Un-making artificial moral agents

Floridi and Sanders, seminal work, “On the morality of artificial agents” has catalyzed attention around the moral status of computer systems that perform tasks for humans, effectively acting as “artificial agents.” Floridi and Sanders argue that the class of entities considered moral agents can be expanded to include computers if we adopt the appropriate level of abstraction. In this paper we argue that the move to distinguish levels of abstraction is far from decisive on this issue. We also argue that adopting certain levels of abstraction out of context can be dangerous when the level of abstraction obscures the humans who constitute computer systems. We arrive at this critique of Floridi and Sanders by examining the debate over the moral status of computer systems using the notion of interpretive flexibility. We frame the debate as a struggle over the meaning and significance of computer systems that behave independently, and not as a debate about the ‘true’ status of autonomous systems. Our analysis leads to the conclusion that while levels of abstraction are useful for particular purposes, when it comes to agency and responsibility, computer systems should be conceptualized and identified in ways that keep them tethered to the humans who create and deploy them.     

Computationally rational agents can be moral agents

Ethics and Information Technology - In this article, a concise argument for computational rationality as a basis for artificial moral agency is advanced. Some ethicists have long argued that...     

Computer systems: Moral entities but not moral agents

After discussing the distinction between artifacts and natural entities, and the distinction between artifacts and technology, the conditions of the traditional account of moral agency are identified. While computer system behavior meets four of the five conditions, it does not and cannot meet a key condition. Computer systems do not have mental states, and even if they could be construed as having mental states, they do not have intendings to act, which arise from an agent’s freedom. On the other hand, computer systems have intentionality, and because of this, they should not be dismissed from the realm of morality in the same way that natural objects are dismissed. Natural objects behave from necessity; computer systems and other artifacts behave from necessity after they are created and deployed, but, unlike natural objects, they are intentionally created and deployed. Failure to recognize the intentionality of computer systems and their connection to human intentionality and action hides the moral character of computer systems. Computer systems are components in human moral action. When humans act with artifacts, their actions are constituted by the intentionality and efficacy of the artifact which, in turn, has been constituted by the intentionality and efficacy of the artifact designer. All three components – artifact designer, artifact, and artifact user – are at work when there is an action and all three should be the focus of moral evaluation.     

碳捕集与封存技术有助于提升我国的履约能力

<正>根据国际能源署(IEA,2008)的统计数据,中国2006年能源消费导致的CO2排放量达56亿吨,占世界总量(280亿吨)的20%。而展望未来,快速的经济发展和以煤为主的能源结构将导致我国CO2排放量进一步增长,因此我国必将面临来自各方面越来越严峻的压力。     

Controlling innovative projects with moral hazard and asymmetric information

We study optimal incentive contracts offered to a research and development (R&D) manager, who can propose an innovative project and is in charge of conducting this project. The manager has private information about the project profitability and he exerts unobservable levels of different kinds of effort in order to increase the feasibility of successfully completing the project in terms of meeting product specifications. In particular, we analyze a situation, in which two interrelated performance measures on different hierarchical levels are available for contracting purposes. We show how asymmetric information about the project and further characteristics of the project influence the weights of the performance measures. We also make a number of empirical predictions about the composition of compensation contracts for R&D managers.     

Information and communication technologies (ICT)-enabled severe moral communities and how the (Covid19) pandemic might bring new ones

In this study we present an autopoietic social systems model based on Collectively Prevalent Interpretants (CPIs). We adapt this model to represent and exemplify how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) may enable the emergence of severe moral communities. In particular, we argue that ICTs may help severe moral communities promote increasingly polarized, radicalized and even extremist viewpoints. We also discuss our propositions in the context of the current pandemic (caused by Covid19) and warn about the possible emergence of new and related severe moral communities. In an effort to help understand and manage the enabling role of ICTs, the study also presents recommendations for theory and practice, which may prove useful in advancing digital resiliency (by empowering individuals and communities to recognize when this may be occurring).     

