@article{Umbrello2025b,

title = {Human Dignity in the Digital Age},

author = {Umbrello, Steven and Paul O'Hara},

url = {https://jeet.ieet.org/index.php/home/article/view/165},

doi = {10.55613/jeet.v35i1.165},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-06-30},

journal = {Journal of Ethics and Emerging Technologies},

volume = {35},

issue = {1},

pages = {1-22},

abstract = {This article examines the theological and ethical implications of human dignity in the digital age, grounded in the magisterial declaration Dignitas Infinita. It explores how the document articulates human dignity through its ontological, moral, social, and existential dimensions, emphasizing the immutable worth of every person as imago Dei. The study employs the See-Judge-Act framework to analyze digital-age challenges such as misinformation, digital violence, and the erosion of interpersonal relationships. Drawing from Catholic social teaching, Bernard Lonergan’s theory of common-sense bias, and insights from patristic and contemporary thought, the paper critiques how digital technologies impact human dignity. The study underscores the role of the Church in fostering ethical digital environments and proposes solutions informed by theological and philosophical traditions, grounded in the method of synodality. Ultimately, it argues that safeguarding human dignity in digital spaces requires an integrative approach that combines moral responsibility, technological literacy, and a return to foundational Christian anthropology.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2025c,

title = {Gift, Not Product: A Lonerganian Reflection on Stephanie Gray Connors’ On IVF},

author = {Umbrello, Steven},

url = {https://jeet.ieet.org/index.php/home/article/view/182},

doi = {10.55613/jeet.v35i1.182},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-04-27},

journal = {Journal of Ethics and Emerging Technologies},

volume = {35},

issue = {1},

pages = {1-4},

abstract = {This review critically appropriates Stephanie Gray Connors’ On IVF through a Lonerganian method of inquiry: beginning from attentive experience, moving through intelligent understanding, reasonable judgment, and culminating in responsible evaluation. Connors’ work is praised for its empathetic attention to the existential pain of infertility, its clear articulation of the moral structure distinguishing ends from means, and its systematic unfolding of the layers of harm intrinsic to in vitro fertilization. Ascending from the immediate drama of suffering to the broader metaphysical horizon, Connors situates human procreation within a theology of giftedness rather than technological production. Her advocacy for Restorative Reproductive Medicine exemplifies an ethics that collaborates with natural finality rather than subverting it. Furthermore, her pastoral call to repentance and healing reveals an understanding of moral failure not as condemnation, but as an opportunity for conversion and renewed fidelity to the dignity of life. Connors' inquiry thus fulfills, in the domain of bioethics, the transcendental precepts of authentic moral reflection: be attentive, be intelligent, be reasonable, and be responsible. In doing so, On IVF emerges not merely as a critique of a contemporary practice, but as a summons to a more reverent participation in the mystery of human life.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Sabbata2025,

title = {Citizens' Perceptions of Ethical Issues in COVID-19 Containment: A Quantitative Cross-Country and Cross-Cultural Study},

author = {Kevin De Sabbata, Rosanna Irene Comoretto, Marco Clari, Alessio Conti, Welcome Wami, Rachel Brenner, Maurizio Balistreri, Pim Klaassen, Dick Willems, Annisa Ika Putri, Regitta Indira Agusni, Valerio Dimonte, Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://jeet.ieet.org/index.php/home/article/view/177},

doi = {10.55613/jeet.v35i1.177},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-04-22},

journal = {Journal of Ethics and Emerging Technologies},

volume = {35},

issue = {1},

pages = {1-27},

abstract = {COVID-19 has forced policy-makers to impose measures affecting citizens' fundamental rights without public consultation. This study examines citizens’ perceptions of such measures in four countries, focusing on how moral foundations and socio-demographic factors shape differing views. A survey was conducted in April-October 2021 in The Netherlands (NL), Italy (IT), Indonesia (ID) and Kenya (KE), with questions on citizens’ agreement with containment measures, plus the Moral Foundation Theory questionnaire. Univariable and multivariable multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to examine associations between agreement levels and moral foundations/socio-demographic factors. Agreement with the government approach was at 47% in NL, 21% in IT, 58% in ID and 26% in KE. Most participants agreed with a full lockdown in NL (61.3%), IT (58.8%) and ID (82.5%) but not in KE (36.1%). Being religious increased the probability of agreeing with most containment measures. The moral foundations of care, fairness, and sanctity-purity were positively associated with the likelihood of agreeing with all measures but restricting hospital visits. Containment measures were perceived differently based on country, morals, and background. More focus is needed on the potential influence of socio-cultural contexts and overlooked dynamics when designing and communicating these measures.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2024f,

title = {The "Common Good" in a Genetically-Modified Future. Drawing on Lonergan’s Critical Realism in Reproductive Ethics},

author = {Steven Umbrello and Paul O'Hara},

url = {https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.30460/116419},

doi = {10.30460/116419},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-12-31},

journal = {Paradigmi},

volume = {XLII},

issue = {3},

pages = {489-510},

abstract = {Amid the rapid advancements of reproductive technologies, humanity stands at an ethical crossroads, facing newfound capacities to influence our genetic destinies. This article delves into these ethical intricacies through the prism of Bernard Lonergan’s Critical Realism and his articulation of the “Good”. As we trace the evolution from spontaneous “natural births” to calculated “chosen births”, we underscore the profound implications of our growing ability to sculpt genetic futures. While these capabilities promise unparalleled individual agency, Lonergan’s philosophical constructs prompt us to transcend mere individualism. He urges a broader vision – one that encompasses the collective welfare of humanity and values the multi-dimensional intricacies of human existence beyond genetic determinism. By tapping into Lonergan’s reflections, this research challenges the reductionist leanings that may accompany genetic choices, advocating instead for decisions that resonate with collective enrichment and human flourishing. As we gaze into the horizon of what’s possible, we conclude that the marriage of ethics and technology requires a nuanced, community-centric approach. The article posits that the looming genetic revolution in reproduction, illuminated by Lonergan’s insights, beckons us towards choices that harmonize technological potential with the broader context of human well-being.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2024e,

title = {Reframing Deception for Human-Centered AI},

author = {Umbrello, Steven and Simone Natale},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-024-01184-4},

doi = {10.1007/s12369-024-01184-4},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-10-25},

