The social and ethical impacts of artificial intelligence in agriculture: mapping the agricultural AI literature

This paper will examine the social and ethical impacts of using artificial intelligence (AI) in the agricultural sector. It will identify what are some of the most prevalent challenges and impacts identified in the literature, how this correlates with those discussed in the domain of AI ethics, and are being implemented into AI ethics guidelines. This will be achieved by examining published articles and conference proceedings that focus on societal or ethical impacts of AI in the agri-food sector, through a thematic analysis of the literature. The thematic analysis will be divided based on the classifications outlined through 11 overarching principles, from an established lexicon (transparency, justice and fairness, non-maleficence, responsibility, privacy, beneficence, freedom and autonomy, trust, dignity, sustainability, and solidarity). While research on AI agriculture is still relatively new, this paper aims to map the debate and illustrate what the literature says in the context of social and ethical impacts. It aim is to analyse these impacts, based on these 11 principles. This research will contrast which impacts are not being discussed in agricultural AI and which issues are not being discussed in AI ethics guidelines, but which are discussed in relation to agricultural AI. The aim of this is to identify gaps within the agricultural literature, and gaps in AI ethics guidelines, that may need to be addressed.

Attitudes Toward Posthumous Assisted Reproduction in China: A Multi-Dimensional Survey

Background Professional legislation and ethics guidelines for posthumous assisted reproduction (PAR) are lacking in China. This study aims to measure the attitudes of the general public, IVF couples, and ART practitioners toward PAR in China. Methods A multi-dimensional survey was designed, and electronic questionnaires were used. General demographic data, reproductive viewpoints, attitudes toward PAR, interactive predictive attitudes in couples, and the legal attribute and disposition right of posthumous embryos were evaluated. Results The study found that the traditional Chinese viewpoints of fertility had changed. The approval rates for PAR were 79.10%, 55.32%, and 58.89%, respectively, in the general public, IVF couples, and ART practitioners. Most participants agreed that the psychological well-being of offspring should be prior considered before making a PAR decision (81.84%, 73.61%, and 76.98%, respectively). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that age, marital status, and gender were common influencing factors while occupation, religion, and pregnancy history showed no support. Males and females showed similar predictive abilities for his/her partner’s attitudes toward PAR (57.87% for males, 61.12% for females). Intercouple agreement analysis showed that the consistent rate was 65.28% in the attitude toward PAR. Conclusion The findings suggested that the approval rate toward PAR was relatively high in China. Legislation and ethics guidelines for PAR maybe be considered in China. The psychological well-being of offspring should be considered before the PAR execution. Due to the huge regional and population differences in China, investigation of larger participants is necessary.

Trustworthy AI and Corporate Governance: The EU’s Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence from a Company Law Perspective

AI will change many aspects of the world we live in, including the way corporations are governed. Many efficiencies and improvements are likely, but there are also potential dangers, including the threat of harmful impacts on third parties, discriminatory practices, data and privacy breaches, fraudulent practices and even ‘rogue AI’. To address these dangers, the EU published ‘The Expert Group’s Policy and Investment Recommendations for Trustworthy AI’ (the Guidelines). The Guidelines produce seven principles from its four foundational pillars of respect for human autonomy, prevention of harm, fairness, and explicability. If implemented by business, the impact on corporate governance will be substantial. Fundamental questions at the intersection of ethics and law are considered, but because the Guidelines only address the former without (much) reference to the latter, their practical application is challenging for business. Further, while they promote many positive corporate governance principles—including a stakeholder-oriented (‘human-centric’) corporate purpose and diversity, non-discrimination, and fairness—it is clear that their general nature leaves many questions and concerns unanswered. In this paper we examine the potential significance and impact of the Guidelines on selected corporate law and governance issues. We conclude that more specificity is needed in relation to how the principles therein will harmonise with company law rules and governance principles. However, despite their imperfections, until harder legislative instruments emerge, the Guidelines provide a useful starting point for directing businesses towards establishing trustworthy AI.

Blogging astrophysics, shaping the self. Content-mediated identity negotiation and peer group adjustment in a sample of astrophysicists’ blogs

Research blogging has received a rather good amount of attention from the scholarly literature, but not in the domain of astrophysics. In the present paper, three active astrophysicists’ blogs have been chosen from a previously retrieved much wider corpus and analyzed against the pivotal theory of identity shaping in an online setting. The study, which is essentially mixed-methods, has built on Susan Herring’s definition of computer-mediated conversation and focusses on content analysis as well as on content-based interaction (comments and replies per subject). Special care was taken on ensuring bloggers’ and commenters’ anonimity, in compliance with the British Psychological Society Ethics Guidelines. These blogs’ conversational capacity has emerged and the hypothesis of some degree of professional identity negotiation results to be confirmed, with implications on the invisible colleges. The context is that of an interdisciplinary, provisional junction between ground-based linguistic fieldwork in a 2.0 online setting and the search for appropriate theoretical frameworks about unconscious or semi-conscious aims of communication in a scholarly environment.

Volunteers for clinical trials: from the history of abuses and exploitation to the inclusion movement, and to an income resource

Medical research is essential to develop new and better therapies, increase social standards and a better life for all of us. Scientific curiosity has helped to achieve many successful innovations, but history also demonstrates that research can lead to abuses of individuals neglecting autonomy and integrity of the human being. Since the 1960ies we have witnessed a continuous development of international regulations and ethics guidelines (soft law) in medical research, leading to a higher quality of scientific results. An important focus lies on recognizing human vulnerability and a therefore adapted informed consent procedure. Our modern clinical trials structure requires the inclusion of healthy volunteers in the first phases of the development of a new medicinal product, leading to new ethical questions and challenges. The Corona-Pandemic has accelerated vaccine development in a successful way also leading to a new importance of healthy volunteers in the medical research landscape.