In this article, we describe a case study that explores the ethical and legal issues relating to the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enhanced coding in bioinformatics and related life science research. Using this case study, we highlight the potential dangers posed by the introduction of AI-assisted coding in programming and analysis of health data. The aim is to understand and consider the potential harms it poses and to help students and young researchers on how to use AI responsibly in their work. Recent developments in generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) and the emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs)-based chatbots such as Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT) launched by OpenAI on November 30, 2022 are currently matter of many debates mainly about AI-generated scientific research and publications. Several scientists, editors, and publishers disapproved that ChatGPT made its way into scientific production by being listed as a co-author. Programming is another domain where LLMs-based chatbots have proven immense potential. These AI systems have the ability to assist human programmers at different stages, including writing and debugging code. The rapid development of AI and related emerging technologies and its wide deployment in different domains, including life-science research gives rise to multiple ethical, legal and technical considerations. We designed the present case study to describe a plausible situation in biomedical research, and to elucidate some legal and ethical issues resulting from the introduction of AI in life-science research.
Search engines influence the content users access and interact with. This case study investigates the ethical implications of gender bias in search engine algorithms through a fictional scenario involving the widely-used search engine, "Searchandfind." The study highlights the experiences of three individuals, each encountering biased search results that reinforce gender stereotypes. The analysis explores the technical, ethical, and societal dimensions of these biases, emphasizing the necessity for fairness, inclusivity, and transparency in AI systems. Practical approaches to mitigate gender bias, such as data diversification, algorithmic transparency, and regular audits, are explored. Additionally, the study prompts reflection on the broader impact of biased AI on professional and personal spheres, highlighting the ethical responsibility of tech companies to develop and deploy unbiased AI systems. This examination serves as a resource for understanding and addressing the pervasive issue of gender bias in AI-driven platforms.
This fictional case study examines the question of whether a personal conversational agent/advisor called iSoph, encoding extensive personal information and having a fluent natural language interface, may raise privacy harms that are normally thought to attend to personal relationships, as opposed to harms associated with institutional databases and big data analytics. The case stipulates that (i) iSoph collects extensive personal data about its users from multiple, multimodal sources, (ii) can make inferences from this data in combination with its models, but (ii) cannot share information with its developer or any third party. It is shown that despite condition (iii), iSoph raises privacy risks. These privacy risks are of the type associated with personal relationships and direct observation. iSoph raises these risks because, as an advanced conversational agent, it is able to evoke anthropomorphizing responses from its users in ways that they are not fully conscious of or able to control.
"Moral imagination" is the capacity to register that one's perspective on a decision-making situation is limited, and to imagine alternative perspectives that reveal new considerations or approaches. We have developed a Moral Imagination approach that aims to drive a culture of responsible innovation, ethical awareness, deliberation, decision-making, and commitment in organizations developing new technologies. We here present a case study that illustrates one key aspect of our approach - the technomoral scenario - as we have applied it in our work with product and engineering teams. Technomoral scenarios are fictional narratives that raise ethical issues surrounding the interaction between emerging technologies and society. Through facilitated roleplaying and discussion, participants are prompted to examine their own intentions, articulate justifications for actions, and consider the impact of decisions on various stakeholders. This process helps developers to reenvision their choices and responsibilities, ultimately contributing to a culture of responsible innovation.
Imagine inventing a “Universal Constructor”, a machine that can molecularly assemble anything you want it to (within physical possibility). Should you construct such a machine? And what should you construct with it?
Over 35% of case reports published in medical journals contain patient photographs. With widespread online academic publishing, there is growing concern about patient photographs that were originally published in medical journals appearing in online image search results. Research has shown that from a random sample of case reports indexed in PubMed, at least one image was found on Google Images for 76.3% of the publications. Inspired by recent examples, this case study explores the ethical implications of patient photographs circulating outside of the original journal website, including attention to patient privacy and informed consent.
Imagine that you can summarize and analyze the “Great Unread”, all the works of literature in human history, but only by feeding it through a “Black Box”, an algorithm that nobody fully understands. Does the output have explanatory value? If so, what kind?
In 2016, AI researchers Xiaolin Wu and Xi Zhang posted a paper to a non-peer reviewed depository that explained their plan to use machine learning to recognize criminals just by looking at their faces. They claimed to discover that “some discriminating structural features for predicting criminality have been found by machine learning.” There was an immediate backlash. According to Wu and Zhang, critics called the project racist. The researchers defended their stance, admitting that some of the language they used did have negative connotations due to oversights in translating their research into English, but overall standing by the project. This case study examines the ethics of their research. The analysis provided by the author argues that the kind of research under discussion in this case study is not ethical to carry out.
