Invoking politics and ethics in the design of information technology: undesigning the design

It is a truism that the design and deployment of information and communication technologies is vital to everyday life, the conduct of work and to social order. But how are individual, organisational and societal choices made? What might it mean to invoke a politics and an ethics of information technology design and use? This editorial paper situates these questions within the trajectory of preoccupations and approaches to the design and deployment of information technology since computerisation began in the 1940s. Focusing upon the dominant concerns over the last three decades, the paper delineates an interest in design and use in relation to socio-technical theories, situated practices and actor-network theory. It is argued that each of these approaches is concerned with a particular form of politics that does not explicitly engage with ethics. In order to introduce ethics into contemporary debates about information technology, and to frame the papers in the special issue, it is argued that Levinas’ ethics is particularly valuable in problematising the relationship between politics and ethics. Levinas provides a critique of modernity’s emphasis on politics and the egocentric self. It is from a Levinasian concern with the Other and the primacy of the ethical that a general rethinking of the relationship between politics, ethics and justice in relation to information and communication technologies can be invoked.     

The ethics of aesthetics: Stigma,information, and the politics of electronic ankle monitor design

Abstract

At present, the politics of digital tools are predominantly discussed in terms of the data they collect, analyze, and circulate. Through my analysis of electronic ankle monitors’ visual characteristics, I widen the scope of investigation to consider how the visuality of digital tools’ form factor – the size and shape of computing hardware – also contributes to their politics. I discuss five major impacts the visuality of electronic ankle monitors’ physical form has upon their wearers’ lives: (1) lack of differentiation in the aesthetics of monitors across different types of wearers (spanning from criminal justice to immigration detention) leads wearers to be considered “dangerous criminals,” by default; (2) monitors limit wearers’ ability to “pass” in society; (3) monitors expand the set of surveillors beyond government officials to also include the public; (4) monitors compromise wearers’ privacy; (5) monitors associate wearers with older practices of visually marking people normative society has labeled dangerous. Based on this analysis, I argue two points. First, that the visuality of electronic ankle monitors’ form factor expands the harms wearers experience beyond those engendered by the device’s primary use as a remote geo-temporal tracking tool used by government organizations. Second, the case study of electronic ankle monitors evidences the need to develop laws and policies that seek to regulate the visual properties of digital tools as well as the data they generate.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Dis</Emphasis>closive Ethics and Information Technology: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Disclosing Facial Recognition Systems</Emphasis>

This paper is an attempt to present disclosive ethics as a framework for computer and information ethics – in line with the suggestions by Brey, but also in quite a different manner. The potential of such an approach is demonstrated through a disclosive analysis of facial recognition systems. The paper argues that the politics of information technology is a particularly powerful politics since information technology is an opaque technology – i.e. relatively closed to scrutiny. It presents the design of technology as a process of closure in which design and use decisions become black-boxed and progressively enclosed in increasingly complex socio-technical networks. It further argues for a disclosive ethics that aims to disclose the nondisclosure of politics by claiming a place for ethics in every actual operation of power – as manifested in actual design and use decisions and practices. It also proposes that disclosive ethics would aim to trace and disclose the intentional and emerging enclosure of politics from the very minute technical detail through to social practices and complex social-technical networks. The paper then proceeds to do a disclosive analysis of facial recognition systems. This analysis discloses that seemingly trivial biases in recognition rates of FRSs can emerge as very significant political acts when these systems become used in practice. Paper prepared for the Technology and Ethics Workshop at Twente     

The ethics of information transparency

The paper investigates the ethics of information transparency (henceforth transparency). It argues that transparency is not an ethical principle in itself but a pro-ethical condition for enabling or impairing other ethical practices or principles. A new definition of transparency is offered in order to take into account the dynamics of information production and the differences between data and information. It is then argued that the proposed definition provides a better understanding of what sort of information should be disclosed and what sort of information should be used in order to implement and make effective the ethical practices and principles to which an organisation is committed. The concepts of “heterogeneous organisation” and “autonomous computational artefact” are further defined in order to clarify the ethical implications of the technology used in implementing information transparency. It is argued that explicit ethical designs, which describe how ethical principles are embedded into the practice of software design, would represent valuable information that could be disclosed by organisations in order to support their ethical standing.     