journal = {International Journal of Social Robotics},

volume = {16},

pages = {2223–2241},

abstract = {The philosophical, legal, and HCI literature concerning artificial intelligence (AI) has explored the ethical implications and values that these systems will impact on. One aspect that has been only partially explored, however, is the role of deception. Due to the negative connotation of this term, research in AI and Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) has mainly considered deception to describe exceptional situations in which the technology either does not work or is used for malicious purposes. Recent theoretical and historical work, however, has shown that deception is a more structural component of AI than it is usually acknowledged. AI systems that enter in communication with users, in fact, forcefully invite reactions such as attributions of gender, personality and empathy, even in the absence of malicious intent and often also with potentially positive or functional impacts on the interaction. This paper aims to operationalise the Human-Centred AI (HCAI) framework to develop the implications of this body of work for practical approaches to AI ethics in HCI and design. In order to achieve this goal, we take up the analytical distinction between “banal” and “strong” deception, originally proposed in theoretical and historical scholarship on AI (Natale in Deceitful media: artificial intelligence and social life after the turing test, Oxford University Press, New York, 2021), as a starting point to develop ethical reflections that will empower designers and developers with practical ways to solve the problems raised by the complex relationship between deception and communicative AI. The paper considers how HCAI can be applied to conversational AI (CAI) systems in order to design them to develop banal deception for social good and, at the same time, to avoid its potential risks.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2024bb,

title = {Dalla Soggettività all’Oggettività: La Filosofia di Bernard Lonergan come Fondamento per il Design Sensibile ai Valori},

author = {Umbrello, Steven},

url = {https://www.teologiatorino.it/category/pubblicazioni/archivio-teologico-torinese/},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-04-01},

journal = {Archivio teologico torinese},

volume = {1},

issue = {2024},

pages = {161-171},

abstract = {This article explores the potential of Bernard Lonergan’s philosophy of subjectivity as objectivity as a grounding for value sensitive design (VSD) and the design turn in applied ethics. The rapid pace of scientific and technological advancement has created a gap between technical abilities and our moral assessments of those abilities, calling for a reflection on the philosophical tools we have for applying ethics. In particular, applied ethics often presents interconnected problems that require a more general framework for ethical reflection. Lonergan’s philosophy, which emphasizes the importance of self-understanding and self-transcendence in achieving objectivity, can provide a valuable perspective on VSD and the design turn in applied ethics. The article examines how Lonergan’s philosophy can be applied to VSD and the design turn, and how scientific knowledge can be integrated into an ethics of science without reducing it to an external reflection. By adopting Lonergan’s perspective, we can address the ethical challenges arising from scientific and technological advancements while promoting a more holistic approach to applied ethics.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2024,

title = {The Ethics of Space Travelling and Extraterrestrial Colonization},

author = {Umbrello, Steven and Balistreri, Maurizio},

url = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366427045_The_Ethics_of_Space_Travelling_and_Extraterrestrial_Colonization_What_is_Moral_in_Space_is_also_Moral_on_Earth?channel=doi&linkId=63a19f5840358f78eb05962f&showFulltext=true},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Ragion Pratica},

abstract = {Mirko Garasic (2021) argued that space travel and, by extension, the colonization of other planets could morally justify using technologies and interventions capable of profoundly modifying the characteristics of astronauts and future Martian generations. According to Garasic, however, the fact that space interventions such as human (bio)enhancement or reproductive technologies such as artificial wombs may be morally justified does not mean that they are morally acceptable technologies to be used on Earth as well. Garasic's thesis is that we should resist the temptation to establish or reinforce a continuity between the ethical standards that apply to space travel and those that apply on Earth because what applies in space (or on other planets) does not necessarily apply on our planet. Garasic argues that in space, genetic enhancement interventions are morally acceptable, as they are essential for survival. On Earth, however, we can survive even without any form of (bio)enhancement. In a previous article (2022), we presented several arguments against Garasic's thesis regarding the exceptional morality of what is morally acceptable in space. In this article, we examine and reply to Garasic (2022), showing that he fails to defend his thesis from the objections we previously advanced. Garasic's mistakes are: (1) assuming nature (and consequently what is 'natural') as a normative point of reference which allows establishing what is moral and what is not moral; (2) defending the choices concerning reproduction as an insufficiently demanding and therefore unsatisfactory moral principle (according to Garasic we should not bring into the world people who can have a quality of life or a condition of well-being superior to mere survival); and finally (3) of not explaining clearly what it means to defend a principle of moral exceptionalism for space travel (Garasic does not explain whether this position applies to any behavior, for which what on Earth is a virtue, in space is a vice or is not a general principle, but he makes this case only for enhancement and reproductive technologies). Through our analysis, we not only refute Garasic's position but also show that any attempt to address space travel issues as 'special' moral issues faces several difficulties and, ultimately, is doomed to failure.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {forthcoming},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2023g,

title = {The Intersection of Bernard Lonergan’s Critical Realism, the Common Good, and Artificial Intelligence in Modern Religious Practices},

author = {Umbrello, Steven},

url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14121536},

doi = {10.3390/rel14121536},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-12-13},

journal = {Religions},

volume = {14},

number = {1536},

issue = {12},

pages = {1-19},

abstract = {Artificial intelligence (AI) profoundly influences a number of societal structures today, including religious dynamics. Using Bernard Lonergan’s critical realism as a lens, this article investigates the intersections of AI and religious traditions in their shared pursuit of the common good. Beginning with Lonergan’s principle that humans construct their understanding through cognitive processes, we examine how AI-mediated realities align with or challenge traditional religious tenets. By delving into specific cases, we spotlight AI’s role in reshaping religious symbols, rituals, and even creating novel spiritual meanings. Using Lonergan’s insights on the balance between subjectivity and objectivity, I analyze AI’s potential to both create new sacred spaces and challenge religious orthodoxy. The crux of the discussion centers on the negotiation between religious values and technological innovation, assessing how AI can bolster religious life while maintaining its core essence. Ultimately, this article underscores the importance of the common good in the age of AI-driven religious evolution.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2023f,

title = {From speculation to reality: enhancing anticipatory ethics for emerging technologies (ATE) in practice},

author = {Umbrello, Steven and Bernstein, Michael J. and Vermaas, Pieter E. and Resseguir, Anaïs and Gonzalez, Gustavo and Porcari, Andrea and Grinbaum, Alexei and Adomaitis, Laurynas},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160791X23001306?via%3Dihub},

doi = {10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102325},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-07-24},

