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This paper aims to explore human technology relations through the lens of sci-fi movies within the life cycle of the ETHICOMP conference series. Here, different perspectives on artificial intelligent agents, primarily in the shape of robots, but also including other kinds of intelligent systems, are explored. Hence, IT-ethical issues related to humans interactions with social robots and artificial intelligent agents are illustrated with reference to: Alex Proyas’ I, Robot; James Cameron’s Terminator; and the Wachowski brothers’ Matrix. All three movies present robots cast in the roles of moral agents capable of doing good or evil. Steven Spielberg’s Artificial Intelligence, A.I. gives rise to a discussion of the robot seen as a moral patient and furthermore reflects on possibilities for care and trust relations between robots and humans. Andrew Stanton’s Wall-E shapes a discussion of robots as altruistic machines in the role as facilitators of a flourishing society. Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report allows for a discussion of knowledge-discovering technology and the possibility for balancing data utility and data privacy.

Observations of themes in sci-fi movies within the life span of the ETHICOMP conference series are discussed with the purpose of illustrating ways in which science fiction reflects (science) faction. In that sense, science fiction does not express our worries for a distant future, but rather casts light over questions, which is of concern in the present time.

Human technology interactions are addressed and it is shown how sci-fi films highlight philosophical questions that puzzle us today, such as which kind of relationships can and ought to be formed with robots, and whether the roles they play as social actors demand that one ought to assign moral standing to them. The paper does not present firm answers but instead pays attention to the selection and framing of questions that deserve attention.

To relate sci-fi movies to topics raised during the past 20 years of the ETHICOMP conference series, seemed to be an appropriate way of celebrating the 20-year anniversary of the ETHICOMP conference series.

The hardware technology for an intelligent machine is available. We see no contraindication to the construction of the software of such a machine. This paper reviews and lists the functional properties of intelligent machines as seen by many authors, and attempts to formulate then in terms of basic computational methods and a program structure. It is suggested that an interchange between brain scientists and artificial intelligence workers could be more fruitful than before. The question of the validity of comparing brains and computers remains unsettled.

Despite the growing interest in AI, the scientific literature lacks multinational studies that examine how mainstream media depict AI applications. This paper is one of the first empirical studies to explore how French and English-speaking mainstream media portray AI during a pandemic. The purpose of this study is to examine how media define AI and how they frame this technology.

The authors selected five media outlets and extracted all news articles that mentioned AI over a period of 30 days. The authors constituted the sample to ensure a mix of global, national and local media newspapers. The authors included Le Temps (Switzerland), Le Monde (France), The Guardian (United Kingdom), Politico Europe (Europe) and the New York Times (USA). The authors used the NexisUni database to collect the news articles. This resulted in a sample of 54 articles, which the authors then refined to 35 articles mentioning at the same AI and COVID-19. They then manually coded to identify media frames about AI.

Although no news article provides a definition of AI, most articles highlight two main characteristics: information processing and adaptability. This paper also shows that the coverage of AI in US newspaper is more optimistic than pessimistic. European newspapers offer a more balanced perspective of the risks and benefits associated with the technology, and highlight its use mainly in the context of the COVID-19. Media framing changes according to the evolution of the pandemic. While the USA were not yet heavily affected by the virus, Europe experienced the peak of the crisis. The authors argue that the framing of AI follows that of the pandemic.

This study is limited in terms of timeframe (30 days) and media outlets (5). It would be useful to extend this sample to verify the results, and also conduct interviews among journalists to understand their motivations and understanding of AI.

Despite the growing interest in AI, the scientific literature lacks multinational studies that examine how mainstream media depict AI applications in society. This paper is one of the first empirical studies to explore how French and English-speaking mainstream media portray AI during a pandemic.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-09-2020-0393

Purpose: The purpose of this chapter is to review and critically evaluate robots, artificial intelligence and service automation (RAISA) applications in the restaurant industry to educate professors, graduate students, and industry professionals.

Design/methodology/approach: This chapter is a survey of applications of RAISA in restaurants. The chapter is based on the review of professional and peer-reviewed academic literature, and the industry insight section was prepared based on a 50-minute interview with Mr. Juan Higueros, Chief Operations Officer of Bear Robotics.

Findings: Various case studies presented in this chapter illustrate numerous possibilities for automation: from automating a specific function to complete automation of the front of the house (e.g., Eatsa) or back of the house (e.g., Spyce robotic kitchen). The restaurant industry has already adopted chatbots; voice-activated and biometric technologies; robots as hosts, food runners, chefs, and bartenders; tableside ordering; conveyors; and robotic food delivery.

