Putting explainable AI in context: institutional explanations for medical AI

Ethics and Information Technology - This paper approaches the interaction of a health professional with an AI system for diagnostic purposes as a hybrid decision making process and conceptualizes...     

AI recruitment algorithms and the dehumanization problem

According to a recent survey by the HR Research Institute, as the presence of artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly common in the workplace, HR professionals are worried that the use of recruitment algorithms will lead to a “dehumanization” of the hiring process. Our main goals in this paper are threefold: (i) to bring attention to this neglected issue, (ii) to clarify what exactly this concern about dehumanization might amount to, and (iii) to sketch an argument for why dehumanizing the hiring process is ethically suspect. After distinguishing the use of the term “dehumanization” in this context (i.e. removing the human presence) from its more common meaning in the interdisciplinary field of dehumanization studies (i.e. conceiving of other humans as subhuman), we argue that the use of hiring algorithms may negatively impact the employee-employer relationship. We argue that there are good independent reasons to accept a substantive employee-employer relationship, as well as an applicant-employer relationship, both of which are consistent with a stakeholder theory of corporate obligations. We further argue that dehumanizing the hiring process may negatively impact these relationships because of the difference between the values of human recruiters and the values embedded in recruitment algorithms. Drawing on Nguyen’s (in: Lackey, Applied Epistemology, Oxford University Press, 2021) critique of how Twitter “gamifies communication”, we argue that replacing human recruiters with algorithms imports artificial values into the hiring process. We close by briefly considering some ways to potentially mitigate the problems posed by recruitment algorithms, along with the possibility that some difficult trade-offs will need to be made.

     

Social networking technology and the virtues

This paper argues in favor of more widespread and systematic applications of a virtue-based normative framework to questions about the ethical impact of information technologies, and social networking technologies in particular. The first stage of the argument identifies several distinctive features of virtue ethics that make it uniquely suited to the domain of IT ethics, while remaining complementary to other normative approaches. I also note its potential to reconcile a number of significant methodological conflicts and debates in the existing literature, including tensions between phenomenological and constructivist perspectives. Finally, I claim that a virtue-based perspective is needed to correct for a strong utilitarian bias in the research methodologies of existing empirical studies on the social and ethical impact of IT. The second part of the paper offers an abbreviated demonstration of the merits of virtue ethics by showing how it might usefully illuminate the moral dimension of emerging social networking technologies. I focus here on the potential impact of such technologies on three virtues typically honed in communicative practices: patience, honesty and empathy.     

责任编辑的责任意识与责任能力

根据马克思主义哲学有关意识的理论,参考相关文献,阐述了责任意识和责任能力的涵义及二者的关系,并结合责任编辑这一特定工作,给出了提高责任编辑的责任意识与责任能力的相关建议.     

Understanding of knowledge management roles and responsibilities: a study in the Australian context

Most of the studies in knowledge management (KM) argue for leadership as a vital success factor for any initiative. Top management leadership enables the effective promotion of knowledge sharing by creating an appropriate organisational culture, and making arrangements for corresponding policies and procedures across the organisation to facilitate management of knowledge resources and practices. There is little empirical research reported that has focussed on capturing the awareness and understanding of KM teams’ constitutions and their responsibilities. This study reports on the survey of top managers with respect to KM strategy development and implementation. It is based on a survey data collected from leading Australian companies, and builds on other empirical case studies, which looked at mechanisms of KM strategy development and implementation. The results provide a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities for successful KM strategy development and implementation, and can assist with designing KM teams in organisations.     

Understanding SaaS adoption: The moderating impact of the environment context

In the information management literature, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is recognized as a technology capable of providing operational and financial benefits to firms, and it is rising as the dominant IT service delivery model. Considered to be a promising solution it is garnering interest among researchers and professionals. However, SaaS can represent a vulnerability to firms due to its nature. The weighing of the pros and cons leads to firms’ uncertainty regarding SaaS adoption. Through the lenses of technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework we examine the contextual factors that influence the adoption of SaaS. Furthermore, this study explores the moderating effects of the environmental context in the adoption of SaaS and how it shapes the direct influences of technological and organizational contexts of the TOE framework. Data collected from 259 firms were used to test the proposed model. The study found the significance of the technology, organization, and environment context for SaaS adoption. Moreover, it was found the moderator influence of the environment context between the organization context and SaaS adoption. This study contributes to a deepest understanding of the determinants of SaaS adoption by providing a holistic theoretical lens, advancing newer paths of approaching the TOE framework.     

Human vs. AI: Understanding the impact of anthropomorphism on consumer response to chatbots from the perspective of trust and relationship norms

Text-based chatbots are being touted as a disruptive innovation with unprecedented business potential. However, frequent failures in human–chatbot conversations have led to consumer pushback. This study investigates the response of consumers to chatbots in terms of their intention to switch to human agents. Drawing upon the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework, focus is placed on how the anthropomorphic attributes of chatbots influence consumers’ perceived trust in chatbots and its implications for switching intention. Further, the moderating role of relationship norms in the relationships between the anthropomorphic attributes and trust in chatbots is examined. A mixed-methods approach is used; the qualitative analysis reveals three main anthropomorphic attributes of chatbots, two types of relationship norms and the specific response to chatbots. The quantitative results suggest that the anthropomorphic attributes of perceived warmth and perceived competence positively affect consumers’ perceived trust in chatbots, whereas communication delay negatively affects it. Relationship norms are found to moderate some of these effects such that exchange relationships strengthen the importance of perceived competence on trust, although communal relationships do not moderate the effects of perceived warmth on trust. Trust in chatbots negatively affects consumers’ intention to switch to a human agent. Theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed for scholars and practitioners in ways to improve the design and maximize the utility of chatbots.     

