloo and the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) in October 28-31, 2021. Submission Deadline July 13, 2021
From Artificial Intelligence Bias to Inequality in the Time of COVID-19
By Miguel Luengo-Oroz on June 8th, 2021 in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Editorial & Opinion, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated existing global inequalities. Whether at the local, national, or international scale, the gap between the privileged and the vulnerable is growing wider, resulting in a broad increase in inequality across all dimensions of society. The disease has strained health systems, social support programs, and the economy as a whole, drawing an ever-widening distinction between those with access to treatment, services, and job opportunities and those without.
Champions of AI4Eq: Equity as an Adaptive Challenge
By Christine Perakslis on May 27th, 2021 in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Human Impacts, Last Word, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
We celebrated AI for mental health equity when access is augmented for marginalized populations. We applauded AI as a complement to current services; practitioners would be less overtaxed and more productive, thereby serving vulnerable populations better.
Book Review: Techno-Fixers: Origins and Implications of Technological Faith
By A. David Wunsch on May 23rd, 2021 in Book Reviews, Environment, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
The public’s faith in science and technology has never been higher. Computer “apps” that explore things such as the frequency of, and point of origin of, COVID-related Google search terms, and Twitter posts, are being used to trace the progress of the virus and to predict the sites of further outbreaks. The United States has been roiled by the death, at the hands of the police, of George Floyd. Floyd’s killing was captured by an app that has been circulating throughout the globe that has acquired the near iconic power of the crucifixion. With the majority of the American people equipped to make audio–visual recording of police brutality and post them on social media, we expect that crimes such as this will certainly diminish.
Book Review: Hacking Diversity: The Politics of Inclusion in Open Technology Cultures
By Jenna P. Carpenter on May 21st, 2021 in Book Reviews, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Open technology communities are loosely organized, volunteer, online groups, focused on development and distribution of open or free software and hardware. “Hacking Diversity:The Politics of Inclusion in Open Technology Cultures” is a study of the efforts of open technology communities to “hack” the issues around the lack of diversity that pervades not only their volunteer communities, but also their related disciplines at large.
Toward a More Equal World: The Human Rights Approach to Extending the Benefits of Artificial Intelligence
By Elizabeth D. Gibbons on April 29th, 2021 in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Editorial & Opinion, Environment, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
There is huge potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to bring massive benefits to under-served populations, advancing equal access to public services such as health, education, social assistance, or public transportation, AI can also drive inequality, concentrating wealth, resources, and decision-making power in the hands of a few countries, companies, or citizens. Artificial intelligence for equity (AI4Eq) calls upon academics, AI developers, civil society, and government policy-makers to work collaboratively toward a technological transformation that increases the benefits to society, reduces inequality, and aims to leave no one behind.