Josh Cowls
Biographic Data
| ID | 288479 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Josh Cowls |
| GIVEN NAMES | Josh |
| FAMILY NAME | Cowls |
| SIGNATURE | COWLS J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Turing Institute |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8545-5068 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 10 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Artificial intelligence in support of the circular economy
The world’s current model for economic development is unsustainable. It encourages high levels of resource extraction, consumption, and waste that undermine positive environmental outcomes. Transitioning to a circular economy (CE) model of development has been proposed as a sustainable alternative. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a crucial enabler for CE. It can aid in designing robust and sustainable products, facilitate new circular business mo…
App store governance
Events such as the riot at the United States Capitol and tightening constraints on the Russian public sphere have highlighted the socio-political significance of app store governance. This is dominated by Apple and Google as operators of the two largest smartphone platforms. In this article, we analyse two case studies: the removals from app stores in 2021 of the fringe American social media app Parler and of the Russian opposition app Smart Voti…
The AI gambit
In this article, we analyse the role that artificial intelligence (AI) could play, and is playing, to combat global climate change. We identify two crucial opportunities that AI offers in this domain: it can help improve and expand current understanding of climate change, and it can contribute to combatting the climate crisis effectively. However, the development of AI also raises two sets of problems when considering climate change: the possible…
Governing artificial intelligence in China and the European Union
In this article, we compare the artificial intelligence strategies of China and the European Union, assessing the key similarities and differences regarding what the high-level aims of each governance strategy are, how the development and use of AI is promoted in the public and private sectors, and whom these policies are meant to benefit. We characterize China’s strategy by its primary focus on fostering innovation and a more recent emphasis on …
The Internet's Town Square? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Parler's 'Past Imaginary
The discursive construction of sociotechnical imaginaries by the leaders of platform companies can help legitimate their platforms, shaping how they are perceived and ultimately regulated. Scholars have identified the construction of 'future imaginaries' by large platform companies such as Meta-but do smaller platforms also seek to construct imaginaries, and if so, what form do they take? In this article we undertake a critical discourse analysis…
The ethics of algorithms
Research on the ethics of algorithms has grown substantially over the past decade. Alongside the exponential development and application of machine learning algorithms, new ethical problems and solutions relating to their ubiquitous use in society have been proposed. This article builds on a review of the ethics of algorithms published in 2016 (Mittelstadt et al. Big Data Soc 3(2), 2016). The goals are to contribute to the debate on the identific…
Constitutional metaphors
Who governs—and who should govern—online communication? Social media companies, international organizations, users, or the state? And by what means? A range of rhetorical devices have been used to simplify the complexities associated with the governance of online platforms. This includes “constitutional metaphors”: metaphorical allusions to traditional political concepts such as statehood, democracy, and constitutionalism. Here, we empirically tr…
Safeguarding European values with digital sovereignty
The European Union (EU) has, with increasing frequency, outlined an intention to strengthen its "digital sovereignty" as a basis for safeguarding European values in the digital age. Yet, uncertainty remains as to how the term should be defined, undermining efforts to assess the success of the EU's digital sovereignty agenda. The task of this paper is to reduce this uncertainty by i) analysing how digital sovereignty has been discussed by EU insti…
Achieving a ‘Good AI Society’
Over the past few years, there has been a proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) strategies, released by governments around the world, that seek to maximise the benefits of AI and minimise potential harms. This article provides a comparative analysis of the European Union (EU) and the United States’ (US) AI strategies and considers (i) the visions of a ‘Good AI Society’ that are forwarded in key policy documents and their opportunity costs…
The Chinese approach to artificial intelligence
In July 2017, China’s State Council released the country’s strategy for developing artificial intelligence (AI), entitled ‘New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan’ (新一代人工智能发展规划). This strategy outlined China’s aims to become the world leader in AI by 2030, to monetise AI into a trillion-yuan (ca. 150 billion dollars) industry, and to emerge as the driving force in defining ethical norms and standards for AI. Several reports have a…
‘AI for Social Good’
This introduction sets out the aims and scope of the Special Issue and provides an overview of each of the research articles and commentaries that follow
Artificial intelligence and the climate emergency
The ethical debate about the gig economy
Ethical guidelines for Covid-19 tracing apps
How to Design AI for Social Good
The idea of artificial intelligence for social good (henceforth AI4SG) is gaining traction within information societies in general and the AI community in particular. It has the potential to tackle social problems through the development of AI-based solutions. Yet, to date, there is only limited understanding of what makes AI socially good in theory, what counts as AI4SG in practice, and how to reproduce its initial successes in terms of policies…