双边道德风险情况下考虑客户知识依赖的服务合作生产契约

企业间知识密集型服务合作生产由于存在相互知识依赖,导致双方的粘性信息不能被无成本证实和监督,从而产生双边道德风险。基于客户合作视角,建立委托代理模型,从固定支付和剩余激励支付两方面分析了双边道德风险情况下客户知识依赖对服务合作生产契约设计的影响。结论表明,契约的剩余激励支付与客户知识依赖弹性系数负相关,契约的固定支付与客户知识依赖弹性系数正相关。     

Not all technologies are created equal for stakeholders: Constituency statutes,firm stakeholder orientation and investments in technology generality

Previous research has analyzed the effect of stakeholder orientation on the amount of technological investment firms make but has ignored its effect on the characteristics of that investment. To address this gap, we explored the impact of stakeholder orientation on the degree of generality of a firm's technological investment. More general technologies (i.e., technologies easily deployable in a wider range of industries) are more likely to promote major changes in the firm's scope. However, these changes undermine the value of stakeholders’ past relationship-specific investments, which are tailored to a certain firm scope. Therefore, more stakeholder-oriented firms will invest in less general technological assets to reduce stakeholder concerns and opposition. This negative effect will be stronger in more uncertain industries, where stakeholders are more concerned that firms might use technology generality to change their scope following the realization of previously unforeseen contingencies. However, it will be weaker in more competitive industries, where stakeholders tend to make less relationship-specific investments and are less concerned with changes in firm scope triggered by an increase in technology generality. We test our hypotheses by exploiting the enactment of constituency statutes in 34 U.S. states during the period 1976–2000 as a plausibly exogenous variation in firms’ stakeholder orientation.     

基于道德风险的天使投资最优融资合约研究

摘要：作为创业企业的重要融资方式,天使投资存在显著的信息非对称,由此导致的代理问题对天使投资融资合约产生影响。针对创业企业家的道德风险问题,本文基于委托代理理论构建一个理论模型,研究并求解出天使投资最优融资规模及最优股权分配比例。研究发现：最优融资规模及最优股权分配比例是存在的,且能够有效缓解企业家的道德风险问题;当道德风险问题严重时,最优融资规模及天使投资人的最优股权分配比例均减少;优质的创业项目能够提高融资规模并提升企业家的股权分配比例;创业企业家良好的创业能力与经历,能够提高融资规模但会降低企业家的股权分配比例。由此,本文研究结论较好的解释了国内外天使投资的投资实践,并且为天使投资合约的设计提供理论指导。     

Average-consensus tracking of multi-agent systems with additional interconnecting agents

Average-consensus tracking problem is investigated for first-order multi-agent systems composed of valid agents and additional interconnecting agents. Valid agents have constant reference inputs, while additional interconnecting agents do not have reference inputs. Average-consensus tracking algorithms are proposed for the agents converging to the average value of constant reference inputs of valid agents. Under symmetric and connected topology, consensus conditions are obtained for the agents without and with communication delay, respectively, by using generalized Nyquist criterion. Numerical examples illustrate the correctness of theoretical results.     

Consensus of discrete-time second-order agents with time-varying topology and time-varying delays

This paper studies the consensus problem of multiple agents with discrete-time second-order dynamics. It is assumed that the information obtained by each agent is with time-varying delays and the interaction topology is time-varying, where the associated direct graphs may not have spanning trees. Under the condition that the union graph is strongly connected and balanced, it is shown that there exist controller gains such that consensus can be reached for any bounded time-delays. Moreover, a method is provided to design controller gains. Simulations are performed to validate the theoretical results.     

Finite-time cooperative circumnavigation control of multiple second-order agents with desired formations

This paper investigates the finite-time cooperative circumnavigation control of multiple second-order agents, in which the agents should surround a moving target with desired formation and circular velocity based on local information. Firstly, the controller design is transformed into design control parameters such that the error system, including distance error, speed error and angle error, is finite-time consensus. The error system is viewed as a cascaded system containing two second-order subsystems, and then a distributed finite-time controller composed of two parts is delivered. The finite-time stability of the entire system is given by employing cascaded control theory. One significant advantage of the proposed controller is that it allows the agents to converge to desired trajectory in a finite time instead of asymptotically. Another merit is that the desired formation is an extensive case and unlimited, including different tracking radii and angular spacing. Furthermore, the proposed controller can be implemented by each agent in its local frame, utilizing only local information. These properties significantly extend the application scope of cooperative circumnavigation. Finally, simulations are carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Event-triggered learning consensus of networked heterogeneous nonlinear agents with switching topologies

