{"title":"Artificial worlds and artificial minds: Authenticity and language learning in digital lifeworlds","authors":"Blair Matthews","doi":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100131","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100131","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Language learning is increasingly being extended into digital and online spaces that have been enhanced by simulated reality and augmented with data and artificial intelligence. While this may expand opportunities for language learning, some critics argue that digital spaces may represent a pastiche or a parody of reality. However, while there are genuine issues, such criticisms may often fall back on naïve or essentialist views of authenticity, in particular by narrowing language learning scenarios to real-life or genuine communication. I argue that research undersocialises authenticity by not taking social relations into sufficient consideration, which denies or elides the ways that authenticity is achieved. In this conceptual paper, I offer a relational account of authenticity, where I conceive digital environments within a stratified ontological framework, where authenticity is not inherent in individuals or texts, but instead emerges from complex social contexts. Authenticity, then, does not refer to authenticity of texts or “being oneself”, but authenticity in relation to others. A stratified ontology provides opportunities to extend relations with others, offering what is described as a “submersion into a temporary agency”, where language learners can experiment with the social order in order to achieve authenticity of themselves in the target language. Finally, I present a relational pedagogy based on responsiveness, where feedback is distributed among disparate human and technical actors which facilitate, problematise or endorse authenticity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":73937,"journal":{"name":"Journal of responsible technology","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 100131"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144757674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring responsible technology through archetypal responses: uncertainty analysis in Leave the World Behind","authors":"Inna Artemova","doi":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100134","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100134","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As AI systems grow increasingly opaque and influential, technological uncertainty is central to contemporary human experience. This study examines archetypal human responses to such uncertainty through a semiotic and narratological analysis of the film <em>Leave the World Behind</em>. Drawing on Lotman’s concept of the semiosphere and Propp’s archetypal theory, the research interprets character transformations as universal adaptive patterns. Key archetypes are identified—Adaptive Hero, Knowledge Bearer, Individualistic Survivor, Vulnerable Dependent, Social Mediator, and Digital Escapist—revealing capacities that support resilience in technology-mediated crises: collective meaning-making, emotional intelligence, inter- and intra-generational knowledge exchange, collaborative resilience, and ecological literacy. These findings suggest that sustainable human-technology relations require more than regulatory oversight: they demand inclusive, culturally grounded frameworks that prioritise human values, ethical co-design, and shared interpretive systems. By mapping archetypal responses to systemic disruption, the study contributes to emerging debates on technological governance, posthuman ethics, and the future of human agency in AI-shaped societies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":73937,"journal":{"name":"Journal of responsible technology","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 100134"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144879382","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anastasia Kordoni , Mark Levine , Amel Bennaceur , Carlos Gavidia-Calderon , Bashar Nuseibeh
{"title":"Intersecting social identity and drone use in humanitarian contexts: Psychological insights for legal decisions and responsible innovation","authors":"Anastasia Kordoni , Mark Levine , Amel Bennaceur , Carlos Gavidia-Calderon , Bashar Nuseibeh","doi":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100129","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100129","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While the technical and ethical challenges of using drones in Search-and-Rescue operations for transnationally displaced individuals have been explored, how drone footage can shape psychological processes at play and impact post-rescue legal decision-making has been overlooked. This paper investigates how transnationally displaced individuals' social identities are portrayed in court and the role of drone footage in reinforcing these identities. We conducted a discourse analysis of 11 open-access asylum and deportation cases following drone-assisted Search-and-Rescue operations at sea (2015–2021). Our results suggest two primary identity constructions: as victims and as traffickers, each underpinned by conflicting psychological processes. The defence portrayed the defendants through the lens of vulnerability, while the prosecution through unlawfulness. Psychological attributions of drone footage contributed differently to identity portrayal, influencing legal decisions regarding the status and entitlements of transnationally displaced individuals. We discuss the socio-ethical implications of these findings and propose a psychosocial account for responsible innovation in technology mediated humanitarian contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":73937,"journal":{"name":"Journal of responsible technology","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 100129"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144724925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zoe Porter , Philippa Ryan , Phillip Morgan , Joanna Al-Qaddoumi , Bernard Twomey , Paul Noordhof , John McDermid , Ibrahim Habli
