Some collective behavior that supports sustainability entails some individual inconvenience: many small acts of environmental kindness require some thought, effort, or consideration.
Category: Human Impacts
Smart Home Security: How Safe is Your Data?
By Kristina Milanovic on May 25th, 2020 in Editorial & Opinion, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Privacy & Security, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Security threats to smart devices are not just from hacking, but also from a lack of control over data access. The separation of security from convenience makes it difficult for the average user to determine how secure a smart device is.
On the Morality of Artificial Intelligence
By Alexandra Luccioni on May 7th, 2020 in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Commentary, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
It is important to discuss both the potential and risks of machine learning (ML) and to inspire practitioners to use ML for beneficial objectives.
My Fair Ladies
By Rachel Maines on April 24th, 2020 in Book Reviews, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Julie Wosk’s My Fair Ladies is an engaging historical account of female automata, with sidelights on dolls, disembodied electronic female voices, masks, make-up, and the sexual and gender implications of efforts to create artificial humans.
The Anna Karenina Principle
By Łukasz Tanaś on April 13th, 2020 in Commentary, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Playing a gender role in a society is engagement in a complex system and the list of necessary conditions for success in STEM is arguably longer for girls than for boys.
From Trust and Loyalty to Lock-In and Digital Dependence
By Jeremy Pitt on March 25th, 2020 in Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Mega-platforms have, with the addition of one extra ingredient, combined lock-in and loyalty to create a grave, and perhaps unexpected, consequence. The extra ingredient is psychology; and the unexpected consequence is what might be called digital dependence.
Smarter Homes for the Elderly: A Reality Check
By Stephen Cobb on February 27th, 2020 in Blog Posts, Ethics, Health & Medical, Human Impacts, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
The primary driver for agetech investment appears to be growing fears around caring for aging populations. But initiatives tend to skate over some of the inherent challenges.
Deepfake Videos and DDoS Attacks (Deliberate Denial of Satire)
By Jeremy Pitt on February 19th, 2020 in Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Democracy itself is under (yet another) threat from deepfake videos … deepfake videos could be used to create compromising material of politicians: for example, the digitally-altered video2 of U.S. House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi appearing to slur drunkenly was viewed millions of times and tweeted by the U.S. President, and although the video is demonstrably a hoax, the tweet remains undeleted.
Ethics and System Design in a New Era of Human-Computer Interaction
By Roba Abbas on February 10th, 2020 in Editorial & Opinion, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Contemporary and emerging digital technologies are leading us to question the ways in which humans interact with machines and with complex socio-technical systems. The new dynamics of technology and human interaction will inevitably exert pressure on existing ethical frameworks and regulatory bodies.
Tuning Networks for Prosocial Behavior
By Sun Sun Lim on January 17th, 2020 in Commentary, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Social media have been seen to accelerate the spread of negative content such as disinformation and hate speech, often unleashing a reckless herd mentality within networks, further aggravated by malicious entities using bots for amplification. So far, the response to this emerging global crisis has centered around social media platform companies making reactive moves
Ethics and System Design in a New Era of Human–Computer Interaction
By Roba Abbas on January 2nd, 2020 in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Editorial & Opinion, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
As technology pervades all aspects of our existence, and Artificial Intelligence and machine learning systems become commonplace, a new era of human-computer interaction is emerging that will involve directing our focus beyond traditional approaches, to span other intricate interactions with computer-based systems.
Being Human in the Days/Daze of Big Data
By Jeremy Pitt on November 28th, 2019 in Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Technology for Big Data, and its brother-in-arms Machine Learning, is at the root of, and is the facilitator of, deliberate string-pulling design choices. These design choices are made by people, and so the question actually becomes, do the design choices enabled by Big Data and Machine Learning have the capacity to alter, diminish and perhaps actually “destroy” what it means to be fundamentally human.
Bipartite Approaches: Designing and Delivering Technologies for Body and Soul
By Christine Perakslis on November 19th, 2019 in Human Impacts, Last Word, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Our authors identified risks that can result in diminished humanity, if technology is designed or delivered irresponsibly. Our community addressed much of what it means to be human, in the context of complex and converging processes.
Coming Up This Week – IEEE ISTAS 2019 – Boston
By Paul Cunningham on November 9th, 2019 in Conferences, Human Impacts, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
The IEEE Society for Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) invites you to participate in its flagship event, the 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society. IEEE ISTAS 2019 takes place 15- 16 November in Boston MA, hosted by the School of Engineering of Tufts University, on its Medford Campus.
If Technology Is a Parasite Masquerading as a Symbiont — Are We the Host?
By Jeff Robbins on October 29th, 2019 in Ethics, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Parents have no idea that lurking behind their kids’ screens and phones are a multitude of psychologists, neuroscientists, and social science experts, who use their knowledge of psychological vulnerabilities to devise products that capture kids’ attention for the sake of industry profit.
SSIT Launches: IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society
By Katina Michael on October 1st, 2019 in Announcements, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
The IEEE Society on the Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) are proud to announce the Society’s second refereed publication, the IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society (IEEE-TTS).
Health 4.0: Challenges for an Orderly and Inclusive Innovation
By Eduardo Mario Dias on September 24th, 2019 in Commentary, Health & Medical, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology
Healthcare is one of the sectors with the highest expectations for positive impacts of the 4.0 revolution. Healthcare systems must deal with the challenge of providing care without raising costs, given the fiscal constraints of the governments that provide such services to the population.
Let Me Hear from You
By Robert Dent on September 22nd, 2019 in Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, President's Message, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
The IEEE SSIT Technology and Society (T&S) Magazine has been published for decades. The SSIT Board of Governors is very… Read More
BOOK REVIEW: The Revenge of Analog
By A. David Wunsch on September 5th, 2019 in Book Reviews, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
“From today, painting is dead!” is said to have been proclaimed by the French painter Paul Delaroche in 1839 after seeing his first daguerreotype. His was an early name on the list of people who have made fools of themselves when prognosticating a future resulting from a new medium or invention. Motivated by either techno-euphoria or pessimism they have become famously wrong.
Understanding and Strengthening Capacity for Society
By Christine Perakslis on August 17th, 2019 in Human Impacts, Last Word, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
As populations increase, the volume of man and materials increases [1]. Demand can exceed capacity.