scholarly journals Human Simulation and Sustainability: Ontological, Epistemological, and Ethical Reflections

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 10039
Author(s):  
F. LeRon Shults ◽  
Wesley J. Wildman
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Cognitive Architectures ◽  
Transdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Modeling Process ◽  
Artificial Societies ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
Ethical Reflections ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Human Simulation

This article begins with a brief outline of recent advances in the application of computer modeling to sustainability research, identifying important gaps in coverage and associated limits in methodological capability, particularly in regard to taking account of the tangled human factors that are often impediments to a sustainable future. It then describes some of the ways in which a new transdisciplinary approach within “human simulation” can contribute to the further development of sustainability modeling, more effectively addressing such human factors through its emphasis on stakeholder, policy professional, and subject matter expert participation, and its focus on constructing more realistic cognitive architectures and artificial societies. Finally, the article offers philosophical reflections on some of the ontological, epistemological, and ethical issues raised at the intersection of sustainability research and social simulation, considered in light of the importance of human factors, including values and worldviews, in the modeling process. Based on this philosophical analysis, we encourage more explicit conversations about the value of naturalism and secularism in finding and facilitating effective and ethical strategies for sustainable development.

scholarly journals Modeling Human Factors Topics in Aviation Reports

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-130
Author(s):  
Beth Lyall-Wilson ◽  
Nicolas Kim ◽  
Elizabeth Hohman
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Topic Modeling ◽  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Aviation Safety ◽  
Subject Matter Experts ◽  
Text Data ◽  
Modeling Approach ◽  
Modeling Process ◽  
Manual Review ◽  
Initial Extraction

This paper describes the development and new application of a text modeling process for identifying human factors topics, such as fatigue, workload, and distraction in aviation safety reports. Current approaches to identifying human factors topic representations in text data rely on manual review from subject matter experts. The implementation of a semi-supervised text modeling method overcomes the need for lengthy manual review through an initial extraction of pre-defined human factors topics, freeing time for focus on analyzing the information. This modeling approach allows analysts to use keywords to define topics of interest up front and influence the convergence of the model toward a result that reflects them, which provides an advantage over classic topic modeling approaches where domain knowledge is not integrated into the generation of derived topics. This paper includes a description of the modeling approach and rationale, data used, evaluation methods, challenges, and suggestions for future applications.

scholarly journals Human cerebral organoids and consciousness: a double-edged sword

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Lavazza
Keyword(s):  
Moral Status ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Developmental Process ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Human Consciousness ◽  
Preterm Babies ◽  
Test Treatments ◽  
In Vitro Cell Cultures ◽  
Further Development

AbstractHuman cerebral organoids (HCOs) are three-dimensional in vitro cell cultures that mimic the developmental process and organization of the developing human brain. In just a few years this technique has produced brain models that are already being used to study diseases of the nervous system and to test treatments and drugs. Currently, HCOs consist of tens of millions of cells and have a size of a few millimeters. The greatest limitation to further development is due to their lack of vascularization. However, recent research has shown that human cerebral organoids can manifest the same electrical activity and connections between brain neurons and EEG patterns as those recorded in preterm babies. All this suggests that, in the future, HCOs may manifest an ability to experience basic sensations such as pain, therefore manifesting sentience, or even rudimentary forms of consciousness. This calls for consideration of whether cerebral organoids should be given a moral status and what limitations should be introduced to regulate research. In this article I focus particularly on the study of the emergence and mechanisms of human consciousness, i.e. one of the most complex scientific problems there are, by means of experiments on HCOs. This type of experiment raises relevant ethical issues and, as I will argue, should probably not be considered morally acceptable.

scholarly journals A Transdisciplinary Approach to Identifying Transboundary Tipping Points in a Contentious Area: Experiences from across the Jordan River Region

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1184
Author(s):  
Juan Rodriguez Lopez ◽  
Katja Tielbörger ◽  
Cornelia Claus ◽  
Christiane Fröhlich ◽  
Marc Gramberger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Tipping Points ◽  
Jordan River ◽  
Transdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Transboundary Cooperation ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
River Region ◽  
Potential Case

Transdisciplinary research is urgently needed but has rarely been applied in sustainability science. Here, we present a case study for a transdisciplinary approach to identify tipping points in the Jordan River region, an area of severe conflicts and environmental problems. The aim was to identify and prioritize different ecological and social tipping points within a framework of transdisciplinary assessment, using the Jordan River Region as a case study. The methodology included an iterative process in which a multidisciplinary group of scientists and regional stakeholders evaluated emerging tipping points involving professionally facilitated workshops, a correlation analysis, and an anonymous ranking based on specific criteria (practical relevance, scientific novelty, transboundary elements, and feasibility of intervention). During the process, the similarities and differences in the perceptions of the potential case studies by stakeholders from the three countries (Israel, Palestine and Jordan) involved were analyzed. The results found key elements of the term tipping point (abrupt, difficult to predict, irreversible regime shift, difficult management), and showed local and regional differences in evaluating potential case studies, where degradation or desertification of rangelands emerged as a final case study of common concern. The lessons learnt show the potential and challenges of transboundary cooperation, and the possibility of the co-creation of research with stakeholders to build knowledge about the diversity of tipping points. The study concludes that common ground related to the sustainable management of natural resources exists even in highly contentious areas, and among highly different cultural, political, and socio-economic conditions. The approach presented here may thus inform practitioners in prioritizing areas of transboundary sustainability research in other regions.