{"title":"Unravelling responsibility for AI","authors":"Zoe Porter , Philippa Ryan , Phillip Morgan , Joanna Al-Qaddoumi , Bernard Twomey , Paul Noordhof , John McDermid , Ibrahim Habli","doi":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100124","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100124","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>It is widely acknowledged that we need to establish where responsibility lies for the outputs and impacts of AI-enabled systems. This is important to achieve justice and compensation for victims of AI harms, and to inform policy and engineering practice. But without a clear, thorough understanding of what ‘responsibility’ means, deliberations about where responsibility lies will be, at best, unfocused and incomplete and, at worst, misguided. Furthermore, AI-enabled systems exist within a wider ecosystem of actors, decisions, and governance structures, giving rise to complex networks of responsibility relations. To address these issues, this paper presents a conceptual framework of responsibility, accompanied with a graphical notation and general methodology for visualising these responsibility networks and for tracing different responsibility attributions for AI. Taking the three-part formulation ‘Actor A is responsible for Occurrence O,’ the framework unravels the concept of responsibility to clarify that there are different possibilities of <em>who</em> is responsible for AI, <em>senses</em> in which they are responsible, and <em>aspects of events</em> they are responsible for. The notation allows these permutations to be represented graphically. The methodology enables users to apply the framework to specific scenarios. The aim is to offer a foundation to support stakeholders from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to discuss and address complex responsibility questions in hypothesised and real-world cases involving AI. The work is illustrated by application to a fictitious scenario of a fatal collision between a crewless, AI-enabled maritime vessel in autonomous mode and a traditional, crewed vessel at sea.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":73937,"journal":{"name":"Journal of responsible technology","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 100124"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144739109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Toward a responsible and ethical authorization to operate: A case study in AI consulting","authors":"Jason M. Pittman , Geoff Schaefer","doi":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100130","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100130","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The US federal government mandates all technologies receive an Authorization to Operate (ATO). The ATO serves as a testament to the technology's security compliance. This process underscores a fundamental belief: technologies must conform to established security norms. Yet, the security-centric view does not include ethical and responsible AI. Unlike security parameters, ethical and responsible AI lacks a standardized framework for evaluation. This leaves a critical gap in AI governance. This paper presents our consulting experiences in addressing such a gap and introduces a pioneering ATO assessment instrument. The instrument integrates ethical and responsible AI principles into assessment decision-making. We delve into the instrument's design, shedding light on unique attributes and features. Furthermore, we discuss emergent best practices related to this ATO instrument. These include potential decision pitfalls of interest to practitioners and policymakers alike. Looking ahead, we envision an evolved version of this ethical and responsible ATO. This future iteration incorporates continuous monitoring capabilities and novel ethical measures. Finally, we offer insights for the AI community to evaluate their AI decision-making.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":73937,"journal":{"name":"Journal of responsible technology","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 100130"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144721687","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dion R.J. O’Neale , Daniel Wilson , Paul T. Brown , Pascarn Dickinson , Manakore Rikus-Graham , Asia Ropeti
{"title":"Ten simple guidelines for decolonising algorithmic systems","authors":"Dion R.J. O’Neale , Daniel Wilson , Paul T. Brown , Pascarn Dickinson , Manakore Rikus-Graham , Asia Ropeti","doi":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100125","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100125","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the scope and prevalence of algorithmic systems and artificial intelligence for decision making expand, there is a growing understanding of the need for approaches to help with anticipating adverse consequences and to support the development and deployment of algorithmic systems that are socially responsible and ethically aware. This has led to increasing interest in \"decolonising\" algorithmic systems as a method of managing and mitigating harms and biases from algorithms and for supporting social benefits from algorithmic decision making for Indigenous peoples.</div><div>This article presents ten simple guidelines for giving practical effect to foundational Māori (the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand) principles in the design, deployment, and operation of algorithmic systems. The guidelines are based on previously established literature regarding ethical use of Māori data. Where possible we have related these guidelines and recommendations to other development practices, for example, to open-source software.</div><div>While not intended to be exhaustive or extensive, we hope that these guidelines are able to facilitate and encourage those who work with Māori data in algorithmic systems to engage with processes and practices that support culturally appropriate and ethical approaches for algorithmic systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":73937,"journal":{"name":"Journal of responsible technology","volume":"23 ","pages":"Article 100125"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144662246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reflexivity and AI start-ups: A collective virtue for dynamic teams","authors":"Marco Innocenti","doi":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100115","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100115","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the ethical challenges faced by AI-driven start-ups, where the rapid pace of innovation and limited resources often preclude team members from fully understanding the product under development or its societal implications. We propose the concept of “swarm moral reflexivity”, where ethical reflection emerges collectively from the interactions of individuals focused on their specific tasks. Drawing on Swarm Intelligence theories and Alasdair MacIntyre's framework of moral deliberation, this approach enables teams to engage with ethical issues through daily encounters with conflicting responsibilities, rather than relying on top-down value systems or comprehensive ethical oversight. Our model suggests that decentralised, collective