科技伦理视角下的人工智能研究

人工智能在深刻影响人类社会生产生活方式的同时,也引发诸多伦理困境与挑战,建立新的科技伦理规范以推动人工智能更好服务人类,成为全社会共同关注的主题。本文从科技伦理的视角,围绕机器人、算法、大数据、无人驾驶等人工智能领域所出现的伦理主体、责任分担、技术安全、歧视与公平性、隐私与数据保护等问题,以及人工智能技术的伦理治理,对国内外相关研究成果进行回顾分析,并提出未来需要在中国情境下伦理原则与治理体系的建立、人工智能伦理研究的跨学科合作、理论分析与实践案例的融合、多元主体伦理角色分工与协作等方面进行进一步研究。     

Beyond codes of ethics: how library and information professionals navigate ethical dilemmas in a complex and dynamic information environment

This paper reports on a research project that investigated how library and information (LIS) professionals experience ethical dilemmas, with particular reference to the impact of new technologies, sources used to assist ethical decision-making, and the contribution case studies can make to ethical understanding and decision-making. Data was collected through interviews in Britain, Ireland and Australia with LIS professionals, educators, and representatives of professional bodies. The findings identify the main types of dilemma raised and discuss cases indicative of each type. They suggest that new technologies do not appear to change ethical principles but, when experienced in the workplace, substantially change the factors the professional has to evaluate. They also suggest that relevant codes of ethics are satisfactory on traditional library issues of access and confidentiality, but do not address the ethical challenges of current and potential digital environments. Professional associations appear more familiar with codes of ethics than practitioners although practitioners show high levels of ethical awareness, suggesting associations need to communicate more with their members and provide tools that are more useful in the workplace. Case studies are seen as a good way to educate and engage practitioners because of the complexity, conflicts and dynamism they can present.     

Critical Making as Materializing the Politics of Design

The notion of “critical making” suggests a new form of design, through which the political qualities of an issue are materialized by participatory means. In this essay I trace and describe this process through the Growbot Garden project—a design project directed at reimagining agricultural technologies to support small-scale agriculture. Through a discussion of this project I draw out the ways that politics were actively projected onto and through artifacts by the participants. In effect, these artifacts were a material expression of their desires and commitments. By creating these artifacts, the participants enacted a novel mode of “doing” political design as a collaborative and public endeavor of articulation.     

论科学与技术伦理的论域区隔和理论取向问题——兼与李文潮博士商榷

 无论是从历史的还是从现实的角度看,科学和技术都有相互统一的方面,但二者并不是同一的。统一性并不等于同一性或者同质性。科学与技术的关系问题是确定科学伦理的论域和科学伦理学的学科理论取向的根本前提。而领域间的价值追求差异决定了领域间在伦理道德的理性功能定位和理论取向上的不同。在“科学技术”活动之序列各个片断或环节上,伦理道德考量的重点是应当有所区别的。辩证地把握“科学技术”活动普遍性、一般性道德原则和伦理准则,并与特定片断或环节的领域性、具体性道德原则和伦理准则的整合性的综合建构,是一个必须面对的现实选择。     

The role of metaethics and the future of computer ethics

In the following essay, I will discuss D.Johnson's argument in her ETHICOMP99 KeynoteSpeech (Johnson 1999) regarding the possiblefuture disappearance of computer ethics as anautonomous discipline, and I will analyze somelikely objections to Johnson's view.In the future, there are two ways in whichcomputer ethics might disappear: (1) therejection of computer ethics as an aspect ofapplied ethics, or (2) the rejection ofcomputer ethics as an autonomous discipline.The first path, it seems to me, would lead tothe death of the entire field of appliedethics, while the second path would lead onlyto the death of computer ethics as a separatesubject. Computer technology is becoming very pervasive,and each scientific field includes somediscipline-specific computing. For the likelyforeseeable future, disciplines such asbioethics and engineering ethics will have todeal with ethical issues involving the role ofcomputers. I will argue that computer ethics inthis sense is unlikely to disappear, even ifcomputer ethics ceases to be considered as aseparate discipline.In order to understand which path will befollowed by computer ethics, I will compareJohnson's argument with ideas of earlierthinkers like N. Wiener (1950) and B. Russell(1932). Although Russell did not specificallyconsider computer technology, he had somegood intuitions about the development ofsocieties by means of technology.My conclusion will be two-fold: (1) thatapplied ethics will not die, but it may make nosense in the future to talk about computerethics as a separate field; and (2) thatcomputer ethics will not simply become``ordinary ethics', contrary to Johnson's view.     

The information practices and politics of migrant-aid work in the US-Mexico borderlands

Abstract

Numerous organizations work to provide humanitarian aid to undocumented migrants along the US-Mexico border—from running shelters in Mexico to placing water on migratory trails. Resistance to information-sharing between organizations (and to the public), especially through technologically mediated means, is common. However, some organizers and volunteers work across organizational boundaries and share information informally. Information secrecy is often justified by concerns that law enforcement authorities or anti-immigration activists might gain access to information, allowing them to harm, detain or remove migrants, or interfere with humanitarian work. The choices made about the collection and (non)disclosure of information are manifestations of what we call “liminal” information practices: such behaviors are unique to humanitarian volunteers working in the gray, ethical area between law enforcement and humanitarian values and action, and they are guided by the information politics at play within this context.     

