scholarly journals Artificial Beings Worthy of Moral Consideration in Virtual Environments: An Analysis of Ethical Viability

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Gualeni

This article explores whether and under which circumstances it is ethically viable to include artificial beings worthy of moral consideration in virtual environments. In particular, the article focuses on virtual environments such as those in digital games and training simulations – interactive and persistent digital artifacts designed to fulfill specific purposes, such as entertainment, education, training, or persuasion.The article introduces the criteria for moral consideration that serve as a framework for this analysis. Adopting this framework, the article tackles the question of whether including artificial intelligences that are entitled to moral consideration in virtual environments constitutes an immoral action on the part of human creators. To address this problem, the article draws on three conceptual lenses from the philosophical branch of ethics: the problem of parenthood and procreation, the question concerning the moral status of animals, and the classical problem of evil.Using a thought experiment, the concluding section proposes a contractualist answer to the question posed in this article. The same section also emphasizes the potential need to reframe our understanding of the design of virtual environments and their future stakeholders.

IEEE Access ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
H. Regenbrecht ◽  
C. Ott ◽  
N. Park ◽  
S. Duncan ◽  
J. Collins

1978 ◽  
Vol 28 (111) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
Mary Midgley ◽  
Stephen R. L. Clark

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Miguel Angel Garcia-Ruiz ◽  
Bill Kapralos ◽  
Genaro Rebolledo-Mendez

This paper describes an overview of olfactory displays (human–computer interfaces that generate and diffuse an odor to a user to stimulate their sense of smell) that have been proposed and researched for supporting education and training. Past research has shown that olfaction (the sense of smell) can support memorization of information, stimulate information recall, and help immerse learners and trainees into educational virtual environments, as well as complement and/or supplement other human sensory channels for learning. This paper begins with an introduction to olfaction and olfactory displays, and a review of techniques for storing, generating and diffusing odors at the computer interface. The paper proceeds with a discussion on educational theories that support olfactory displays for education and training, and a literature review on olfactory displays that support learning and training. Finally, the paper summarizes the advantages and challenges regarding the development and application of olfactory displays for education and training.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Nevena Jaftha ◽  
Flavia Cristina Morone Pinto ◽  
Tatjana Chircop

Gamification is only successful if the key elements are joint and run in unity in favour of the user, and knowing game-playing characteristics of target audience is of utmost importance. This study aimed to identify the students' game-playing preferences and styles, considering the opportunity to implement gamification in education in a personalized way. A descriptive-normative survey involved 74 students of a Vocational Education and Training (VET) Institution, chosen by convenience sampling. The target audience of the research was students at the MQF introductory level A and B (17.6%), at MQF level 2 (40.5%) and at MQF level 3 (41.91%). Participants received a questionnaire about game-playing preferences and styles. Students’ average age was 18.31±0.776 years, 70.3% males and 29.7% females (p=0.001), and the majority were Maltese (79.7%; p=0.000). Most of the participants (72.9%) preferred digital games. Regarding the style of playing, students reported preferring a mix of single-player games and cooperative games (38.7%). The students responded that, when they re-play a game, they do so “because it is interesting” or they “like it” (15.82%) and most of them (64%) reported they liked the idea of learning through games. Thus, according to these findings, the students prefer to play in cooperative digital game contexts and most of them like the idea of learning through games because they believe that they can learn and have fun at the same time. 


Author(s):  
Aparajithan Sivanathan ◽  
Scott Mcgibbon ◽  
Theodore Lim ◽  
James Ritchie ◽  
Mohamed Abdel-Wahab

Cyber-physical systems enable new digital ecologies in industrial and workplace lifelong learning. This paper reports on early efforts in delivering a virtual environment and system for vocational education and training (VET), in particular targeting the needs of craft and trade skills. The domain of stone masonry is presented herein, where its underpinning activities are learning through virtual environments, simulation and role play. The challenges are not only the synchronicity between physical and software components but also the in-game mechanics that incorporate building blocks of effective training and skills development strategies. A prototype body-area sensor network in a cyber-physical game environment demonstrates the interaction between virtual objects and the player-learner.


Author(s):  
Khalifa Alshaya ◽  
Pamela Beck

This qualitative study explored the perceived challenges ELL teachers encounter when using and implementing digital games as educational tools. Six ELL teachers were interviewed, and a phenomenological lens was used to analyze the data. The synthesis of textural and structural meanings and essences as a last step of phenomenological data analysis lead to two major findings of ELL teachers' experiences with digital games: logistical and pedagogical. The findings indicate that there is a lack of resources, support, time, and overwhelming choices that characterize the logistical challenges. On the other hand, ELL teachers teaching philosophy, curriculum, and training highlights the pedagogical challenge of incorporating digital games.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147-168
Author(s):  
Thaddeus Metz

This chapter begins Part III, which argues that the relational moral theory of rightness as friendliness is a strong competitor to Western principles in many applied ethical contexts. Chapter 8 articulates and defends a novel, relational account of moral status, according to which an entity is owed moral consideration roughly to the degree that it is capable of being party to a communal relationship. One of its implications is that many animals have a moral status but not one as high as ours, which many readers will find attractive, but which utilitarianism and Kantianism cannot easily accommodate. Relational moral status also grounds a promising response to the ‘argument from marginal cases’ that animals have the same moral status as incapacitated humans: even if two beings have identical intrinsic properties, they can differ in the extent to which they can relate and hence differ in their degree of moral status.


2019 ◽  
pp. 165-188
Author(s):  
Peter Carruthers

Chapter 7 concluded that there is no fact of the matter concerning phenomenal consciousness in animals, while also arguing that this conclusion is of no importance for science. The present chapter inquires whether it is nevertheless important in other ways, specifically for our ethical treatment of animals, arguing that it is not. But a challenge remains for those who theorize about the moral status of animals: they need to prize the foundations of their theories apart from assumptions about consciousness. The chapter also considers what should be said about the phenomenally conscious status of humans who, like animals, only partially share a full global-broadcasting architecture, such as human infants and people suffering from age-related cognitive impairments.


Author(s):  
Guaracy Silveira

Guided by the principles of digital game design, the author proposes a reformulation of the pedagogical objectives and focuses of the pedagogical graduate courses, especially in relation to internship and training stages, in a problem-solving model based on digital games intending to shift the formation of future teachers from an abstract model to a real-life-based problem, thus proposing guidelines for an interdisciplinary project. The chapter summaries this proposal enlisting the necessary structural changes needed to achieve this goal to guide those wishing to adjust their pedagogical projects in a way to insert the digital games as educational devices in their courses without having to remodel the entire existing course. An introduction to the problem is made, its theorical background presented, followed by a contextualization of the Brazilian educational area with the proposition delineated and a conclusion.


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