moral awareness can effectively support Responsible Innovation in AI start-ups, ensuring that ethical concerns are recognised and addressed throughout the development process, even in fast-paced and resource-constrained environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":73937,"journal":{"name":"Journal of responsible technology","volume":"22 ","pages":"Article 100115"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143685401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Data ethics and digital sustainability: Bridging legal data protection compliance and ESG for a responsible data-driven future","authors":"Prof. Dr. Paolo Balboni , Kate Elizabeth Francis","doi":"10.1016/j.jrt.2024.100099","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrt.2024.100099","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite being the most comprehensive data protection law in the world, Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has failed to ensure that data is processed in an ethical and sustainable manner. This is because the law does not regulate what is good and even lawful activities may lead to harms. At the same time, data ethics requires clear guidelines that can be adopted by organizations. To address this, the authors propose situating data protection within the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) paradigms. This incentivizes the adoption of ethical practices thanks to the potential for organizations to improve their ESG ratings. To this end, the Maastricht University Data Protection as a Corporate Social Responsibility Framework is provided as a solution. The Framework provides actionable and auditable controls with the ultimate aim of promoting responsible data practices that benefit not only businesses, but also individuals and society.</div><div><strong><em>Novelty and contribution to knowledge:</em></strong> This paper builds upon the work illustrated in <em>Data Protection as a Corporate Social Responsibility</em> (Edward Elgar, 2023) to provide an overview of the need for taking an ethical approach to data protection and cybersecurity compliance. It provides new insights into the relationship between ethics and data protection law and makes new connections between ESG and data protection. Essentially, it delves deeper into the potential for framing data protection under ESG to act as an incentive for virtuous data protection compliance to be achieved by companies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":73937,"journal":{"name":"Journal of responsible technology","volume":"22 ","pages":"Article 100099"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143882579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Responsible AI innovation in the public sector: Lessons from and recommendations for facilitating Fundamental Rights and Algorithms Impact Assessments","authors":"I.M. Muis, J. Straatman, B.A. Kamphorst","doi":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100118","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100118","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since the initial development of the Fundamental Rights and Algorithms Impact Assessment (FRAIA) in 2021, there has been an increasing interest from public sector organizations to gain experience with performing a FRAIA in contexts of developing, procuring, and deploying AI systems. In this contribution, we share observations from fifteen FRAIA trajectories performed in the field within the Dutch public sector context. Based on our experiences facilitating these trajectories, we offer a set of recommendations directed at practitioners with the aim of helping organizations make the best use of FRAIA and similar impact assessment instruments. We conclude by calling for the development of an informal FRAIA community in which practical handholds and advice can be shared to promote responsible AI innovation by ensuring that the human decision making around AI and other algorithms is well informed and well documented with respect to the protection of fundamental rights.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":73937,"journal":{"name":"Journal of responsible technology","volume":"22 ","pages":"Article 100118"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143800374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dorothee Horstkötter , Mariël Kanne , Simona Karbouniaris , Noussair Lazrak , Maria Bulgheroni , Ella Sheltawy , Laura Giani , Margherita La Gamba , Esmeralda Ruiz Pujadas , Marina Camacho , Finty Royle , Irene Baggetto , Sinan Gülöksüz , Bart Rutten , Jim van Os
{"title":"Decision-making on an AI-supported youth mental health app: A multilogue among ethicists, social scientists, AI-researchers, biomedical engineers, young experiential experts, and psychiatrists","authors":"Dorothee Horstkötter , Mariël Kanne , Simona Karbouniaris , Noussair Lazrak , Maria Bulgheroni , Ella Sheltawy , Laura Giani , Margherita La Gamba , Esmeralda Ruiz Pujadas , Marina Camacho , Finty Royle , Irene Baggetto , Sinan Gülöksüz , Bart Rutten , Jim van Os","doi":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100119","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jrt.2025.100119","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article explores the decision-making processes in the ongoing development of an AI-supported youth mental health app. Document analysis reveals decisions taken during the grant proposal and funding phase and reflects upon reasons <em>why</em> AI is incorporated in innovative youth mental health care. An innovative multilogue among the transdisciplinary team of researchers, covering ethicists, social scientists, AI-experts, biomedical engineers, young experts by experience, and psychiatrists points out <em>which</em> decisions are taken <em>how</em>. This covers i) the role of a biomedical and exposomic understanding of psychiatry as compared to a phenomenological and experiential perspective, ii) the impact and limits of AI-co-creation by young experts by experience and mental health experts, and iii) the different perspectives regarding the impact of AI on autonomy, empowerment and human relationships. The multilogue does not merely highlight different steps taken during human decision-making in AI-development, it also raises awareness about the many complexities, and sometimes contradictions, when engaging in transdisciplinary work, and it points towards ethical challenges of digitalized youth mental health care.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":73937,"journal":{"name":"Journal of responsible technology","volume":"22 ","pages":"Article 100119"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143867928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}