urldate = {2023-07-31},

journal = {Technology in Society},

volume = {74},

number = {102325},

abstract = {Various approaches have emerged over the last several decades to meet the challenges and complexities of anticipating and responding to the potential impacts of emerging technologies. Although many of the existing approaches share similarities, they each have shortfalls. This paper takes as the object of its study Anticipatory Ethics for Emerging Technologies (ATE) to technology assessment, given that it was formatted to address many of the privations characterising parallel approaches. The ATE approach, also in practice, presents certain areas for retooling, such as how it characterises levels and objects of analysis. This paper results from the work done with the TechEthos Horizon 2020 project in evaluating the ethical, legal, and social impacts of climate engineering, digital extended reality, and neurotechnologies. To meet the challenges these technology families present, this paper aims to enhance the ATE framework to encompass the variety of human processes and material forms, functions, and applications that comprise the socio-technical systems in which these technologies are embedded.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2023e,

title = {From Subjectivity to Objectivity: Bernard Lonergan's Philosophy as a Grounding for Value Sensitive Design},

author = {Umbrello, Steven},

url = {https://www.scienzaefilosofia.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SF_29.pdf},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-07-24},

urldate = {2023-07-18},

journal = {Scienza & Filosofia},

volume = {29},

pages = {36-44},

abstract = {This article explores the potential of Bernard Lonergan's philosophy of subjectivity as objectivity as a grounding for value sensitive design (VSD) and the design turn in applied ethics. The rapid pace of scientific and technological advancement has created a gap between technical abilities and our moral assessments of those abilities, calling for a reflection on the philosophical tools we have for applying ethics. In particular, applied ethics often presents interconnected problems that require a more general framework for ethical reflection. Lonergan's philosophy, which emphasizes the importance of self-understanding and self-transcendence in achieving objectivity, can provide a valuable perspective on VSD and the design turn in applied ethics. The article examines how Lonergan's philosophy can be applied to VSD and the design turn, and how scientific knowledge can be integrated into an ethics of science without reducing it to an external reflection. By adopting Lonergan's perspective, we can address the ethical challenges arising from scientific and technological advancements while promoting a more holistic approach to applied ethics.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2023d,

title = {Human Enhancement and Reproductive Ethics on Generation Ships},

author = {Umbrello, Steven and Balistreri, Maurizio},

url = {https://doi.org/10.14275/2465-2334/20230.umb},

doi = {10.14275/2465-2334/20230.umb},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-07-18},

journal = {Argumenta},

abstract = {The past few years has seen a resurgence in the public interest in space flight and travel. Spurred mainly by the likes of technology billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, the topic poses both unique scientific as well as ethical challenges. This paper looks at the concept of generation ships, conceptual behemoth ships whose goal is to bring a group of human settlers to distant exoplanets. These ships are designed to host multiple generations of people who will be born, live, and die on these ships long before it reaches its destination. This paper takes reproductive ethics as its lens to look at how genetic enhancement interventions can and should be used not only to ensure that future generations of offspring on the ships, and eventual exoplanet colonies, live a minimally good life but that their births are contingent on them living genuinely good and fulfilling lives. The paper makes the further claim that if such a thesis holds, it also does so for human enhancement on Earth.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {forthcoming},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello0000,

title = {Miglioramento e Potenziamento degli Operatori Sanitari Attraverso la Progettazione},

author = {Umbrello, Steven},

url = {https://philpapers.org/rec/UMBMEP},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-07-01},

journal = {NEU},

volume = {42},

issue = {2},

pages = {53-59},

abstract = {Gran parte della letteratura riguardante l’uso dell’intelligenza artificiale (IA) sul posto di lavoro, in particolare nell’ambito dell’assistenza infermieristica e dei servizi di cura, si è concentrata sui problemi etici che insorgono a valle della sua implementazione o per ragioni puramente speculative. Concentrarsi sull’IA come artefatto separato dal suo design e dai suoi progettisti rende l’assistenza infermieristica e la cura, come qualsiasi altro settore, in gran parte impotente nei confronti degli impatti dell’IA. Per questo motivo, la focalizzazione sul design e su come progettare rispettando valori e professionalità dei professionisti e degli operatori sanitari è di massima importanza. Sono state proposti vari approcci per raggiungere questo obiettivo, come la progettazione partecipata, la progettazione universale, la progettazione inclusiva e la progettazione orientata ai valori. Nonostante i vantaggi di questi approcci più consolidati, nessuno di essi si concentra sulle narrazioni e le metafore sottostanti che guidano e influenzano come l’IA viene percepita e quindi impatta il lavoro dei professionisti. Questo lavoro esamina brevemente un approccio complementare, ovvero l’IA centrata sull’essere umano (HCAI), che propone nuove narrazioni di potenziamento e miglioramento per gli utenti, piuttosto che narrazioni di sostituzione. Se i professionisti spingono per l’adozione di tale approccio e nuove narrazioni, possono aumentare, piuttosto che abdicare, la loro responsabilità sul posto di lavoro e aumentare la loro capacità di fornire cure adeguate.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2023c,

title = {Sociotechnical Infrastructures of Dominion in Stefan L. Sorgner’s We Have Always Been Cyborgs},

author = {Umbrello, Steven},

url = {http://www2.units.it/etica/2023_1/UMBRELLO.pdf},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-05-01},

urldate = {2023-05-01},

journal = {Etica & Politica / Ethics & Politics},

volume = {XXV},

issue = {1},

pages = {336-251},

abstract = {In We Have Always Been Cyborgs (2021), Stefan L. Sorgner argues that, given the growing economic burden of desirable welfare programs, in order for Western democratic societies to continue to flourish it will be necessary that they establish some form of algocracy (i.e., governance by algorithm). This is argued to be necessary both in order to maintain the sustainability and efficiency of these programs, but also due to the fact that further integration of humans into technical systems provides the only effective means to bridge gaps in functionality and governance. However, Sorgner’s position is entirely insensitive to the design turn in applied ethics, which argues against the neutrality of technology, instead maintaining that technology and society co-construct each other with persistent feedback loops. This, I argue, is a problem for his account inasmuch as technologies, as they become more ubiquitous, likewise become pervasive and inextricable from our sociotechnical infrastructures. As such, less-than-beneficent forces, as current trends illustrate, can appropriate these seemingly banal infrastructures to gear them towards oppressive ends, thereby ultimately threatening the social democracies that Sorgner’s position aims to buttress.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Balistreri2023,