In this work, a lifted event-triggered iterative learning control (lifted ETILC) is proposed aiming for addressing all the key issues of heterogeneous dynamics, switching topologies, limited resources, and model-dependence in the consensus of nonlinear multi-agent systems (MASs). First, we establish a linear data model for describing the I/O relationships of the heterogeneous nonlinear agents as a linear parametric form to make the non-affine structural MAS affine with respect to the control input. Both the heterogeneous dynamics and uncertainties of the agents are included in the parameters of the linear data model, which are then estimated through an iterative projection algorithm. On this basis, a lifted event-triggered learning consensus is proposed with an event-triggering condition derived through a Lyapunov function. In this work, no threshold condition but the event-triggering condition is used which plays a key role in guaranteeing both the stability and the iterative convergence of the proposed lifted ETILC. The proposed method can reduce the number of control actions significantly in batches while guaranteeing the iterative convergence of tracking error. Both rigorous analysis and simulations are provided and confirm the validity of the lifted ETILC.     

Couple-group consensus for multi-agent networks of agents with discrete-time second-order dynamics

This paper considers the couple-group consensus problem for multi-agent networks with fixed and directed communication topology, where all agents are described by discrete-time second-order dynamics. Consensus protocol is designed such that some agents in a network reach a consistent value, while other agents reach another consistent value. The convergence of the system matrix is discussed based on the tools from matrix theory. An algebraic condition is established to guarantee couple-group consensus. Moreover, for a given communication topology, a theorem is derived on how to select proper control parameters and sampling period for couple-group consensus to be reached. Finally, simulation examples are presented to validate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.     

A connectivity preserving rendezvous for unicycle agents with heterogenous input disturbances

This paper studies the rendezvous strategy for a group of unicycle systems with connectivity preservation and collision avoidance. Based on the method of potential functions, a novel distributed control algorithm is proposed for all unicycles. By tuning the design parameters, the unicycles finally aggregate so that the average of the distances is bounded by a pre-specified positive number. It is proved that the connectivity of a minimum spanning tree in the initial topology is guaranteed. The result is then extended to multiple unicycles with heterogenous input disturbances. Potential function is further modified to handle the disturbances. Illustrative example is presented to show the improvements and effectiveness of the proposed controller.     

接触氧化-人工快滤联合处理河道污染水体工程

对乌金河受污染河段上游进行截污,采用接触氧化-人工快滤联合进行处理,实际工程运行结果表明,在来水水质COD≤372mg/L,BOD≤153 mg/L,NH3-N≤15 mg/L,TP≤3.56 mg/L,SS≤94 mg/L情况下,出水水质可达到《城镇污水处理厂污染物排放标准》(GB18918-2002)一级B标准。系统运行稳定,可以对城市河流段污水进行治理,方法可行。     

Improving ethical attitudes to animals with digital technologies: the case of apes and zoos

Ethics and Information Technology - This paper examines how digital technologies might be used to improve ethical attitudes towards nonhuman animals, by exploring the case study of nonhuman apes...     

A semantic Bayesian network approach to retrieving information with intelligent conversational agents

As access to information becomes more intensive in society, a great deal of that information is becoming available through diverse channels. Accordingly, users require effective methods for accessing this information. Conversational agents can act as effective and familiar user interfaces. Although conversational agents can analyze the queries of users based on a static process, they cannot manage expressions that are more complex. In this paper, we propose a system that uses semantic Bayesian networks to infer the intentions of the user based on Bayesian networks and their semantic information. Since conversation often contains ambiguous expressions, the managing of context and uncertainty is necessary to support flexible conversational agents. The proposed method uses mixed-initiative interaction (MII) to obtain missing information and clarify spurious concepts in order to understand the intention of users correctly. We applied this to an information retrieval service for websites to verify the usefulness of the proposed method.