信息技术环境下PLC项目化教学的课堂设计

PLC是一门实践性和应用性很强的专业课程,以往＂哥伦布式的学习＂让学生缺乏目标,缺失动力。针对这一现象,文章阐述如何以项目设计、项目实施控制、解决问题、效果评价为步骤设计PLC项目化教学,并利用信息技术环境下的多媒体、动画制作等技术进行课堂设计。     

浅议现代教育技术在中职政治教学中的作用

政治教学素来难出新意,加上中职学生素质偏差的特点,很多中职政治教师感觉政治课难上,笔者作为现代教育技术与中职政治教学相整合的受益者之一,不赞成政治课难上的观点。文章结合中职政治教学,浅议现代教育技术在其中的独特作用,通过现代教育技术手段,中等职业学校政治课同样能使学生爱学、乐学,能学、肯学,勤学、思学。     

Formated technology and informated action: The nature of information technology

This paper is part of a series examining the fundamental nature of informatics: a term used as a convenient umbrella term to stand for the overlapping disciplinary areas of information systems, information management and information technology. The aim of the current paper is to consider some of the universal features of information technology. This is accomplished in terms of a conceptual framework established in previous work. We ground the discussion in a significant historical case: that of Hollerith's electric tabulating system which constituted one of the earliest examples of automatic data processing. Through examination of this case and the technologies used we establish an interpretation of the essence of information technology in terms of formative acts of data representation and processing.     

Building a compassionate workplace using information technology: Considerations for information systems research

This opinion paper presents the need for IS research on compassion in the organizational workplace. Given the current challenges caused by COVID-19, we argue that organizations need to be resilient to counter the adverse effects of this pandemic. Developing a compassionate organizational workplace is an effective way to build resilient organizations. The paper draws attention to the fact that a focus on compassion can be a valuable scope of inquiry within IS research. It proposes an integrative framework mapping the scope of compassion in IS research and develops a research agenda that can aid future inquiry into this phenomenon.     

技术的价值负荷:应用伦理学视域的解释

认为技术的价值负荷主要包含两个方面,一是技术自身具有正负价值的两面性表现;二是技术的应用也表现出积极和消极作用的价值。前者是技术价值的自然属性,后者是技术价值的社会属性。技术价值的自然属性是“先在”的;而技术价值的社会属性是应用伦理学本质的展现,它在技术与社会发生关系的过程中,展现人与人的尊严和自由的关系。对技术主体进行责任规约,有利于确保技术正价值的有效发生,实现技术的崇高目的。     

电子信息技术对人类群体活动方式模仿的思考

本文通过典型事例 ,阐明自然技术中的电子信息技术 ,对社会技术中的人类群体活动方式的模仿 ,讨论上述两者事例的相似 ;提出社会模拟以及讨论与生物模拟、智能模拟的异同 ;从而进一步表明社会技术与自然技术相通 ,以及自然技术可以借鉴和移植社会技术。     

Digital divide or discursive design? On the emerging ethics of information space

This article seeks to identify, theoretically,some broad ethical issues about the type ofspace which the Internet is becoming, issueswhich are closely linked to developing newagendas for empirical research into Internetuse. It seeks to move away from the concept of'digital divide' which has dominated debate inthis area while presuming a rather staticnotion of the space which the Internet is, orcould become. Instead, it draws on deliberativedemocracy theory in general and John Dryzek'sconcept of 'discursive design' in particular toformulate six types of issue (Convergence, WhoConverges?, Deliberation, Public Action,Relations to the State, and Long-term Patternsof Practice) around which both empiricalresearch and ethical debate can focus, andwhich taken together will help answer whetherthe Internet is, or can be, in part a'discursive design' which contributes to theconditions of democratic public life.     

技术并购在行业创新价值链中的作用机制研究：信息技术赋能的调节作用

基于创新价值链理论,对2007—2019年中国37个工业细分行业的面板数据进行固定效应回归分析,实证检验技术并购对于行业创新的影响机制和效果,以及信息技术赋能在其中的调节作用。研究发现,技术并购作为行业创新价值链上重要的外部资源导入方式,对行业的产品创新绩效有显著的促进作用,并且技术创新绩效在两者之间起中介作用;信息技术赋能正向调节创新价值链中技术并购与行业创新绩效之间的直接关系以及中介过程的后半路径。研究结果在行业层次上从技术资源外部导入的视角为创新价值链的研究,并为通过技术并购和信息技术赋能推动行业高质量发展提供参考。     

Putting to (information) work: A Stengersian perspective on how information technologies and people influence information practices

Instead of merely subscribing to an unspecific inseparability in the co-constitution or mangle of information technologies and human-actors, there is a need for conceptual tools to describe and explicate the mechanics of how the enmeshment of technologies and human-beings is occurring in information contexts: how information technologies are both setting standards of the social conduct of information practices, and how people are using information technologies to regulate the social process. Building on an empirical study of human-technology relations in the context of archaeological information work, this article discusses how the imaginary of putting Stengers to work can make a contribution to such an end. Stengers describes an ideal system of human-actors and technology working seamlessly —World-as-Clock—that is unattainable but can serve as a benchmark and a lens for understanding frictions and discrepancies in the cohesion of the two.