title = {Modifying the environment or human nature? What is the right choice for space travel and Mars colonisation?},

author = {Balistreri, Maurizio and Umbrello, Steven},

doi = {10.1007/s11569-023-00440-7},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-04-22},

urldate = {2023-04-01},

journal = {NanoEthics},

volume = {17},

number = {5},

abstract = {As space travel and intentions to colonise other planets are becoming the norm in public debate and scholarship, we must also confront the technical and survival challenges that emerge from these hostile environments. This paper aims to evaluate the various arguments proposed to meet the challenges of human space travel and extraterrestrial planetary colonisation. In particular, two primary solutions have been present in the literature as the most straightforward solutions to the rigours of extraterrestrial survival and flourishing: (1) geoengineering, where the environment is modified to become hospitable to its inhabitants, and (2) human (bio)enhancement where the genetic heritage of humans is modified to make them more resilient to the difficulties they may encounter as well as to permit them to thrive in non-terrestrial environments. Both positions have strong arguments supporting them but also severe philosophical and practical drawbacks when exposed to different circumstances. This paper aims to show that a principled stance where one position is accepted wholesale necessarily comes at the opportunity cost of the other where the other might be better suited, practically and morally. This paper concludes that case-by-case evaluations of the solutions to space travel and extraterrestrial colonisation are necessary to ensure moral congruency and the survival and flourishing of astronauts now and into the future.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2023,

title = {Emotions and Automation in a High-Tech Workplace: A Commentary},

author = {Umbrello, Steven},

url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-023-00615-w},

doi = {10.1007/s13347-023-00615-w},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-03-02},

journal = {Philosophy & Technology},

volume = {36},

number = {12},

abstract = {In a recent article, Madelaine Ley evaluates the future of work, specifically robotised workplaces, via the lens of care ethics. Like many proponents of care ethics, Ley draws on the approach and its emphasis on relationality to understand ethical action necessary for worker wellbeing. Her paper aims to fill a research gap by shifting away from the traditional contexts in which care ethics is employed, i.e., health and care contexts and instead appropriates the approach to tackle the sociotechnicity of robotics and how caring should be integrated into non-traditional contexts. This paper comments on that of Ley’s, making the case that the author does, in fact, achieve this end while still leaving areas of potential future research open to buttressing the approach she presents.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Seskir2023,

title = {Democratization of Quantum Technologies},

author = {Seskir, Zeki and Umbrello, Steven and Coenen, Christopher and Vermaas, Pieter},

url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2058-9565/acb6ae},

doi = {10.1088/2058-9565/acb6ae},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-02-07},

urldate = {2023-02-07},

journal = {Quantum Science and Technology},

volume = {8},

number = {024005},

issue = {2},

abstract = {As quantum technologies (QT) advance, their potential impact on and relation with society has been developing into an important issue for exploration. In this paper, we investigate the topic of democratization in the context of QT, particularly quantum computing. The paper contains three main sections. First, we briefly introduce different theories of democracy (participatory, representative, and deliberative) and how the concept of democratization can be formulated with respect to whether democracy is taken as an intrinsic or instrumental value. Second, we give an overview of how the concept of democratization is used in the QT field. Democratization is mainly adopted by companies working on quantum computing and used in a very narrow understanding of the concept. Third, we explore various narratives and counter-narratives concerning democratization in QT. Finally, we explore the general efforts of democratization in QT such as different forms of access, formation of grassroot communities and special interest groups, the emerging culture of manifesto writing, and how these can be located within the different theories of democracy. In conclusion, we argue that although the ongoing efforts in the democratization of QT are necessary steps towards the democratization of this set of emerging technologies, they should not be accepted as sufficient to argue that QT is a democratized field. We argue that more reflexivity and responsiveness regarding the narratives and actions adopted by the actors in the QT field and making the underlying assumptions of ongoing efforts on democratization of QT explicit, can result in a better technology for society.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Allahabadi2022,

title = {Assessing Trustworthy AI in times of COVID-19. Deep Learning for predicting a multi-regional score conveying the degree of lung compromise in COVID-19 patients},

author = {H. Allahabadi et al.},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1109/TTS.2022.3195114},

doi = {10.1109/TTS.2022.3195114},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-12-01},

urldate = {2022-08-24},

journal = {IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society},

volume = {3},

issue = {4},

pages = {272–289},

abstract = {The paper’s main contributions are twofold: to demonstrate how to apply the general European Union’s High-Level Expert Group’s (EU HLEG) guidelines for trustworthy AI in practice for the domain of healthcare; and to investigate the research question of what does “trustworthy AI” mean at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, we present the results of a post-hoc self-assessment to evaluate the trustworthiness of an AI system for predicting a multi-regional score conveying the degree of lung compromise in COVID-19 patients, developed and verified by an interdisciplinary team with members from academia, public hospitals, and industry in time of pandemic. The AI system aims to help radiologists to estimate and communicate the severity of damage in a patient’s lung from Chest X-rays. It has been experimentally deployed in the radiology department of the ASST Spedali Civili clinic in Brescia (Italy) since December 2020 during pandemic time. The methodology we have applied for our post-hoc assessment, called Z-Inspection, uses socio-technical scenarios to identify ethical, technical and domain-specific issues in the use of the AI system in the context of the pandemic.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Balistreri2022b,

title = {Space travel does not constitute a condition of moral exceptionality. That which obtains in space obtains also on Earth!},

author = {Maurizio Balistreri and Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://doi.org/10.4081/mem.2022.1213},

doi = {10.4081/mem.2022.1213},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-11-03},

urldate = {2022-07-01},

journal = {Medicina e Morale},

volume = {71},

issue = {3},

pages = {311-321},

abstract = {There is a growing body of scholarship that is addressing the ethics, in particular, the bioethics of space travel and colonisation. Naturally, a variety of perspectives concerning the ethical issues and moral permissibility of different technological strategies for confronting the rigours of space travel and colonisation have emerged in the debate. Approaches ranging from genetically enhancing human astronauts to modifying the environments of planets to make them hospitable have been proposed as methods. This paper takes a look at a critique of human bioenhancement proposed by Mirko Garasic who argues that the bioenhancement of human astronauts is not only functional but necessary and thus morally permissible. However, he further claims that the bioethical arguments proposed for the context of space do not apply to the context of Earth. This paper forwards three arguments for how Garasic's views are philosophically dubious: (1) when he examines our responsibility towards future generations he refers to a moral principle (which we will call the principle of mere survival) which, besides being vague, is not morally acceptable; (2) the idea that human bioenhancement is not natural is not only debatable but morally irrelevant; and (3) it is not true that the situations that may arise in space travel cannot occur on Earth. We conclude that not only is the (bio)enhancement of humans on Earth permissible but perhaps even necessary in certain circumstances.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2021g,

