Anthropocentric perspective of production before and within Industry 4.0

Abstract This paper presents a systematic literature review (SLR) of the anthropocentric perspective of production before and after (or, better, within) Industry 4.0. We identify central research clusters regarding traditional Anthropocentric Production Systems (APS) and Anthropocentric Cyber Physical Production Systems. By comparing the two perspectives, we are able to analyse new emerging paradigms in anthropocentric production caused by Industry 4.0. We further make prediction of the future role of the human operator, his needed knowledge and capabilities and how assistance systems support the Operator 4.0. Our paper gives a brief outlook of current and needed future research. It builds grounds for further scholarly discussion on the role of humans in the factory of the future

THE LIMITATIONS OF NORMATIVE ETHICS: ANTHROPOCENTRISM IN KIM STANLEY ROBINSON’S 2312

Purpose of the study: The present study mainly argues the limitations of normative ethics and analyzes the anthropocentrism in Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2312 based on the actions or duties of the characters. Methodology: The article used normative ethics as a methodology. Normative ethics is the study of ethical actions that has certain rules and regulations about how we ought to do and decide. So, this study has chosen a normative ethic that consists of three ethical theories Utilitarian approach, Kantian ethics and Virtue ethics to judge duties that are right and wrong.   Main Findings: As a result, normative ethics compact with a one-dimensional approach. All three ethics deal with its own specific code of ethics. Utilitarianism has focused on good outcomes. Kantian ethics has paid attention to good rules with duty. Virtue ethics focused on the good people but all three theories have a strong common objective of focusing on only human beings (sentient entities) and omit other entities (plants and animals). So all normative ethics have certain limitations and do their duties without thinking about consequences and situations. In conclusion, this code of normative ethics has provoked as anthropocentric. In addition that Swan’s actions and the rational behavior made her miserably failed in Mercury through the construction of the biome and creation of quantum computers. So this cause, in the end, the space people want to move from space to earth to rebuild the biome. Applications of this study: The prudent study analyses the normative ethics in a detailed manner under the Utilitarian approach, Kantian ethics and Virtue ethics. These philosophical domains can be benefitted for researchers to practice and implement during the research process in Humanities and Social Sciences especially. Novelty/Originality of this study: The study analyzed the anthropocentric attitude of the character Swan in 2312 based on her actions or duties through the code of normative ethics (Utilitarianism, Kantian ethics and Virtue ethics)

The signature of the whole. Radical interconnectedness and its implications for global and environmental education

The author presents a holistic concept of Global Learning, concerning different scientific disciplines, spiritual suggestions and practical consequences. He interprets the global environmental crisis especially as a crisis of worldview, stamped by mechanistic belief. (DIPF/Orig.)Der Autor präsentiert ein holistisches Konzept Globalen Lernens in Auseinandersetzung mit verschiedenen Wissenschaftsdisziplinen, spirituellen Anregungen und praktischen Konsequenzen. Die globale Umweltkrise interpretiert er dabei v. a. als eine Krise der Betrachtung von Welt, die von mechanistischem Denken geprägt sei. (DIPF/Orig.

Me, Myself, and A.I.: Should Kenya’s Patent Law Be Amended to Recognise Machine Learning Systems as Inventors?

On 28 July 2021, South Africa set the record for being the first country in the world to grant a patent to an artificial intelligence (AI) system known as ‘Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience’ (DABUS). Although DABUS is not the first AI system to produce patentable products, it is the first AI system to be listed as an inventor in a patent application, attracting worldwide interest. Against this backdrop, this article seeks to analyse whether Kenya’s Industrial Property Act, 2001 (IPA) should evolve to recognise machine learning (ML) systems as inventors. It submits that some ML systems are capable of inventive activity that is equivalent to or superior to that of the human intellect and that such systems should be recognised as inventors. This paper illustrates that Kenya's IPA, however, is unable to recognise ML systems since it is based on anthropocentric standards that, when put into practice, preclude the acknowledgement of non-human inventors. Therefore, this article makes several recommendations aimed at overhauling not only Kenya's IPA but also the country’s patent system

The Digital Gaze: Anthropomorphic Reflections of Future Posthuman Reality

The human world continues to be ever more entangled with the nebulous realms of the digital. The digital lives of humans are constantly viewed, analyzed, and organized by the use of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) as tools of governments, institutions, and corporations. Digital-machines are able to harvest massive swaths of data from users the world over including discursive elements and biometrics; accumulating the essences of what it means to dwell in a digital world. Although such digital-machines, and the algorithms on which they operate, are becoming more and more complex, they are still viewed as a tool with what Martin Heidegger deemed a readiness-to-hand type of Being. By reconsidering the subject-object paradigm, the potential for digital-machines to be subjects in and of themselves open the doors for questions relating to the existence of non-human digital-machine-Beings. One such question is that of what the digital-machine actually sees. This act of the digital-machine seeing is deemed the Machine Gaze. Therefore thinking through what the digital-machine may see and contemplating how contemporary framing of it within the bounds of readiness-to-hand ; offers new and exciting perspectives on future human and digital-machine interaction. Furthermore, this effort considers the role of anthropocentrism in the way in which the Machine Gaze has encountered data as a primary factor in how digital-machines will view and act in the world of Being. This is important because such Posthumanist thinking (or a lack thereof) may affect how the digital-machine dwells in the world, iterates itself, and reframes Being for itself and for humans