The ethics of AI in health care
A Unified Framework of Five Principles for AI in Society
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already having a major impact on society. As a result, many organizations have launched a wide range of initiatives to establish ethical principles for the adoption of socially beneficial AI. Unfortunately, the sheer volume of proposed principles threatens to overwhelm and confuse. How might this problem of â principle proliferationâ be solved? In this paper, we report the results of a fine-grained analysis of seve…
AI4People—An Ethical Framework for a Good AI Society
This article reports the findings of AI4People, an Atomium-EISMD initiative designed to lay the foundations for a "Good AI Society". We introduce the core opportunities and risks of AI for society; present a synthesis of five ethical principles that should undergird its development and adoption; and offer 20 concrete recommendations-to assess, to develop, to incentivise, and to support good AI-which in some cases may be undertaken directly by nat…
The net as a knowledge machine
In this article, we examine the growth of the Internet as a research topic across the disciplines and the embedding of the Internet into the very fabric of research. While this is a trend that ‘everyone knows’, prior to this study, no work had quantified the extent to which this common sense knowledge was true or how the embedding actually took place. Using scientometric data extracted from Scopus, we explore how the Internet has become a powerfu…
Ad hoc encounters with big data
The increasing abundance of data creates new opportunities for communities of interest and communities of practice. We believe that interactive tabletops will allow users to explore data in familiar places such as living rooms, cafés, and public spaces. We propose informal, mobile possibilities for future generations of flexible and portable tabletops. In this paper, we build upon current advances in sensing and in organic user interfaces to prop…
The internet revolution in the sciences and humanities , by Alan G. Gross and Joseph E. Harmon
Few aspects of modern life have remained unchanged by the Internet revolution – but relatively little attention has been paid to the changing way that we study a changing world. The Internet Revolu
Constitutional metaphors
Who governs—and who should govern—online communication? Social media companies, international organizations, users, or the state? And by what means? A range of rhetorical devices have been used to simplify the complexities associated with the governance of online platforms. This includes “constitutional metaphors”: metaphorical allusions to traditional political concepts such as statehood, democracy, and constitutionalism. Here, we empirically tr…
The net as a knowledge machine
In this article, we examine the growth of the Internet as a research topic across the disciplines and the embedding of the Internet into the very fabric of research. While this is a trend that ‘everyone knows’, prior to this study, no work had quantified the extent to which this common sense knowledge was true or how the embedding actually took place. Using scientometric data extracted from Scopus, we explore how the Internet has become a powerfu…
Governing artificial intelligence in China and the European Union
In this article, we compare the artificial intelligence strategies of China and the European Union, assessing the key similarities and differences regarding what the high-level aims of each governance strategy are, how the development and use of AI is promoted in the public and private sectors, and whom these policies are meant to benefit. We characterize China’s strategy by its primary focus on fostering innovation and a more recent emphasis on …
Ad hoc encounters with big data
The increasing abundance of data creates new opportunities for communities of interest and communities of practice. We believe that interactive tabletops will allow users to explore data in familiar places such as living rooms, cafés, and public spaces. We propose informal, mobile possibilities for future generations of flexible and portable tabletops. In this paper, we build upon current advances in sensing and in organic user interfaces to prop…
The net as a knowledge machine
In this article, we examine the growth of the Internet as a research topic across the disciplines and the embedding of the Internet into the very fabric of research. While this is a trend that ‘everyone knows’, prior to this study, no work had quantified the extent to which this common sense knowledge was true or how the embedding actually took place. Using scientometric data extracted from Scopus, we explore how the Internet has become a powerfu…
AI4People—An Ethical Framework for a Good AI Society
This article reports the findings of AI4People, an Atomium-EISMD initiative designed to lay the foundations for a "Good AI Society". We introduce the core opportunities and risks of AI for society; present a synthesis of five ethical principles that should undergird its development and adoption; and offer 20 concrete recommendations-to assess, to develop, to incentivise, and to support good AI-which in some cases may be undertaken directly by nat…
A Unified Framework of Five Principles for AI in Society
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already having a major impact on society. As a result, many organizations have launched a wide range of initiatives to establish ethical principles for the adoption of socially beneficial AI. Unfortunately, the sheer volume of proposed principles threatens to overwhelm and confuse. How might this problem of â principle proliferationâ be solved? In this paper, we report the results of a fine-grained analysis of seve…
Ethical guidelines for Covid-19 tracing apps
How to Design AI for Social Good