title = {Should We Reset? A Review of Klaus Schwab and Thierry Malleret’s ‘COVID-19: The Great Reset’},

author = {Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10790-021-09794-1},

doi = {10.1007/s10790-021-09794-1},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-10-18},

urldate = {2021-02-17},

journal = {Journal of Value Inquiry},

volume = {56},

issue = {4},

pages = {693-700},

abstract = {More than simply the title of the book, The Great Reset is a theoretical construct appropriated by various communities. While popular primarily within the intellectual dark web and conspiracy circles, the term has been given more recent attention from academic scholarship taking such an approach to seriously revisioning political economy (Shannon Vattikuti in “The Great Green Reset of Global Economies: A Golden Opportunity for Environmental Change and Social Rehabilitation.” Earth and Space Science Open Archive ESSOAr [2020]). The present volume is coauthored by Klaus Schwab, founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), and Thierry Malleret. The former is the author of similar works on which this volume expands (most famously the 2017 book The Fourth Industrial Revolution), while the latter is the managing partner of the Monthly Barometer.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Balistreri2022c,

title = {Should the colonisation of space be based on reproduction? Critical considerations on the choice of having a child in space},

author = {Maurizio Balistreri and Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrt.2022.100040},

doi = {10.1016/j.jrt.2022.100040},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-10-01},

journal = {Journal of Responsible Technology},

volume = {11},

issue = {October},

pages = {1-7},

abstract = {This paper aims to argue for the thesis that it is not a priori morally justified that the first phase of space colonisation is based on sexual reproduction. We ground this position on the argument that, at least in the first colonisation settlements, those born in space may not have a good chance of having a good life. This problem does not depend on the fact that life on another planet would have to deal with issues such as solar radiation or with the decrease or entire absence of the force of gravity. These issues could plausibly be addressed given that the planets or settlements we will feasibly colonise could be completely transformed through geoengineering processes. Likewise, the ability of humans to live in space could be enhanced through genetic modification interventions. Even if, however, the problems concerning survival in space were solved, we think that, at least in the first period of colonisation of space or other planets, giving birth to children in space could be a morally irresponsible choice since we argue, the life we ​​could give them might not be good enough. We contend that this is the case since when we decide to have a baby. We argue that it is not morally right to be content that our children have a minimally sufficient life worth living; before we give birth to children in space, we should make sure we can give them a reasonable chance of having a good life. This principle applies both on Earth - at least where you can choose - and for space travel.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2022b,

title = {The Role of Engineers in Harmonising Human Values for AI Systems Design},

author = {Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrt.2022.100031},

doi = {10.1016/j.jrt.2022.100031},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-04-12},

urldate = {2022-04-12},

journal = {Journal of Responsible Technology},

volume = {10},

number = {100031},

issue = {July},

abstract = {Most engineers Fwork within social structures governing and governed by a set of values that primarily emphasise economic concerns. The majority of innovations derive from these loci. Given the effects of these innovations on various communities, it is imperative that the values they embody are aligned with those societies. Like other transformative technologies, artificial intelligence systems can be designed by a single organisation but be diffused globally, demonstrating impacts over time. This paper argues that in order to design for this broad stakeholder group, engineers must adopt a systems thinking approach that allows them to understand the sociotechnicity of artificial intelligence systems across sociocultural domains. It claims that value sensitive design, and envisioning cards in particular, provides a solid first step towards helping designers harmonise human values, understood across spatiotemporal boundaries, with economic values, rather than the former coming at the opportunity cost of the latter.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Brooks2021,

title = {Ethics of climate engineering: Don’t forget technology has an ethical aspect too},

author = {Laurence Brooks and Sara Cannizzaro and Steven Umbrello and Michael J. Bernstein and Kathleen Richardson},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2021.102449},

doi = {10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2021.102449},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-04-01},

urldate = {2021-11-10},

journal = {International Journal of Information Management},

volume = {63},

number = {102449},

abstract = {Climate change may well be the most important issue of the 21st century and the world’s response, in the form of ‘Climate Engineering’, is therefore of equal pre-eminent importance. However, while there are technological challenges, there are equally just as important ethical challenges that these technologies also generate. Governments, funding agencies and non-governmental organisations increasingly recognise the importance of incorporating ethics into the development of emerging technologies (for example, within the EU draft legislation on AI). As the world faces the global challenge of climate change there are urgent efforts to develop strategies so that responses to the climate problems do not reproduce more of the same. Ethical values from the onset are fundamental to this process and need highlighting. Hence, this paper analyses a series of ethical codes, framework and guidelines of the new emerging technologies of climate engineering (CE) through a review of both published academic literature and grey literature from either industry, government, and non-governmental (NGO) organisations. This paper was developed as part of a collaboration with international partners from TechEthos (TechEthos receives funding from the EU H2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 101006249; Ethics of Emerging Technologies), an EU-funded project that deals with the ethics of the new and emerging technologies anticipated to have high socio-economic impact. Our findings have identified the following ethical considerations including autonomy, freedom, integrity, human rights and privacy in the developmental process of climate engineering, while a poverty of ethical values reflecting dignity and trust were noted.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Vernima2022,

title = {A value sensitive design approach for designing AI-based worker assistance systems in manufacturing},

author = {Vernima, Susanne; Bauer, Harald; Rauch, Erwin; Ziegler, Marianne Thejls; Umbrello, Steven},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050922002575},

doi = {10.1016/j.procs.2022.01.248},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-03-08},

journal = {Procedia Computer Science},

volume = {200},

pages = {505-516},

abstract = {Although artificial intelligence has been given an unprecedented amount of attention in both the public and academic domains in the last few years, its convergence with other transformative technologies like cloud computing, robotics, and augmented/virtual reality is predicted to exacerbate its impacts on society. The adoption and integration of these technologies within industry and manufacturing spaces is a fundamental part of what is called Industry 4.0, or the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The impacts of this paradigm shift on the human operators who continue to work alongside and symbiotically with these technologies in the industry bring with it novel ethical issues. Therefore, how to design these technologies for human values becomes the critical area of intervention. This paper takes up the case study of robotic AI-based assistance systems to explore the potential value implications that emerge due to current design practices and use. The design methodology known as Value Sensitive Design (VSD) is proposed as a sufficient starting point for designing these technologies for human values to address these issues.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Capasso2021b,

