Big Data (34)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 15 min
- The App Solutions
Overview of recommender systems, which are information filtering algorithms design to suggest content or products to a particular user.
- The App Solutions
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- 15 min
- The App Solutions
5 types of recommender systems and their impact on customer experience
Overview of recommender systems, which are information filtering algorithms design to suggest content or products to a particular user.
How do information filtering algorithms work and learn? Are some types of recommender systems more generally ethical than others?
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- 3 min
- Kinolab
- 2009
In a distant future after the “Water War” in which much of the natural environment was destroyed and water has become scarce, Asha works as a curator at a museum which displays the former splendor of nature on Earth. She receives a mysterious soil sample which, after digital analysis using a object recognition to take data from the soil, surprisingly contains water.
- Kinolab
- 2009
Digital Environment Analysis
In a distant future after the “Water War” in which much of the natural environment was destroyed and water has become scarce, Asha works as a curator at a museum which displays the former splendor of nature on Earth. She receives a mysterious soil sample which, after digital analysis using a object recognition to take data from the soil, surprisingly contains water.
How can technology be used to gather data on certain environments and aspects of an ecosystem to help them reach their full potential? How should this technology be made accessible to communities all across the world?
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- 5 min
- Nature
- 2025
Research has found that 90% of studies on AI development, as well as 86% of the resulting patents, involve human imaging. This means that data used to train AI models are well suited to being used in surveillance applications by military, law enforcement, corporations, and other private actors. There is also substantial evidence to suggest that much of the research that created the current models were funded by government and military agencies.
- Nature
- 2025
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- 5 min
- Nature
- 2025
Is AI watching us?
Research has found that 90% of studies on AI development, as well as 86% of the resulting patents, involve human imaging. This means that data used to train AI models are well suited to being used in surveillance applications by military, law enforcement, corporations, and other private actors. There is also substantial evidence to suggest that much of the research that created the current models were funded by government and military agencies.
- Why do you think such a significant proportion of the studies involve human imaging?
- What are the ethical barriers in using human imaging to advance AI research?
- What are potential cases in which the images and information collected may be misused by government or private companies?
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- 5 min
- CNBC
- 2025
Following in the footsteps of the state of Indiana (2019), almost all states in the US provide tax exemptions to eligible data centers. The demand for data centers was high when the Indiana legislation was passed, but it has skyrocketed ever since the advent of LLMs and their need for more storage and energy. To attract data centers, states are forfeiting millions of dollars in taxes. Questions about whether having these exemptions is even profitable, considering that they don’t create that many jobs but use a significant amount of electricity, along with questions about who is getting these benefits, are being raised. It was found that a company applied for an exemption, but it was another holding company for Google.
- CNBC
- 2025
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- 5 min
- CNBC
- 2025
Race to give tax cuts to data centers
Following in the footsteps of the state of Indiana (2019), almost all states in the US provide tax exemptions to eligible data centers. The demand for data centers was high when the Indiana legislation was passed, but it has skyrocketed ever since the advent of LLMs and their need for more storage and energy. To attract data centers, states are forfeiting millions of dollars in taxes. Questions about whether having these exemptions is even profitable, considering that they don’t create that many jobs but use a significant amount of electricity, along with questions about who is getting these benefits, are being raised. It was found that a company applied for an exemption, but it was another holding company for Google.
- What are the benefits of having a data center in the state compared to outside?
- What is the government’s responsibility in the propagation of data centers?
- What step can be taken to reduce the losses these tax exemptions produce?
- Should the government be establishing publicly supported data centers for equitable access to these resources?
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- 125 min
- International Journal of Law and Information Technology
- 2021
Argues that the posthumous digital presence of individuals—such as AI-generated simulations, voice clones, and griefbots—deserves legal and ethical protections, even after a person has died. The author proposes the concept of “digital souls” to encapsulate the idea that a person’s data, personality emulations, and AI-generated likenesses should be treated with dignity and moral consideration, not just as property or public content.
- International Journal of Law and Information Technology
- 2021
Digital Remains: Property or Privacy?
Argues that the posthumous digital presence of individuals—such as AI-generated simulations, voice clones, and griefbots—deserves legal and ethical protections, even after a person has died. The author proposes the concept of “digital souls” to encapsulate the idea that a person’s data, personality emulations, and AI-generated likenesses should be treated with dignity and moral consideration, not just as property or public content.
- Discuss the posthumous data rights in different regions as covered in this paper.
- Brainstorm possible regulations to combat some of the issues raised in the article and create a policy to address one of them based on similar policies found in the physical world.
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- 35 min
- Submitted to AIES '25
Critically examines emerging technologies that enable digital immortality—the preservation and simulated interaction with the dead through AI-generated chatbots, deepfakes, or virtual avatars using personal data. The paper argues that these technologies represent a form of techno-solutionism, providing artificial remedies for the complex human experience of grief. The authors warn that digital immortality platforms—marketed by startups like HereAfter AI, Eter9, and others—pose psychological, ethical, legal, and environmental risks, especially to vulnerable grieving individuals.
- Submitted to AIES '25
Wanted Dead or Alive
Critically examines emerging technologies that enable digital immortality—the preservation and simulated interaction with the dead through AI-generated chatbots, deepfakes, or virtual avatars using personal data. The paper argues that these technologies represent a form of techno-solutionism, providing artificial remedies for the complex human experience of grief. The authors warn that digital immortality platforms—marketed by startups like HereAfter AI, Eter9, and others—pose psychological, ethical, legal, and environmental risks, especially to vulnerable grieving individuals.
- What is digital immortality, and how does it differ from other concepts like transhumanism or consciousness uploading?
- Why do the authors argue that digital immortality platforms are a form of social media? Do you agree with this classification?
- How does the paper define and critique “techno-solutionism”?