There is little overt engagement with research paradigms in ICT4D research but what there is shows a dominance of positivism and interpretivism. In this paper we explore the value of a "third way" research paradigm: critical realism. We concisely review the main features of critical realism: its ontological realism combined with epistemological relativism; its iterative, pluralist and reflexive methodology; and its emancipatory values. Alongside the general value of explicit use of any research paradigm, we argue two particular types of value of critical realism for ICT4D research. First, generic values including exposure of context, a contingent causality that reflects real-world ICT4D experiences, legitimisation of different stakeholder views and reduction of research bias, and support for ICT4D's interventionist approach and its goal of delivering international development. Second, specific value in addressing current trends in ICT4D research: the growing search for causal links between "ICT" and "D", and the political and ethical turns in ICT4D that are spurring researchers to engage more with issues of power, rights and justice. We conclude that delivery of critical realism's utility will require the ICT4D research community to take actions that enable this emergent research paradigm to flourish.
In this paper, we examine the challenges of developing international standards for Trustworthy AI that aim both to be global applicable and to address the ethical questions key to building trust at a commercial and societal level. We begin by examining the validity of grounding standards that aim for international reach on human right agreements, and the need to accommodate variations in prioritization and tradeoffs in implementing rights in different societal and cultural settings. We then examine the major recent proposals from the OECD, the EU and the IEEE on ethical governance of Trustworthy AI systems in terms of their scope and use of normative language. From this analysis, we propose a preliminary minimal model for the functional roles relevant to Trustworthy AI as a framing for further standards development in this area. We also identify the different types of interoperability reference points that may exist between these functional roles and remark on the potential role they could play in future standardization. Finally we examine a current AI standardization effort under ISO/IEC JTC1 to consider how future Trustworthy AI standards may be able to build on existing standards in developing ethical guidelines and in particular on the ISO standard on Social Responsibility.We conclude by proposing some future directions for research and development of Trustworthy AI standards.
There is little overt engagement with research paradigms in ICT4D research, but what there is shows a dominance of positivism and interpretivism. In this paper, we explore the value of a "third way" research paradigm: critical realism. We concisely review the main features of critical realism: its ontological realism combined with epistemological relativism; its iterative, pluralist, and reflexive methodology; and its emancipatory values. Alongside the general value of explicit use of any research paradigm, we argue two particular types of value of critical realism for ICT4D research. First, generic values including exposure of context, a contingent causality that reflects real-world ICT4D experiences, support for use of theoretical frames in ICT4D, legitimisation of different stakeholder views, and reduction of research bias and support for ICT4D's interventionist approach and its goal of delivering international development. Second, specific value in addressing current trends in ICT4D research: The growing search for causal links between "ICT" and "D," and the political and ethical turns in ICT4D that are spurring researchers to engage more with issues of power, rights, and justice. But delivery of critical realism's utility will require the ICT4D research community to take actions that enable this emergent research paradigm to flourish. KEYWORDS axiology, critical realism, epistemology, information and communication technology for development (ICT4D), methodology, ontology, research paradigms
This paper examines an ongoing mobile health (mHealth) initiative in Sierra Leone. The objective is to describe the ontological perspective and methodological approach used which relies on critical realism and Archer's morphogenetic approach. Such a critical realist-based approach addresses many of the concerns associated with the interpretivist and positivist philosophical duopoly that has dominated the ICT4D field for many years. The approach allows the mechanisms that determined what caused the events associated with the mHealth case to be hypothesized, thus making clear why this mHealth case has sustained through many challenges.
A burgeoning of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in recent years has led to increased discussion about its potential to address many issues considered otherwise intractable, including those highlighted by the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and associated Sustainable Development Goals. In tandem with this growth in AI is an expanding body of documentation regarding how such advanced technologies should be governed and managed. Issued by a variety of sources and comprising frameworks, policies and guidelines, this body of work encompasses the legal, social, ethical and policy issues around AI. With at least 470 such documents identified, as of May 2021, in the Council of Europe’s tracker of AI initiatives, questions are emerging around the diversity of views expressed, especially regarding the influence of the Global North or Euro-American perspectives. Our previous analysis of a corpus of largely grey literature discovered blind spots regarding both gender representation and perspectives from the Global South. Expanding on that work, this paper examines a significantly extended corpus, with a focus on the role of underrepresented groups in the wider AI discourse. We find that voices from the Global South and consideration of alternative ethical approaches are largely absent from the conversation. In light of the prominence of social, cultural and ethical perspectives from the Global North, this paper explores implications for the development of standards for ethical AI. Concluding by offering approaches to incorporate more diverse ethical viewpoints and beliefs, we call for increased consideration of power structures when developing AI ethics policies and standards within these alternative socio-cultural and socio-economic contexts.
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