scholarly journals Twelve Agendas on Interacting with Information: A Human-Engaged Computing Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-199
Author(s):  
Chen Wang ◽  
Xiaojun (Jenny) Yuan ◽  
Xiangshi Ren

AbstractDuring the coronavirus global pandemic crisis, we have received information from authentic and inauthentic sources. Fake news, continuous rumors, and prejudiced opinions from digital platforms and social media have the capacity to disrupt social harmony, to stall personal development, and to undermine trust on all levels of human interaction. Despite the wide plurality of perspectives, the diversity of contents, the variety of voices, and the many often-conflicting reasons for publishing, our interactions with information on digital devices are progressively shaping such situations and affecting decisions on all levels. We look at the limitations of existing designs and guidelines in the current paradigm, and we ask to what extent researchers and developers can focus and contribute, through their innovations, to the reduction of uncertainty and cases of misdirection, how they can mitigate tensions between information and humans, and how they can contribute to the maintenance and enhancement of worthy human values. Human-engaged computing (HEC) calls for innate user capacities to be enhanced rather than displaced by digital technologies so that the human factor in interactions is fully exploited and truly efficient symbiotic relationships between humans and devices can be achieved. Under the framework of HEC, we propose 12 research agendas from the theoretical, principled, and practical aspects, in order to develop future synergized interactions between humans and information. The present crisis presents us with a good opportunity to reflect on the need to empower humans in relation to the tools they use and to consider the next paradigm shift for designing information interaction.

1983 ◽  
Vol 22 (03) ◽  
pp. 124-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. Bemmel

At first sight, the many applications of computers in medicine—from payroll and registration systems to computerized tomography, intensive care and diagnostics—do make a rather chaotic impression. The purpose of this article is to propose a scheme or working model for putting medical information systems in order. The model comprises six »levels of complexity«, running parallel to dependence on human interaction. Several examples are treated to illustrate the scheme. The reason why certain computer applications are more frequently used than others is analyzed. It has to be strongly considered that the differences in complexity and dependence on human involvement are not accidental but fundamental. This has consequences for research and education which are also discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 205395172110343
Author(s):  
Salomé Viljoen ◽  
Jake Goldenfein ◽  
Lee McGuigan

Mechanism design is a form of optimization developed in economic theory. It casts economists as institutional engineers, choosing an outcome and then arranging a set of market rules and conditions to achieve it. The toolkit from mechanism design is widely used in economics, policymaking, and now in building and managing online environments. Mechanism design has become one of the most pervasive yet inconspicuous influences on the digital mediation of social life. Its optimizing schemes structure online advertising markets and other multi-sided platform businesses. Whatever normative rationales mechanism design might draw on in its economic origins, as its influence has grown and its applications have become more computational, we suggest those justifications for using mechanism design to orchestrate and optimize human interaction are losing traction. In this article, we ask what ideological work mechanism design is doing in economics, computer science, and its applications to the governance of digital platforms. Observing mechanism design in action in algorithmic environments, we argue it has become a tool for producing information domination, distributing social costs in ways that benefit designers, and controlling and coordinating participants in multi-sided platforms.


Human Arenas ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Croce

AbstractThis article addresses the call of the Psychology of Global Crises conference for linkage of academic work with social issues in three parts: First, examples from conference participants with their mix of bold calls for social transformation and realization of limits, a combination that generated few clear paths to achieving them. Second, presentation of Jamesian practical idealism with psychological insights for moving past impediments blocking implementation of ideals. And third, a case study of impacts from the most recent prominent crisis, the global pandemic of 2020, which threatens to exacerbate the many crises that had already been plaguing recent history. The tentacles of COVID’s impact into so many problems, starting with economic impacts from virus spread, present an opportunity to rethink the hope for constant economic growth, often expressed as the American Dream, an outlook that has driven so many of the problems surging toward crises. Jamesian awareness of the construction of ideological differences and encouragement of listening to those in disagreement provide not political solutions, but psychological preludes toward improvements in the face of crises.


Challenges ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Alan C. Logan ◽  
Susan H. Berman ◽  
Richard B. Scott ◽  
Brian M. Berman ◽  
Susan L. Prescott

Planetary health is a broad multidisciplinary effort that attempts to address what has been described as “Anthropocene Syndrome”—the wicked, interrelated challenges of our time. These include, but are not limited to, grotesque biodiversity losses, climate change, environmental degradation, resource depletion, the global burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), health inequalities, social injustices, erosion of wisdom and civility, together with the many structural underpinnings of these grand challenges. The ultimate aim of planetary health is flourishing along every link in the person, place and planet continuum. The events of “2020” have illuminated the consequences of “mass trauma” and how sub-threshold anxiety and/or depressive symptoms erase the rigid lines between mental “health” and mental “disorders”, and unmasked the systemic forms of injustice, discrimination, and oppression that have too often escaped discourse. Here, we query the ways in which post-traumatic growth research might inform the larger planetary health community, especially in the context of a global pandemic, broadening socioeconomic inequalities, a worsening climate crisis, and the rise of political authoritarianism. The available research would suggest that “2020” fulfills the trauma criteria of having a “seismic impact on the assumptive world”, and as such, provides fertile ground for post-traumatic growth. Among the many potential positive changes that might occur in response to trauma, we focus on the value of new awareness, perspective and greater wisdom.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 882-889
Author(s):  
Dani Nur Saputra