This case study addresses the integration of generative AI (GenAI) within educational practices, particularly in the context of reconciliation and decolonization of curriculum in Canadian schools. The case focuses on a teacher using ChatGPT to generate Cree star stories for a grade 4/5 science unit, aiming to fulfill the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's (TRC) educational calls to action. The study explores the ethical implications of using AI to include diverse knowledge traditions, questioning the potential harms and benefits, and highlighting the challenges of ensuring AI aligns with Indigenous epistemologies. Normative ethical theories and the TechnoEthical Framework for Teachers (TEFT) are employed to examine how AI technologies shape and mediate teacher practices and pedagogical responsibilities.
AI companions, powered by advanced language models, offer personalised interactions and emotional support, but their increasing prevalence raises significant ethical concerns. This paper examines the complex interplay of factors contributing to the potential negative impacts of AI companions in a case study. This author further argues that the root of the negative impacts comes from insufficient user screening that may expose vulnerable individuals to unsuitable AI interactions, regulatory frameworks struggling to keep pace with rapid technological advancements, and a lack of clear distinction between inherent AI limitations and temporary developmental artifacts. This paper aims to provide insights for responsible AI development, and calls for robust user screening protocols, adaptive regulatory frameworks and more informed research mindsets.
In this paper we present the results of the first season of Apura Verdade, a program that brings together journalists and researchers to discuss issues related to the fight against disinformation. Interviews were conducted from August to December 2021 using semi-structured questionnaires. The ideas discussed focus on the possibilities of using technology in journalistic practice to combat misinformation. Special attention is given to the resources used by fact-checking agencies, since the development of information technologies is also attributed to the intensification of this phenomenon.
The rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has created many opportunities across society. However, these rapid changes also raise deep behavioral concerns. In this way, in view of the need for Law to adapt to the new facts that arise within society, this paper proposes to analyze the regulation on the application of AI in deepfakes images, videos and audios. Qualitative, descriptive research was used, through bibliographic and documentary research to address the state of the art of deepfakes . The artificial intelligence has been widely used, but the absence of adequate regulation can result in violations of the rights of others and the misuse of this technology can cause significant damage.
Scientific community has been striving to comprehend the multifaceted phenomenon disinformation, including strategies to resist and counteract it. One approach is fostering critical information literacy. However, it's uncertain if this correlation holds true in scientific communication. This study employs bibliometric analysis to assess the presence of "disinformation" and "critical information literacy" in the field Information Science (IS). The theoretical framework encompasses the development of critical information literacy and the theme of disinformation. Using scholarly literature, a search was conducted in the Brapci Information Science Database - revealing limited presence of these themes in literacy studies within the field. The analysis scrutinizes 11,155 references from 2,514 works. This investigation suggests that "disinformation" and "critical information literacy" are gradually intertwining and explored in IS scholarly literature, indicating potential for critical information literacy to counter disinformation and improve human relations with information.
This work draws a connection between the authoritarian conservatism of the Brazilian military dictatorship and the ideology present during Jair Bolsonaro's administration, while shedding light on the role of the secretive and feared intelligence and repression apparatus in Brazil during the military regime, known as DOI-CODI. It analyzes the autobiographical work "A Verdade Sufocada" by Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra, former commander of DOI-CODI, and its influence on contemporary far -right ideology. Additionally, it addresses the media's contribution to the formation of social memory and forgetting, especially concerning Brazil's dictatorial past. The study demonstrates how certain elements of the dictatorship, such as nationalism, conservatism, and persecution of leftist groups, are still present in the ideological movements of the New Right. The analysis offers a critical perspective on Bolsonarism and its legacy stemming from a period of human rights violations and the suppression of democratic freedoms.
Investments in artificial intelligence (AI) spurred development of online fact-checking tools; positioned to potentially serve as more accurate alternatives or appendages to search engines and/or nascent chatbots. This study analyzed the efficacy of four AI tools (ClaimBuster, Full Fact, TheFactual - IsThisCredible?, and Google’s Fact-Check Explorer) in producing accurate readings measured by a consensus of independent fact-checking organizations. 10 unique claims were inputted into each tool to produce individual fact-check reports, resulting in 40 fact-check reports being conducted. The results reflect an efficacy rating of 100% regarding the ability of the selected tools to produce an overall accurate reading with 89% of reports producing a unanimous determination. Additionally, recommendations were made to further map and analyze the efficacy of AI fact-checking. These findings support the notion that AI can play an effective role in aiding online truth-seeking when its determinations depend on transparently referencing its source of independent human fact-checkers.