title = {Responsible Nudging for Social Good: New Healthcare Skills for AI-Driven Digital Personal Assistants},

author = {Marianna Capasso and Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-021-10062-z},

doi = {10.1007/s11019-021-10062-z},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-03-01},

urldate = {2021-11-25},

journal = {Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy},

volume = {25},

issue = {1},

pages = {11-22},

abstract = {Traditional medical practices and relationships are changing given the widespread adoption of AI-driven technologies across the various domains of health and healthcare. In many cases, these new technologies are not specific to the field of healthcare. Still, they are existent, ubiquitous, and commercially available systems upskilled to integrate these novel care practices. Given the widespread adoption, coupled with the dramatic changes in practices, new ethical and social issues emerge due to how these systems nudge users into making decisions and changing behaviours. This article discusses how these AI-driven systems pose particular ethical challenges with regards to nudging. To confront these issues, the value sensitive design (VSD) approach is adopted as a principled methodology that designers can adopt to design these systems to avoid harming and contribute to the social good. The AI for Social Good (AI4SG) factors are adopted as the norms constraining maleficence. In contrast, higher-order values specific to AI, such as those from the EU High-Level Expert Group on AI and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, are adopted as the values to be promoted as much as possible in design. The use case of Amazon Alexa's Healthcare Skills is used to illustrate this design approach. It provides an exemplar of how designers and engineers can begin to orientate their design programs of these technologies towards the social good.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2021m,

title = {Designing AI for Explainability and Verifiability: A Value Sensitive Design Approach to Avoid Artificial Stupidity in Autonomous Vehicles},

author = {Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-021-00790-w},

doi = {10.1007/s12369-021-00790-w},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-03-01},

urldate = {2021-05-16},

journal = {International Journal of Social Robotics},

volume = {14},

issue = {2},

pages = {313–322},

abstract = {One of the primary, if not most critical, difficulties in the design and implementation of autonomous systems is the black-boxed nature of the decision-making structures and logical pathways of autonomous systems. For this reason, the values of stakeholders become of particular significance given the risks posed by opaque structures of intelligent agents (IAs). This paper proposes the Value Sensitive Design (VSD) approach as a principled framework for incorporating these values in design. The example of autonomous vehicles is used as a case study for how VSD offers a systematic way for engineering teams to formally incorporate existing technical solutions towards ethical design, while simultaneously remaining pliable to emerging issues and needs. It is concluded that the VSD methodology offers at least a strong enough foundation from which designers can begin to anticipate design needs and formulate salient design flows that can be adapted to changing ethical landscapes.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ivanov2021,

title = {The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Robotization in Tourism and Hospitality – A Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda},

author = {Ivanov, Stanislav; Umbrello, Steven},

url = { https://doi.org/10.52255/smarttourism.2021.1.4.3},

doi = { https://doi.org/10.52255/smarttourism.2021.1.4.3},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-12-22},

urldate = {2021-12-22},

journal = {Journal of Smart Tourism},

volume = {1},

issue = {4},

pages = {9-18},

abstract = {The impacts that AI and robotics systems can and will have on our everyday lives are already making themselves manifest. However, there is a lack of research on the ethical impacts and means for amelioration regarding AI and robotics within tourism and hospitality. Given the importance of designing technologies that cross national boundaries, and given that the tourism and hospitality industry is fundamentally predicated on multicultural interactions, this is an area of research and application that requires particular attention. Specifically, tourism and hospitality have a range of context-unique stakeholders that need to be accounted for in the salient design of AI systems is to be achieved. This paper adopts a stakeholder approach to develop the conceptual framework to centralize human values in designing and deploying AI and robotics systems in tourism and hospitality. The conceptual framework includes several layers – ‘Human-human-AI’ interaction level, direct and indirect stakeholders, and the macroenvironment. The ethical issues on each layer are outlined as well as some possible solutions to them. Additionally, the paper develops a research agenda on the topic.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2021j,

title = {Shikake: The Japanese Art of Shaping Behavior Through Design},

author = {Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://www.igi-global.com/pdf.aspx?tid=297020&ptid=254309&ctid=17&title=review%20of%20shikake:%20the%20japanese%20art%20of%20shaping%20behavior%20through%20design&isxn=9781799862314},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-12-01},

urldate = {2021-07-01},

journal = {International Journal of Art, Culture and Design Technologies (IJACDT)},

volume = {10},

issue = {2},

pages = {57-60},

abstract = {A new book by Naohiro Matsumura is reviewed. Shikake are described as designs that ‘open up’ new options to people and that positively allow them to freely choose those options. By providing numerous examples and illustrations, Matsumura explores the motivations, philosophy and implementations of Shikake in the real world. Aimed at the general reader, this book is approachable to numerous individuals, ranging from the general interest reader who wishes to understand nudging from a traditional ranging from the history of Japanese design, as well as the specialist designer who wishes to employ nudging techniques in a positive and fair manner.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Pirni2021,

title = {Robot Care Ethics -Between Autonomy and Vulnerability: Coupling Principles and Practices in Autonomous Systems for Care},

author = {Alberto Pirni, Maurizio Balistreri, Marianna Capasso, Steven Umbrello, Federica Merenda},

url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/Ethics_in_Robotics_and_Artificial_Intelligence/10.3389/frobt.2021.654298/abstract},

doi = {10.3389/frobt.2021.654298},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-06-08},

journal = {Frontiers in Robotics and AI},

volume = {8},

number = {654298},

abstract = {Technological developments involving robotics and artificial intelligence devices are being employed evermore in elderly care and the healthcare sector more generally, raising ethical issues and practical questions warranting closer considerations of what we mean by “care” and, subsequently, how to design such software coherently with the chosen definition. This paper starts by critically examining the existing approaches to the ethical design of care robots provided by Aimee van Wynsberghe, who relies on the work on the ethics of care by Joan Tronto. In doing so, it suggests an alternative to their non-principled approach, an alternative suited to tackling some of the issues raised by Tronto and van Wynsberghe, while allowing for the inclusion of two orientative principles. Our proposal centres on the principles of autonomy and vulnerability, whose joint adoption we deem able to constitute an original revision of a bottom-up approach in care ethics. Conclusively, the ethical framework introduced here integrates more traditional approaches in care ethics in view of enhancing the debate regarding the ethical design of care robots under a new lens.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2021b,