Do androids have nightmares about electric sheep? Science fiction portrayals of trauma manifestations in the posthuman subject in Frankenstein,' Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?', and ‘Nine Lives’

This essay draws upon the contention that posthuman subjects, such as androids, clones, and robots, can experience psychological trauma. The aim of the paper is to examine this notion in three science fiction texts: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Ursula Le Guin’s short story ‘Nine Lives’. What these narratives illustrate is that trauma manifestations contribute to a disruption of ontological frameworks that regard categories such as ‘human’ and ‘non-human’ as permanent and distinct. As a result, it might be argued that these texts undermine anthropocentrism and invite a reconceptualising around the term ‘human’, but also around trauma as an experience that is conventionally understood as a primarily human experience. Science fiction is thereby a significant genre when it comes to debunking anthropocentric perspectives. Using posthuman theory and trauma studies, I argue here that these three texts portray their respective posthuman subjects as trauma victims, and further that they demonstrate how the experience of trauma carries with it the potential to bridge the gap between human and posthuman through the act of bearing witness to one another’s trauma

Human-Robot Interactions in the Workplace – Key Challenges and Concerns

Theoretical background: The use of robots/AI in the workplace has grown rapidly in the last years. There is observed enlargement not only of the numbers of robots but also the quality of their functions and applications. Therefore, many questions of practical, scientific and moral nature have arisen. The flowering use of robots has drawn scientists’ attention to interactions between humans and robots. As a result, a new multidisciplinary research area – Human-Robot Interactions (HRI) – is growing. Representatives of HRI try to answer the questions like: How anthropomorphic features of robots may affect interactions between robots and employees? How are robots supposed to look and behave to make interactions more pleasant for employees? Can human cooperation with humanoid robots lead to the formation of socio-mechanical bonds?Purpose of the article: The paper aims to identify determinants of human-robot interactions in the workplace and identify key research problems in this area.Research methods: The method of a systematic review of the literature fulfiled the above-mentioned purpose. The Web of Science was chosen as the basic database. The list of publications from the Web of Science was supplemented with some other publications which were related to the topic.Main findings: There are several factors that determine the perception and quality of HRI in the workplace. Especially trust, anthropomorphic features of the robot, and organizational assignment may decide about the human acceptance of the use of a non-human agent and HRI. The concept of social interaction with robots is at an initial stage yet. An adopted research paradigm also plays an important role. It seems that the classical assumptions of organizational sociology will not stand the test of time. Researchers and practitioners are facing new challenges. Especially there are some ontological questions that are not easy to be answered unanimously. Can we treat a robot as a mechanical device or rather as a member of a newly created community

Finding - and Failing to Find - Meaning in Nature

This paper is about how we should evaluate our tendencies to find - or fail to find - different meanings in the natural world. It has three aims: (1) to show that some virtues and vices can be exhibited in our tendencies to find or to overlook the meanings of natural things, even if it is unclear whether any can only be exhibited in our relations with such things; (2) to categorise some of the relevant virtues and vices; and (3) to refute the objection that meaning-focused approaches to environmental philosophy, of the sort adopted by writers such as Alan Holland and myself, cannot adequately account for nature's independence from human concerns

Challenging the Neo-Anthropocentric Relational Approach to Robot Rights

When will it make sense to consider robots candidates for moral standing? Major disagreements exist between those who find that question important and those who do not, and also between those united in their willingness to pursue the question. I narrow in on the approach to robot rights called relationalism, and ask: if we provide robots moral standing based on how humans relate to them, are we moving past human chauvinism, or are we merely putting a new dress on it? The background for the article is the clash between those who argue that robot rights are possible and those who see a fight for robot rights as ludicrous, unthinkable, or just outright harmful and disruptive for humans. The latter group are by some branded human chauvinists and anthropocentric, and they are criticized and portrayed as backward, unjust, and ignorant of history. Relationalism, in contrast, purportedly opens the door for considering robot rights and moving past anthropocentrism. However, I argue that relationalism is, quite to the contrary, a form of neo-anthropocentrism that recenters human beings and their unique ontological properties, perceptions, and values. I do so by raising three objections: 1) relationalism centers human values and perspectives, 2) it is indirectly a type of properties-based approach, and 3) edge cases reveal potentially absurd implications in practice.publishedVersio