Practical implications: The chapter presents professors and students with a detailed overview of RAISA in the restaurant industry that will be useful for educational and research purposes. Restaurant owners and managers may also benefit from reading this chapter as they will learn about the current state of technology and opportunities for RAISA implementation.

Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this chapter presents the first systematic and in-depth review of RAISA technologies in the restaurant industry.

Perspectives and constraints of computer simulation of human thought depend on the concept of human thinking. For computer simulation purposes thinking is defined as the process of symbolizing events and then manipulating the symbols by various logical and illogical inferences. It seems to be reasonable to consider the concept of thinking in connection with some philosophical system, since concepts formation, judgments, reasoning and problem‐solving are philosophical issues. In this paper various solutions of the problem under consideration that arise from the most significant philosophical systems are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to present some of the findings (which were reported on more extensively in earlier work) regarding the visibility of gender issues in the literature on selected information and communication technologies (ICTs) with a view to make predictions about potential ethical issues that the application of these ICTs may bring about in the future. This paper is part of the larger research project called ETICA (Ethical Issues of Emerging Information and Communication Technologies), a collaborative project funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union.

On the basis of the analysis of around 100 published sources, which dealt with various aspects of selected ICTs, conclusions have been drawn regarding gender issues and concerns that the applications of these ICTs may cause. The authors' analysis is theoretically informed by critical discourse analysis (CDA) which assumes that texts, both written and spoken, as well as other forms of symbolic representations, are indicative of social practices. Of particular methodological relevance was the survey of methods of text and discourse analysis presented in Titscher et al. and especially the application of keyword search as a way to measure the prominence of each investigated method. This approach to literature surveying proved very useful in selecting analytic material: only those published sources on the selected four ICTs have been included in the survey, for which the analysis of keywords, abstracts and indexes of terms indicated authors' interest in gender issues.

First, ICTs such as affective computing, ambient intelligence, and artificial intelligence, have been found to have the potential of positively affecting gender power relations and thus positively affecting gender balance in the areas of labour market related to ICT across EU countries and worldwide. Second, more research on the relationship between gender and ICT design, application and representation is needed, so as to enhance a better understanding of ethical issues resulting from unequal participation of women and men in all aspects of ICT production and implementation, which in itself is an ethical dilemma with which both the ICT business and legislators have to grapple.

The paper offers insight into the relationship between the level of attention devoted to particular ICTs by ICT researchers, as evidenced in the reviewed literature, and the likelihood of the application of a particular ICT in the future, which is looked at and assessed from a gender perspective.

In terms of training the public in prompt engineering skills, no single discipline or profession currently takes the lead, presenting an opportunity for professions like librarianship to step into this role. Librarians are already well-equipped to educate the public in a wide range of literacy skills and tasks, so prompt engineering may be a natural progression. The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential role of prompt engineering for library professionals.

Prompt engineering is the process of optimizing the text that is provided to an artificial intelligence (A)I model to ensure proper interpretation and the generation of relevant, detailed results. The field of prompt engineering is relatively young, evolving alongside the growth of large language models like ChatGPT and BARD. This conceptual paper will explore prompt engineering as a possible domain of expertise for librarians.

This paper delves into the world of prompt engineering, its alignment with the existing roles and expertise of librarians, and the potential emergence of a new role known as the “prompt engineering librarian,” akin to the well-established “information literacy librarian” role that has gained prominence in recent decades.

The significance of this work lies in exploring the synergy between prompt engineering and the traditional roles of librarians, highlighting the potential for a new and valuable profession in the form of prompt engineering librarians. This innovative concept could bridge the gap in AI literacy and facilitate more effective interactions with AI systems, contributing to the broader goal of AI accessibility and understanding.

This paper aims to explore integrating chatbot applications into libraries to improve reference services.

This paper explores the benefits of using chatbots as virtual reference librarians. Emma the Mentor Public Library’s Catbot is used as a case study.

Chatbots cannot replicate the complexity of human interaction (both knowledge and emotional), but these can provide a cost-effective way to answer the majority of routine reference questions and direct users to the appropriate service.

Readers will increase their awareness of how chatbots can streamline the work of the reference department by answering the majority of routine reference questions and freeing library staff to focus on more demanding research and tasks uniquely suited to humans.