Category: Social Implications of Technology

Autonomous Vehicles in Rural Communities: Is It Feasible?

By on December 2nd, 2021 in Articles, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Commentary, Environment, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact

Although much research has been devoted to the effects of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on urban areas, little work has been dedicated to the potential impacts of AVs in rural areas, especially related to feasibility and accessibility [1]. How will automated vehicles impact rural communities?

Can Open Source Licenses Help Regulate Lethal Autonomous Weapons?

By on December 1st, 2021 in Articles, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Ethics, Leading Edge, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact

Lethal autonomous weapon systems  have the potential to radically transform warfare. Can open source technology help regulate their development?

Next Steps for Social Robotics in an Aging World

By on November 11th, 2021 in Articles, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Health & Medical, Human Impacts, Leading Edge, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact

The technologies being investigated may hold a promising future for the elderly population, allowing people to continue to live inside their homes while aging.

Not Another Panic Button: Meaningful Inclusion in Technology Development

By on November 7th, 2021 in Articles, Communication Technology, Ethics, Health & Medical, Human Impacts, Leading Edge, Magazine Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact

Hackathons and other well-intentioned efforts to solve social problems using technology must also include the meaningful participation of affected individuals…  Read More

Co-Designing the Future With Public Interest Technology

By 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.

Call for Papers — IEEE TSM Special Issue on “After Covid-19: Crises, Ethics, and Socio-Technical Change”

By on October 5th, 2021 in Call for Papers, Health & Medical, Human Impacts, Privacy & Security, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact, Transactions

As the COVID-19 pandemic shows, crises can catalyze socio-technical changes at a speed and scale otherwise thought impossible. Crises expose the fragility and resilience of our sociotechnical systems – from healthcare to financial markets, internet connectivity, and local communities.

Call for Papers: Special Issue on Socio-Technical Ecosystem Considerations: Threats and Opportunities for AI in Cybersecurity

By on October 5th, 2021 in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Call for Papers, Call for Papers, Ethics, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact, Transactions

An element of the expansion of digital technologies is a shift in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology from research laboratories into the hands of anyone with a smartphone. AI powered search, personalization and automation are being deployed across sectors, from education to healthcare, to policing, to finance. Wide AI diffusion is then reshaping the way organizations, communities and individuals’ function. The potentially radical consequences of AI have pushed nation states across the globe to publish strategies on how they seek to shape, drive and leverage the disruptive capabilities offered by AI technologies to bolster their prosperity and security.

The Need for Public Interest Technology

By 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.

When Outlandish Science Fiction Becomes Real

By on September 5th, 2021 in Blog Posts, Case Studies, Environment, Health & Medical, Human Impacts, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact

The nuclear anxiety of the Cold War now seems quaint. While speculative writers of the late 20th-early 21st centuries have largely relegated nukes to the past, the situation at San Onofre reminds us of our sins — of assuming the future would take care of the future. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission enabled this consensual hallucination. Did it take climate change into consideration?