The idea of artificial intelligence for social good (henceforth AI4SG) is gaining traction within information societies in general and the AI community in particular. It has the potential to tackle social problems through the development of AI-based solutions. Yet, to date, there is only limited understanding of what makes AI socially good in theory, what counts as AI4SG in practice, and how to reproduce its initial successes in terms of policies…
The ethics of AI in health care
Safeguarding European values with digital sovereignty
The European Union (EU) has, with increasing frequency, outlined an intention to strengthen its "digital sovereignty" as a basis for safeguarding European values in the digital age. Yet, uncertainty remains as to how the term should be defined, undermining efforts to assess the success of the EU's digital sovereignty agenda. The task of this paper is to reduce this uncertainty by i) analysing how digital sovereignty has been discussed by EU insti…
Achieving a ‘Good AI Society’
Over the past few years, there has been a proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) strategies, released by governments around the world, that seek to maximise the benefits of AI and minimise potential harms. This article provides a comparative analysis of the European Union (EU) and the United States’ (US) AI strategies and considers (i) the visions of a ‘Good AI Society’ that are forwarded in key policy documents and their opportunity costs…
The Chinese approach to artificial intelligence
In July 2017, China’s State Council released the country’s strategy for developing artificial intelligence (AI), entitled ‘New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan’ (新一代人工智能发展规划). This strategy outlined China’s aims to become the world leader in AI by 2030, to monetise AI into a trillion-yuan (ca. 150 billion dollars) industry, and to emerge as the driving force in defining ethical norms and standards for AI. Several reports have a…
‘AI for Social Good’
This introduction sets out the aims and scope of the Special Issue and provides an overview of each of the research articles and commentaries that follow
Artificial intelligence and the climate emergency
The ethical debate about the gig economy
The ethics of algorithms
Research on the ethics of algorithms has grown substantially over the past decade. Alongside the exponential development and application of machine learning algorithms, new ethical problems and solutions relating to their ubiquitous use in society have been proposed. This article builds on a review of the ethics of algorithms published in 2016 (Mittelstadt et al. Big Data Soc 3(2), 2016). The goals are to contribute to the debate on the identific…
Constitutional metaphors
Who governs—and who should govern—online communication? Social media companies, international organizations, users, or the state? And by what means? A range of rhetorical devices have been used to simplify the complexities associated with the governance of online platforms. This includes “constitutional metaphors”: metaphorical allusions to traditional political concepts such as statehood, democracy, and constitutionalism. Here, we empirically tr…
App store governance
Events such as the riot at the United States Capitol and tightening constraints on the Russian public sphere have highlighted the socio-political significance of app store governance. This is dominated by Apple and Google as operators of the two largest smartphone platforms. In this article, we analyse two case studies: the removals from app stores in 2021 of the fringe American social media app Parler and of the Russian opposition app Smart Voti…
The AI gambit
In this article, we analyse the role that artificial intelligence (AI) could play, and is playing, to combat global climate change. We identify two crucial opportunities that AI offers in this domain: it can help improve and expand current understanding of climate change, and it can contribute to combatting the climate crisis effectively. However, the development of AI also raises two sets of problems when considering climate change: the possible…
Governing artificial intelligence in China and the European Union
In this article, we compare the artificial intelligence strategies of China and the European Union, assessing the key similarities and differences regarding what the high-level aims of each governance strategy are, how the development and use of AI is promoted in the public and private sectors, and whom these policies are meant to benefit. We characterize China’s strategy by its primary focus on fostering innovation and a more recent emphasis on …
The Internet's Town Square? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Parler's 'Past Imaginary
The discursive construction of sociotechnical imaginaries by the leaders of platform companies can help legitimate their platforms, shaping how they are perceived and ultimately regulated. Scholars have identified the construction of 'future imaginaries' by large platform companies such as Meta-but do smaller platforms also seek to construct imaginaries, and if so, what form do they take? In this article we undertake a critical discourse analysis…
The internet revolution in the sciences and humanities , by Alan G. Gross and Joseph E. Harmon
Few aspects of modern life have remained unchanged by the Internet revolution – but relatively little attention has been paid to the changing way that we study a changing world. The Internet Revolu
Artificial intelligence in support of the circular economy
The world’s current model for economic development is unsustainable. It encourages high levels of resource extraction, consumption, and waste that undermine positive environmental outcomes. Transitioning to a circular economy (CE) model of development has been proposed as a sustainable alternative. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a crucial enabler for CE. It can aid in designing robust and sustainable products, facilitate new circular business mo…
Political science (15 works) · Computer Science (14 works) · Law (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Engineering (8 works) · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI (8 works) · Business (7 works) · Politics (7 works) · Economics (6 works) · Epistemology (6 works)