One of the competencies that must be possessed in the 21st century is digital literacy skills. This ability must be possessed by every student and lecturer in integrating digital platforms into learning, especially in the current pandemic era. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a digital platform in its application to practical courses. Researchers use google classroom as a sample of the many types of digital platforms. This type of research is descriptive qualitative using a case study approach. The object of this research were 26 active students who took music ensemble courses, while the variable being investigated was the use of google classroom in learning. Data collection was carried out by means of questionnaires, observations, and interviews. The results show that digital platforms can be used as an alternative solution to carry out online learning in the midst of a pandemic. However, it is not optimal for the music ensemble course because of several factors, including the location of the student's residence which is difficult to get a signal, material that students find difficult, the availability of their own musical instruments, and the student's ability to play music.


Author(s):  
Rob Kitchin

How can we begin to grasp the scope and scale of our new data-rich world, and can we truly comprehend what is at stake? This book explores the intricacies of data creation and charts how data-driven technologies have become essential to how society, government and the economy work. Creatively blending scholarly analysis, biography and fiction, the book demonstrates how data are shaped by social and political forces, and the extent to which they influence our daily lives. The book begins with an overview of the sociality of data. Data-driven endeavours are as much a result of human values, desires, and social relations as they are scientific principles and technologies. The data revolution has been transforming work and the economy, the nature of consumption, the management and governance of society, how we communicate and interact with media and each other, and forms of play and leisure. Indeed, our lives are saturated with digital devices and services that generate, process, and share vast quantities of data. The book reveals the many, complex, contested ways in which data are produced and circulated, as well as the consequences of living in a data-driven world. The book concludes with an exploration as to what kind of data future we want to create and strategies for realizing our visions. It highlights the need to enact 'a digital ethics of care', and to claim and assert 'data sovereignty'. Ultimately, the book reveals our data world to be one of potential danger, but also of hope.


Author(s):  
Gaurav Roy

The global pandemic has led to an undeniable surge in using digital technologies due to the social distancing norms and nationwide lockdowns. Firms and organizations are conforming to the new culture of work and life. The use of internet services, digital devices, and cloud systems has seen surges in usage from 40% to 100%, compared to pre-lockdown levels. With the rapid growth of this technological use, people are exposing their digital assets, presence, and behavior out to the binary world where AI-driven data analysis algorithms, data-gathering systems, and spyware are continuously monitoring their behavior. These subconsciously exposed data are then carried forward for delivering customized ads and recommend features.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630512093398
Author(s):  
William Clyde Partin

This article considers the history of donation management tools on the livestreaming platform Twitch. In particular, it details the technical and economic contexts that led to the development of Twitch Bits, a first-party donation management service introduced in 2016. Two contributions to research on the platformization of cultural production are made. One, this article expands the empirical record regarding Twitch by chronicling the role of viewer donations in livestreaming since 2010, as well as the many tools that have facilitated this practice. It is argued that this history traces the complex and co-productive interactions between Twitch as a sociotechnical architecture and a political economy. Two, by considering how the first-party donation tool Twitch Bits has gradually challenged the dominance of the third-party tools that preceded it, this article theorizes the notion of platform capture, a critical rereading of platform envelopment, a popular concept in business studies. Ultimately, it is argued that platform capture demonstrates how platform owners leverage power asymmetries over dependents to aid in their platform’s technical evolution.


Author(s):  
Swaroop S. Sonone ◽  
Mahipal Singh Sankhla ◽  
Rajeev Kumar

Cyberbullying is the usage of computerized transmission to threaten an individual, typically by forwarding messages of an intimidating or menacing nature. Digital devices and electronic media have been a boon for humanity but have also resulted in the disadvantages of various cybercrimes, of which cyberbullying is the most prominent and one of the fastest growing. Cyberbullying in teens and adolescents has been proved to be a reason for various mental disorders, alterations in behaviour, and abuse. Bullying on digital platforms is one of the major issues of concern today. It is vital to keep a check on oneself to prevent cyberbullying and restrain its consequences.


Contexts ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 22-25
Author(s):  
Kimberly Higuera

In the global pandemic, there is a group of people who are not socially distancing: the precariously employed, the workers who live paycheck to paycheck and lack the flexibility to stay home. In this article, readers are encouraged to consider the many social factors that can impede people from staying home.


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