title = {Value Sensitive Design to Achieve the UN SDGs with AI: A Case of Elderly Care Robots},

author = {Steven Umbrello and Marianna Capasso and Alberto Pirni and Maurizio Balistreri and Federica Merenda},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s11023-021-09561-y},

doi = {10.1007/s11023-021-09561-y},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-05-23},

urldate = {2021-05-23},

journal = {Minds and Machines},

volume = {31},

number = {3},

pages = {395–419},

abstract = {The increasing automation and ubiquity of robotics deployed within the field of care boasts promising advantages. However, challenging ethical issues arise also as a consequence. This paper takes care robots for the elderly as the subject of analysis, building on previous literature in the domain of the ethics and design of care robots. It takes the value sensitive design (VSD) approach to technology design and extends its application to care robots by not only integrating the values of care, but also those specific to AI as well as higher-scale values such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ethical issues specific to care robots for the elderly as discussed as well as examples of specific design requirements to ameliorate those issues.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2021l,

title = {Autonomous Weapons Systems and the Contextual Nature of Hors de Combat Status},

author = {Steven Umbrello and Nathan Gabriel Wood},

url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/info12050216},

doi = {10.3390/info12050216},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-05-20},

journal = {Information},

volume = {12},

number = {5},

pages = {216},

abstract = {Autonomous weapons systems (AWS), sometimes referred to as “killer robots”, are receiving in-creasing attention in public discourse and scholarship. Much of this interest is connected with policy makers and the emerging ethical and legal problems linked to the full autonomy of weap-ons systems, however there is a general lack of recognition for the ways in which existing law might impact on these new technologies. In this paper, we argue that as AWS become more so-phisticated and more capable than ground troops, soldiers will be at the mercy of enemy AWS and unable to defend themselves. We argue that these soldiers ought to be considered hors de combat, and not targeted. We contend that hors de combat status must be viewed contextually, with close reference to the capabilities of combatants on both sides of any engagement. Given this point, and the fact that AWS may come in many shapes and sizes, and can be made for many different missions, each individual AWS will need its own standard for when enemy soldiers are deemed hors de combat. The difficulties of achieving this with the limits of modern technology should also be acknowledged. We conclude by examining how these nuanced views of hors de combat status might impact on the “meaningful human control” of AWS.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2021n,

title = {Leadership Strategy and Tactics: Field Manual},

author = {Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/15027570.2021.1920686},

doi = {10.1080/15027570.2021.1920686},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-04-30},

urldate = {2021-04-30},

journal = {Journal of Military Ethics},

volume = {20},

number = {1},

pages = {82-83},

abstract = {A new book by Jocko Willink, "Leadership Strategy and Tactics: Field Manual", is reviewed. Leadership Strategy and Tactics explore the nature of leadership styles and strategies in both narrative forms as the author discusses past experiences in the military, as well as in real-world applications beyond the military domain. The author provides timely, yet timeless advice for aspiring leaders in an easily digestible form, with quick reference chapters and simple tactical points.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2021k,

title = {The Ecological Turn in Design: Adopting a Posthumanist Ethics to Inform Value Sensitive Design},

author = {Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/6/2/29},

doi = {10.3390/philosophies6020029},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-04-02},

journal = {Philosophies},

volume = {6},

number = {2},

pages = {29},

abstract = {Design for Values (DfV) philosophies are a series of design approaches that aim to incorporate human values into the early phases of technological design to direct innovation into beneficial outcomes. The difficulty and necessity of directing advantageous futures for transformative technologies through the application and adoption of value-based design approaches are apparent. However, questions of whose values to design are of critical importance. DfV philosophies typically aim to enrol the stakeholders who may be affected by the emergence of such a technology. However, regardless of which design approach is adopted, all enrolled stakeholders are human ones who propose human values. Contemporary scholarship on metahumanisms, particularly those on posthumanism, have decentred the human from its traditionally privileged position among other forms of life. Arguments that the humanist position is not (and has never been) tenable are persuasive. As such, scholarship has begun to provide a more encompassing ontology for the investigation of nonhuman values. Given the potentially transformative nature of future technologies as relates to the earth and its many assemblages, it is clear that the value investigations of these design approaches fail to account for all relevant stakeholders (i.e., nonhuman animals). This paper has two primary objectives: (1) to argue for the cogency of a posthuman ethics in the design of technologies; and (2) to describe how existing DfV approaches can begin to envision principled and methodological ways of incorporating non-human values into design. To do this, the paper provides a rudimentary outline of what constitutes DfV approaches. It then takes up a unique design approach called Value Sensitive Design (VSD) as an illustrative example. Out of all the other DfV frameworks, VSD most clearly illustrates a principled approach to the integration of values in design.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2021i,

title = {Coupling Levels of Abstraction in Understanding Meaningful Human Control of Autonomous Weapons: A Two-Tiered Approach},

author = {Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-021-09588-w



},

doi = {10.1007/s10676-021-09588-w},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-04-01},

urldate = {2021-04-01},

journal = {Ethics and Information Technology},

volume = {23},

number = {3},

pages = {455-464},

abstract = {The international debate on the ethics and legality of autonomous weapon systems (AWS), along with the call for a ban, primarily focus on the nebulous concept of fully autonomous AWS. These are AWS capable of target selection and engagement absent human supervision or control. This paper argues that such a conception of autonomy is divorced from both military planning and decision-making operations; it also ignores the design requirements that govern AWS engineering and the subsequent tracking and tracing of moral responsibility. To show how military operations can be coupled with design ethics, this paper marries two different kinds of meaningful human control (MHC) termed levels of abstraction. Under this two-tiered understanding of MHC, the contentious notion of ‘full’ autonomy becomes unproblematic. },

