Purpose This paper aims to examines how artificial intelligence (AI) can be meaningfully implemented in non-profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating under resource constraints. This study explores how AI may contribute to efficiency gains and workload reduction while preserving the mission-driven and relational character of social work. This study also addresses barriers such as financial limitations, lack of technical expertise and ethical concerns, situating NGO digital transformation within broader debates on the common good and sociotechnical change. Design/methodology/approach The mixed-methods project KINiro (AI for NGOs), funded by the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, used a sequential qual → QUAN → qual design. Data were gathered through a scoping review, exploratory interviews (n = 5), an online survey (n = 335) and in-depth expert interviews (n = 10). Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively; qualitative data were coded using Kuckartz’s content analysis. The results provide a comprehensive picture of current AI adoption, expectations and challenges within German NGOs. Findings Most NGOs are in the early stages of AI adoption. Around 60% have experimented with AI, mainly for writing support, translation and research. Of organizations, 45.1% reported occasional AI use, 14.8% regular use and 7.6% planned future use. Perceived benefits include automation of routine tasks and resource conservation. Concerns center on data protection, loss of control and “dehumanization” of social interaction. Overall, AI evokes ambivalence – simultaneously hope for relief and fear of ethical risks. Research limitations/implications The findings of this study are based on German NGOs and may not fully generalize internationally. Further comparative research is needed to assess cross-cultural differences in AI acceptance and governance. Practical implications Results highlight the need for targeted funding, digital roadmaps and participatory implementation processes involving employees and volunteers to ensure sustainable AI integration. Social implications Ethically aligned AI use can strengthen civil-society organizations by enhancing efficiency without undermining human-centered values, thus supporting democratic and social participation. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study provides one of the first empirical analyses of AI in NGOs, integrating ethical, organizational and resource perspectives. This study contributes to computer ethics by framing NGO digitalization as a sociotechnical and common-good issue rather than a purely technological challenge.
Purpose The purpose of this study to document and criticaly analyse decline of Working-Class literature in India. Historically, this literary tradition took root in the struggles of workers during industrialisation and the anti-colonial movement, functioning as a powerful medium for voicing the everyday realities of labourers in factories, fields and informal employment. The tradition was nurtured by an ecosystem of progressive political movements, trade union patronage, and vernacular publishing infrastructure that collectively sustained its production and ensured its circulation among the communities it represented. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on narrative based extensive literature review. Methodologically, the paper draws on Marxist political economy, Foucauldian power analysis, Nancy Fraser’s theory of the public sphere, and Cultural Materialism. Findings The study is guided by interconnected research questions: firstly, how the fragmentation of organised labour, the consequences of economic liberalisation, and the rise of digital media brought about socio-economic and cultural changes that have together undermined working-class literature; secondly, how these same forces have redirected publishing and readership towards middle-class tastes and aesthetics; and thirdly, how this literary decline amounts to an epistemic loss that carries enduring cultural consequences for Indian democracy and social consciousness. Originality/value This paper examines the underlying causes and evaluates the normative consequences of the steady erosion of working-class literature in India. The paper analyses the processes that have marginalised working-class narratives, traces the erasure of social memory that follows from their disappearance, and examines how the absence of such literature reinforces cultural privilege and deepens existing structures of inequality.
Purpose This study aims to examine ethical and privacy issues in artificial intelligence (AI)-based information services in libraries and to analyze their implications for user trust. This study specifically focuses on how librarians and users perceive AI ethics differently and how these perceptions influence trust in AI-driven library services. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-method approach was used. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with librarians to explore their understanding and implementation of ethical principles in AI-based services. Quantitative data were obtained via a survey questionnaire distributed to library users to measure their perceptions of ethics, transparency, privacy and trust in AI systems. Findings The findings of this study reveal a significant gap between librarians’ and users’ interpretations of AI ethics. Librarians tend to conceptualize ethics within institutional regulations and professional standards, whereas users emphasize personal data protection and a sense of security. Ethical literacy initiatives conducted by librarians have not fully succeeded in fostering user trust, as reflected in low user perceptions of transparency and system security. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by integrating ethical literacy and user trust perspectives in the context of AI-based library services. This study highlights the importance of involving users in ethical and policy discussions related to AI implementation. The findings offer practical insights for developing more inclusive and user-centered ethical frameworks for AI adoption in libraries and other information institutions.
Purpose This paper aims to address a core limitation in computational Kantian ethics: the tension between deontological rigidity and the demands of decision-making in complex, real-world environments. It proposes an adaptive extension of the categorical imperative that preserves its non-consequentialist foundations while enabling context-sensitive application. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop a constraint-based computational framework in which moral values are treated as conditions of admissibility rather than optimization targets. The model introduces dynamic tolerance and impact thresholds to enable bounded flexibility. It is empirically evaluated on the ETHICS data set through comparison with baseline Kantian and reinforcement learning from human feedback -based models. Findings The adaptive formulation improves behavioral alignment across diverse scenarios while maintaining strong deontological consistency. It systematically rejects compensatory trade-offs typical of reward-optimizing systems, while allowing conditionally admissible decisions in cases of conflicting duties under strict structural constraints. Research limitations/implications The framework depends on calibrated parameters and predefined value structures, which may introduce subjectivity and limit generalizability. Scalability and long-term stability in multi-agent settings remain open challenges. Practical implications The model supports auditable, constraint-aligned decision-making in high-risk domains requiring transparency, accountability and regulatory compliance. Originality/value This paper offers a novel constraint-based reinterpretation of Kantian ethics that integrates adaptive mechanisms without collapsing into consequentialism, advancing the development of robust, policy-compliant and ethically grounded artificial intelligence systems.
Purpose The dominance of traditional mass media has been significantly challenged by the rise of digital and social media, whose impacts on the habits of informational consumption, human sentiments, attitudes and behaviors have not been well documented. This study aims to examine how digital and social media use, compared to traditional media use, relates to people’s social trust, supernational confidence (in the UN system), ethical values and happiness globally. Design/methodology/approach Regression analyses based on the 7th wave of the World Value Survey (WVS) data collected from 2017 to 2022 in 66 societies, with further testing in 6 groups (light, moderate or heavy media users; not free, partly free or free societies). Findings The study reveals that, in general, digital media use, such as using traditional media, correlates positively with supernational confidence and happiness but negatively with ethical values. Social media, on the other hand, covary positively with ethical values but negatively with social trust and supernational confidence. A following examination of those relationships in six groups (light, moderate, or heavy media users or not free, partly free or free societies) confirmed more or less of them, revealing new interesting findings. Research limitations/implications This study relies on the cross-sectional 7th wave of the WVS data, which limits its insight. Some findings are not confirmed in all groups. Practical implications The different patterns of the relationships of using those communication channels with the major values suggest a healthy habit of combining them instead of relying on merely one or two, which have clear drawbacks, such as the negative relationship between social media use and social trust, supernational confidence or that between digital and traditional media use and ethical values. Social implications The study helps understand the use of digital or social media and factors associated with the shifting of important social values. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship between digital and social media use and some significant values, specifically, social trust, supernational confidence, ethical values and happiness, with a high-quality set of global data and testing in six groups.