Understanding AI-based customer service resistance: A perspective of defective AI features and tri-dimensional distrusting beliefs

Communicating with customers through AI-based chatbots in customer service (AISC) has become increasingly popular for many companies. However, in actual service encounters, AISC seems defective and is not always accepted by customers. Occasionally it is even resisted. This study aims to investigate such customer resistance. In addition to two cognition-centered AI features (i.e., irrelevant and biased information) discussed in prior studies, this study proposes that lack of empathy is another key feature of defective AI (i.e., in its emotional dimension) and investigates the underlying mechanism of empathy. Specifically, this study proposes three pathways in which empathy functions are lacking. A survey was conducted to test our hypotheses, and the results suggest that lack of empathy has three effects on customer resistance: direct, indirect, and moderating. Finally, theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.     

Social media enablers and inhibitors: Understanding their relationships in a social networking site context

This study extends and tests the dual factor model of technology usage (Cenfetelli, 2004, Cenfetelli and Schwarz, 2011), which recognizes enablers and inhibitors as two distinct constructs in the context of social media. We test the effect of two enablers: perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment on perceived communication quality and social media continuance intention. We advance the understanding of the conceptualization of inhibitors from object-based, social-based, behavioral-based, and affective-based perspectives. We investigate the moderating effects of affective-based inhibitors (i.e., perceived social media distress and perceived social media anxiety) and the direct effects of object-based inhibitor (rapid change), social-based inhibitor (i.e., distorted reputation), and behavioral-based inhibitor (perceived complexity) on communication quality and continuance intention. To test the hypotheses, we collected data using an Online Crowdsourcing Markets (OCMs) technique. Using a sample of 268 Facebook users, our findings suggest perceived enjoyment is the main enabler, whereas perceived complexity is the main inhibitor of social media continuance intention. The findings also suggest that perceived social media anxiety moderates the relationships between (1) perceived complexity and perceived enjoyment, (2) perceived complexity and perceived usefulness, and (3) perceived complexity and perceived communication quality. We also find distorted reputation has a positive effect on perceived complexity but rapid change does not have a significant effect on perceived complexity. Perceived communication quality also significantly influences social media continuance intention. Our study confirms the dual factor model of technology usage and advances social media research by demonstrating that inhibitors are distinct from enablers.     

美国归纳逻辑与人工智能研究概况

近年来,美国归纳逻辑研究的一个重要转变是从纯理论的研究转向应用研究,特别是归纳逻辑在人工智能和认知科学中的应用研究。美国哲学家和逻辑学家一方面注重从人工智能的研究中总结和概括有关的归纳逻辑问题;另一方面他们重视在归纳逻辑研究中借鉴人工智能中的逻辑方法。这些研究涉及的主要问题是:第一,关于贝叶斯主义与非贝叶斯主义的争论问题;第二,关于概率解释的问题;第三,关于因果性与概率的关系问题,他们还致力于确立机器学习的归纳逻辑基础,探究非单调推理在归纳逻辑中的应用。     

从可问责行政到协商式民主行政:我国责任政府建设的方向探索

作为公共权力重要内容的政府责任来源于权力为权利服务的理念。现代意义的行政问责的终极目标在于行政人格的塑造与完善。我国责任政府建立的深层改革方向在于民主行政作为政府行政的价值理念与现实制度约束,而协商民主是在我国实现民主行政的可行手段与价值保障。     

The appropriation of conversational AI in the workplace: A taxonomy of AI chatbot users

There is an exponential growth of the use of AI applications in organisations. Due to the machine learning capability of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, it is critical that such systems are used continuously in order to generate rich use data that allow them to learn, evolve and mature into a better fit for their user and organisational context. This research focuses on the actual use of conversational AI, in particular AI chatbot, as one type of workplace AI application to answer the research question: how do employees experience the use of an AI chatbot in their day-to-day work? Through a qualitative case study of a large international organisation and by performing an inductive analysis, the research uncovers the different ways in which users appropriate the AI chatbot and identifies two key dimensions that determine their type of use: the dominant mode of interaction and the understanding of the AI chatbot technology. Based on these dimensions, a taxonomy of users is presented, which classifies users of AI chatbots into four types: early quitters, pragmatics, progressives, and persistents. The findings contribute to the understanding of how conversational AI, particularly AI chatbots, is used in organisations and pave the way for further research in this regard. The implications for practice are also discussed.     

企业社会责任建设下的政府责任分析

在推动我国企业社会责任的建设中,中小企业是主角,同时离不开政府的责任.对政府责任的必要性进行分析,探讨了企业社会责任建设中政府责任的不完善之处,并提出了相关对策建议.     

AI Armageddon and the Three Laws of Robotics

After 50 years, the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics capture the imagination of the general public while, at the same time, engendering a great deal of fear and skepticism. Isaac Asimov recognized this deep-seated misconception of technology and created the Three Laws of Robotics. The first part of this paper examines the underlying fear of intelligent robots, revisits Asimov’s response, and reports on some current opinions on the use of the Three Laws by practitioners. Finally, an argument against robotic rebellion is made along with a call for personal responsibility and suggestions for implementing safety constraints in intelligent robots.     

中美欧人工智能产业风险研究及中国对策

运用熵权法与层次分析法组合赋权,集成灰色综合评价,构建人工智能产业风险评价模型,对中、美、欧盟三大经济体人工智能产业风险进行评估.研究结果显示:美、欧人工智能产业风险为中等等级,而中国处于较高等级,且在产业创新能力、产业规模及产业能源消耗问题最为突出,最后结合研究结果提出降低中国人工智能产业风险对策建议.