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2021h,

title = {Can humans dream of electric sheep?},

author = {Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11016-021-00629-0},

doi = {10.1007/s11016-021-00629-0},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-02-26},

journal = {Metascience},

volume = {30},

number = {2},

pages = {269-271},

abstract = {As an idea, transhumanism has received increasing attention in recent years and across numerous domains. Despite presidential candidates such as Zoltan Istvan, who ran on an explicitly Transhumanist platform in 2016 but later dropped out to endorse Hillary Clinton, transhumanism has taken root more recently in the conspiratorial imaginations of the dark web. Given the philosophy’s central emphasis on technology as an inherent good, imaginations in supposed alt-right internet circles have criticised it as an ideological gateway to global, fully automated Communism. This is not to say that such discussions on transhumanism are exclusively siloed and on the margins of society. Related discussions are happening at various well-known institutions and research centres such as the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, a non-profit think tank dedicated to techno-progressivism where I have been managing director for half a decade. What I mean to say here is that transhumanism is not monolithic. It is best described as multi-faceted and existing in different instantiations across multiple domains. James Michael MacFarlane’s recent book, Transhumanism as a New Social Movement: The Techno-Centred Imagination, is an attempt to trace the history, meaning, and practices that characterise this variegated term.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2021e,

title = {Mapping value sensitive design onto AI for social good principles},

author = {Umbrello, Steven; van de Poel, Ibo},

url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43681-021-00038-3},

doi = {10.1007/s43681-021-00038-3},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-02-01},

urldate = {2021-02-01},

journal = {AI and Ethics},

volume = {1},

number = {3},

pages = {283–296},

abstract = {Value sensitive design (VSD) is an established method for integrating values into technical design. It has been applied to different technologies and, more recently, to artificial intelligence (AI). We argue that AI poses a number of challenges specific to VSD that require a somewhat modified VSD approach. Machine learning (ML), in particular, poses two challenges. First, humans may not understand how an AI system learns certain things. This requires paying attention to values such as transparency, explicability, and accountability. Second, ML may lead to AI systems adapting in ways that ‘disembody’ the values embedded in them. To address this, we propose a threefold modified VSD approach: (1) integrating a known set of VSD principles (AI4SG) as design norms from which more specific design requirements can be derived; (2) distinguishing between values that are promoted and respected by the design to ensure outcomes that not only do no harm but also contribute to good, and (3) extending the VSD process to encompass the whole life cycle of an AI technology to monitor unintended value consequences and redesign as needed. We illustrate our VSD for AI approach with an example use case of a SARS-CoV-2 contact tracing app.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2021d,

title = {Reckoning with assessment: can we responsibly innovate?},

author = {Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11016-021-00605-8},

doi = {10.1007/s11016-021-00605-8},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-01-15},

journal = {Metascience},

pages = {1-3},

abstract = {Assessment of Responsible Innovation argues, contrary to common imagination, that the profit motive underpinning private sector decision-making about innovation neither excludes—nor is even necessarily in tension with—responsible innovation. Responsible innovation is not a clear-cut thing, principle, or clearly formulated grouping of practices. Rather, it consists in a plurality of engagements, strategies, and interactions oriented around the general goal of technological development towards socially desirable ends. The assessment of responsible innovation faces a lacuna partly due to this plurality, and partly because responsible research and innovation (RRI) has primarily been the domain of research institutions, higher education, and public sector entities—those who are not responsible for the majority of innovations. There is thus a gap between past RRI research and the actual nexus of innovation programmes.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2020a,

title = {Combinatory and Complementary Practices of Values and Virtues in Design: A Reply to Reijers and Gordijn},

author = {Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://www.ojs.unito.it/index.php/filosofia/article/view/5236},

doi = {10.13135/2704-8195/5236},

issn = {2704-8195},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-10-30},

journal = {Filosofia},

number = {65},

pages = {107--121},

abstract = {The purpose of this paper is to review and critique Wessel Reijers and Bert Gordijn's paper Moving from value sensitive design to virtuous practice design. In doing so, it draws on recent literature on developing value sensitive design (VSD) to show how the authors' virtuous practice design (VPD), at minimum, is not mutually exclusive to VSD. This paper argues that virtuous practice is not exclusive to the basic methodological underpinnings of VSD. This can therefore strengthen, rather than exclude the VSD approach. Likewise, this paper presents not only a critique of what was offered as a “potentially fruitful alternative to VSD” but further clarifies and contributes to the VSD scholarship in extending its potential methodological practices and scope. It is concluded that VPD does not appear to offer any original contribution that more recent instantiations of VSD have not already proposed and implemented.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Umbrello2020,

title = {Maurizio Balistreri, Sex robot: l'amore al tempo delle macchine},

author = {Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://www.ojs.unito.it/index.php/filosofia/article/view/5245},

doi = {10.13135/2704-8195/5245},

issn = {2704-8195},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-10-30},

journal = {Filosofia},

number = {65},

pages = {191--193},

abstract = {A new book by Maurizio Balistreri, "Sex robot. L’amore al tempo delle macchine", is reviewed. Sex robots not only exacerbate social, ethical and cultural issues that already exist, but also come with emergent and novel ones. This book is intended to build on the recent research on both robotics and the growing scholarship on sex robots more generally, however with greater attention to the developments of the philosophical issues of how to deal with these new artefacts and steps for living among these types of systems into the future. },

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Longo2020,

title = {Value-Oriented and Ethical Technology Engineering in Industry 5.0: A Human-Centric Perspective for the Design of the Factory of the Future},

author = {Francesco Longo and Antonio Padovano and Steven Umbrello},

url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/12/4182},

doi = {10.3390/app10124182},

issn = {2076-3417},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-06-01},

journal = {Applied Sciences},

volume = {10},

number = {12},

pages = {4182},

institution = {University of Turin; University of Calabria},

abstract = {Although manufacturing companies are currently situated at a transition point in what has been called Industry 4.0, a new revolutionary wave—Industry 5.0—is emerging as an ‘Age of Augmentation' when the human and machine reconcile and work in perfect symbiosis with one another. Recent years have indeed assisted in drawing attention to the human-centric design of Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS) and to the genesis of the ‘Operator 4.0', two novel concepts that raise significant ethical questions regarding the impact of technology on workers and society at large. This paper argues that a value-oriented and ethical technology engineering in Industry 5.0 is an urgent and sensitive topic as demonstrated by a survey administered to industry leaders from different companies. The Value Sensitive Design (VSD) approach is proposed as a principled framework to illustrate how technologies enabling human–machine symbiosis in the Factory of the Future can be designed to embody elicited human values and to illustrate actionable steps that engineers and designers can take in their design projects. Use cases based on real solutions and prototypes discuss how a design-for-values approach aids in the investigation and mitigation of ethical issues emerging from the implementation of technological solutions and, hence, support the migration to a symbiotic Factory of the Future.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}