This paper examines the use of computational propaganda in the Brazilian environmental debate, focusing on the 2020 Amazon Forest fire discussions on Twitter. Through the use of a bot detector algorithm and social network analysis, the research aims to understand the role of social bots and the extent to which automated accounts reverberate certain ideological positions. The study found that Twitter discussions were highly polarized between supporters and critics of former far -right president Jair Bolsonaro. While the participation of international celebrities in the debate increased the visibility of a civil society awareness campaign against the forest fires, it also triggered a computational propaganda counterattack by Bolsonaro's supporters. Our analysis indicates that the anti-environmentalist reaction aimed at denying the existence of an environmental problem in the Brazilian Amazon was heavily amplified by automated and inauthentic accounts.
This paper seeks to unravel and understand the conditions and ways in which cultural capitalism operates that drive its production, exchange, distribution and consumption in the digital age; as well as understanding the powers that hold it and those it serves, the circuits in which it is heard, the spaces in which it is prohibited, its context and historical transformations. Music as an artistic production and symbolic object has always been linked to its characteristic instruments and technologies of its time. But when the economy catches up with it and it becomes merchandise, other means and channels are put into play for its dissemination, storage and control. It seeks to demonstrate those stealthy operations with which intermediaries operate. An analysis is made regarding the logic of consumption and production of users, on power relations and asymmetries between some actors in the music industry.
The ICT Domicílios 2021 survey reveals the growth in the use of the internet in Brazil compared to periods prior to the Covid 19 pandemic. However, this expansion is not reflected in the percentages of selfauthored content posted by users: only 31% reported that they share something of their own creation, be it a text, image, photo, video or music. Among young people from Salvador (Bahia, Brazil) who are interested in politics, Silva's research (2022) revealed that only 34% claim to publish authorial content. Among the reasons given by young people, they mention fear of cancellation and hate speech. This article analyzes data from this survey in the light of discussions on infocommunicative literacy. We conclude that public policies in the country need to advance in terms of guaranteeing the right to the internet associated with education for the ethical, critical and democratic use of information and communication.
Disinformation: a collective, human and technological phenomenon and the different ways to combat itThe World Economic Forum released the Global Risks Report 2024 3 , which identifies potential risks for humanity for the next decade, considering technological acceleration, uncertainties regarding exclusionary economic processes, the complex environmental situation, in addition to conflicts.The vector for building the results of the survey carried out with 1,400 experts in September 2023 had four main structural forces that bring together and trigger a necessary management of systemic risks in the global scenario, namely: 1. Trajectories related to global warming and consequences related to earth systems (climate change); 2. Changes in the size, growth and structure of populations around the world (demographic bifurcation); 3. Development paths for frontier technologies (technological acceleration); 4. Material evolution in the concentration and sources of geopolitical power (geostrategic shifts).In this scenario and linked to the process of technological acceleration, the phenomenon of disinformation comes first among the most serious global risks for the next two years, ranking fifth when considering the ten years ahead.The concern that spreads throughout multiple dimensions of life in society, including environmental and scientific issues, has as its main core, between 2024 and 2025, the political electoral scenario in several countries.The main concerns focus on the indiscriminate use of artificial "intelligence" in disinformation narratives that have been upgraded and now have greater impact in society.The risks involve greater manipulation and control of public opinion, in addition to the potentialization of a process of massive alienation, thinking with Freud (2020, p.50) for whom "a group is extraordinarily credulous and open to influence, it has no critical faculty, and the improbable does not exist for it.It thinks in images, which call one another up by association [...]".The current mediatization processes constitute a central axis for thinking about misinformation in 21st century societies.The multiplication of screens and content are intertwined with practices and discourses in hybrid and convergent ecosystems.Thus, it is pertinent to systematize some structural issues that function as anchor points of the contemporary scenario.Firstly, disinformation processes are part of the convergence of new and old cultural industries that are the product of creative work and are characterized by a twofold 1 PhD, Communicational Processes (UMESP-BRAZIL).