scholarly journals Helping autism-diagnosed teenagers navigate and develop socially using e-learning based on mobile persuasion

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Øhrstrøm
Keyword(s):  
Social Development ◽  
System Design ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Persuasive Technology ◽  
Autism Diagnosis ◽  
Research Project ◽  
The Social ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Further Development

<p>The HANDS (Helping Autism-diagnosed teenagers Navigate and Develop Socially) research project involves the creation of an e-learning toolset that can be used to develop individualized tools to support the social development of teenagers with an autism diagnosis. The e-learning toolset is based on ideas from persuasive technology. This paper addresses the system design of the HANDS toolset as seen from the user’s perspective. The results of the evaluation of prototype 1 of the toolset and the needs for further development are discussed. In addition, questions regarding credibility and reflections on ethical issues related to the project are considered.</p>

The Impact of Information Technology on Human Space Exploration Missions

1997 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony R. Gross ◽  
Madeleine M. Gross
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Human Factors ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Space Exploration ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Space Flights ◽  
Automation Systems ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Further Development

Human space expeditions have, from the beginning, involved great risk and complexity. Space flights, accordingly, have utilized substantial quantities of highly skilled labor. The rapid creation and evolution of increasingly powerful information technologies promise a new human-automation systems balance of work. This balance holds the potential of greatly increased crewed and robotic space exploration capability, along with dramatically reduced costs. Since further development of sophisticated information technology systems must, from the outset, consider both the human and the machine as “components” of an integrated system, research supporting the development and optimal utilization of such systems will necessarily incorporate significant human factors components. This paper examines the impact of information technologies on lunar and planetary missions; exemplar inherent human factors aspects, such as display and control in virtual environment/teleoperated systems, are considered.

A Transdisciplinary Perspective on Hedonomic Sustainability Design

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Fiore ◽  
Elizabeth Phillips ◽  
Brittany C. Sellers
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Factors ◽  
Transdisciplinary Research ◽  
Specialized Knowledge ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
The Impact

The impact of climate change should be a key concern of those in the human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) discipline. Our specialized knowledge and expertise can be applied toward mitigating the effects of climate change. In this article, we unite two perspectives to illustrate how HF/E can more productively contribute to the research and practice of sustainability. First, we describe differing forms of cross-disciplinary research, with a particular focus on the notion of transdisciplinary research and the concept of hedonomic design. Second, we unite these ideas to illustrate how they provide a set of complementary concepts that can guide HF/E sustainability research.

scholarly journals Explainable, Trustworthy, and Ethical Machine Learning for Healthcare: A Survey

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khansa Rasheed ◽  
Adnan Qayyum ◽  
Mohammed Ghaly ◽  
Ala Al-Fuqaha ◽  
Adeel Razi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Healthcare Applications ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Clinical Utilization ◽  
Box Models ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Black Box Models

With the advent of machine learning (ML) applications in daily life, the questions about liability, trust, and interpretability of their outputs are raising, especially for healthcare applications. The black-box nature of ML models is a roadblock for clinical utilization. Therefore, to gain the trust of clinicians and patients, researchers need to provide explanations of how and why the model is making a specific decision. With the promise of enhancing the trust and transparency of black-box models, researchers are in the phase of maturing the field of eXplainable ML (XML). In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of explainable and interpretable ML techniques implemented for providing the reasons behind their decisions for various healthcare applications. Along with highlighting various security, safety, and robustness challenges that hinder the trustworthiness of ML we also discussed the ethical issues of healthcare ML and describe how explainable and trustworthy ML can resolve these ethical problems. Finally, we elaborate on the limitations of existing approaches and highlight various open research problems that require further development.

scholarly journals Explorative Experiments and Digital Humanism: Adding an Epistemic Dimension to the Ethical Debate

2021 ◽  
pp. 77-82
Author(s):  
Viola Schiaffonati
Keyword(s):  
Computer Science ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
Ethical Debate ◽  
Epistemic Dimension ◽  
Ethical Reflections

AbstractThe rise of Digital Humanism calls for shaping digital technologies in accordance with human values and needs. I argue that to achieve this goal, an epistemic and methodological dimension should be added to the ethical reflections developed in the last years. In particular, I propose the framework of explorative experimentation in computer science and engineering to set an agenda for the reflection on the ethical issues of digital technologies that seriously considers their peculiarities from an epistemic point of view. As the traditional epistemic categories of the natural sciences cannot be directly adopted by computer science and engineering, the traditional moral principles guiding experimentation in the natural sciences should be reconsidered in the case of digital technologies where uncertainty about their impacts and risks is very high.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document