Digital manufacturing: what are we able to print?

In a rational exercise, in the present paper it is extrapolated how the development of ICTs (information and communication technologies) and the incipient technological development of additive manufacturing has the potential to change our society. In the following, it is analyzing the evolution of man over physical matter and how this has shaped our society. The main milestones or key stages in history that have marked a transcendental change in the human-machine-environment relationship have been identified and consequently have led us to ask ourselves: What is next, how far are we, and what are we capable of printing? In an attempt to identify the current state of the art, highlighting the possibilities those additive technologies can offerPostprint (published version

Large Language Models Meet Harry Potter: A Bilingual Dataset for Aligning Dialogue Agents with Characters

In recent years, Dialogue-style Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and GPT4 have demonstrated immense potential in constructing open-domain dialogue agents. However, aligning these agents with specific characters or individuals remains a considerable challenge due to the complexities of character representation and the lack of comprehensive annotations. In this paper, we introduce the Harry Potter Dialogue (HPD) dataset, designed to advance the study of dialogue agents and character alignment. The dataset encompasses all dialogue sessions (in both English and Chinese) from the Harry Potter series and is annotated with vital background information, including dialogue scenes, speakers, character relationships, and attributes. These extensive annotations may empower LLMs to unlock character-driven dialogue capabilities. Furthermore, it can serve as a universal benchmark for evaluating how well can a LLM aligning with a specific character. We benchmark LLMs on HPD using both fine-tuning and in-context learning settings. Evaluation results reveal that although there is substantial room for improvement in generating high-quality, character-aligned responses, the proposed dataset is valuable in guiding models toward responses that better align with the character of Harry Potter.Comment: 14 page

Consumer Subjectivity in the Age of Internet: The Radical Concept of Marketing Control Through Customer Relationship Management

In this paper, we present a poststructuralist analysis of customer database technology. This approach allows us to regard customer databases as configurations of language that produce new and significant discursive effects. In particular, we focus on the role of databases and related technologies such as customer relationship management (CRM) in the discursive construction of both customers and customer relationships. First, we argue that organizations become the authors of customer identities, using the language of the database to configure customer representation. From this perspective, we can see the radical innovation that the customer database brings to the organizational construction of its market: the emergence of the individualized customer. The cultural novelty of the database—ignored by instrumental analyses of information technology—also requires a theoretical reconceptualization of the notion of virtual identity. Against existing positions, we posit a non-essentialist theory of virtual identity where the subject is constituted outside the immediacy of consciousness and thus emerges as the result of the technological and linguistic context in which it was produced. Second, we take our analysis of the discursive construction of the customer further by proposing that the emergence of the individualized customer was the prerequisite of the social construction of CRM as one-on-one affair between the customer and the organization. We suggest that this is a limited and limiting understanding of the concept of customer relationships especially if the one-on-one relationship is placed in a computer-mediated environment (CME). By mobilizing theories of play developed in the fields of human–computer interaction and consumer research, we propose that organizations would benefit from opening up the current discourse on CRM to include relationships between customers, customers and non-customers, and customers and the virtual organization

Rethinking Health Recommender Systems for Active Aging: An Autonomy-Based Ethical Analysis

Health Recommender Systems are promising Articial-Intelligence-based tools endowing healthy lifestyles and therapy adherence in healthcare and medicine. Among the most supported areas, it is worth mentioning active aging. However, current HRS supporting AA raise ethical challenges that still need to be properly formalized and explored. This study proposes to rethink HRS for AA through an autonomy-based ethical analysis. In particular, a brief overview of the HRS' technical aspects allows us to shed light on the ethical risks and challenges they might raise on individuals' well-being as they age. Moreover, the study proposes a categorization, understanding, and possible preventive/mitigation actions for the elicited risks and challenges through rethinking the AI ethics core principle of autonomy. Finally, elaborating on autonomy-related ethical theories, the paper proposes an autonomy-based ethical framework and how it can foster the development of autonomy-enabling HRS for AA

Minds Online: The Interface between Web Science, Cognitive Science, and the Philosophy of Mind

Alongside existing research into the social, political and economic impacts of the Web, there is a need to study the Web from a cognitive and epistemic perspective. This is particularly so as new and emerging technologies alter the nature of our interactive engagements with the Web, transforming the extent to which our thoughts and actions are shaped by the online environment. Situated and ecological approaches to cognition are relevant to understanding the cognitive significance of the Web because of the emphasis they place on forces and factors that reside at the level of agent–world interactions. In particular, by adopting a situated or ecological approach to cognition, we are able to assess the significance of the Web from the perspective of research into embodied, extended, embedded, social and collective cognition. The results of this analysis help to reshape the interdisciplinary configuration of Web Science, expanding its theoretical and empirical remit to include the disciplines of both cognitive science and the philosophy of mind

Experimental Setup and Protocol for Creating an EEG-signal Database for Emotion Analysis Using Virtual Reality Scenarios

Automatic emotion recognition systems aim to identify human emotions from physiological signals, voice, facial expression or even physical activity. Among these types of signals, the usefulness of signals from electroencephalography (EEG) should be highlighted. However, there are few publicly accessible EEG databases in which the induction of emotions is performed through virtual reality (VR) scenarios. Recent studies have shown that VR has great potential to evoke emotions in an effective and natural way within a laboratory environment. This work describes an experimental setup developed for the acquisition of EEG signals in which the induction of emotions is performed through a VR environment. Participants are introduced to the VR environment via head-mounted displays (HMD) and 14-channel EEG signals are collected. The experiments carried out with 12 participants (5 male and 7 female) are also detailed, with promising results, which allow us to think about the future development of our own dataset.Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER). Junta de Andalucía. P20 01173Gobierno de España. Ministerio de Ciencia Innovación y Universidades. Agencia Estatal de Investigación. TEC2017-82807-PGobierno de España. Ministerio de Ciencia Innovación y Universidades. Agencia Estatal de Investigación MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033. PID2021-123090NB-I0

Thinking Technology as Human: Affordances, Technology Features, and Egocentric Biases in Technology Anthropomorphism

Advanced information technologies (ITs) are increasingly assuming tasks that have previously required human capabilities, such as learning and judgment. What drives this technology anthropomorphism (TA), or the attribution of humanlike characteristics to IT? What is it about users, IT, and their interactions that influences the extent to which people think of technology as humanlike? While TA can have positive effects, such as increasing user trust in technology, what are the negative consequences of TA? To provide a framework for addressing these questions, we advance a theory of TA that integrates the general three-factor anthropomorphism theory in social and cognitive psychology with the needs-affordances-features perspective from the information systems (IS) literature. The theory we construct helps to explain and predict which technological features and affordances are likely: (1) to satisfy users’ psychological needs, and (2) to lead to TA. More importantly, we problematize some negative consequences of TA. Technology features and affordances contributing to TA can intensify users’ anchoring with their elicited agent knowledge and psychological needs and also can weaken the adjustment process in TA under cognitive load. The intensified anchoring and weakened adjustment processes increase egocentric biases that lead to negative consequences. Finally, we propose a research agenda for TA and egocentric biases

CERN for AGI: A Theoretical Framework for Autonomous Simulation-Based Artificial Intelligence Testing and Alignment

This paper explores the potential of a multidisciplinary approach to testing and aligning artificial general intelligence (AGI) and LLMs. Due to the rapid development and wide application of LLMs, challenges such as ethical alignment, controllability, and predictability of these models have become important research topics. This study investigates an innovative simulation-based multi-agent system within a virtual reality framework that replicates the real-world environment. The framework is populated by automated 'digital citizens,' simulating complex social structures and interactions to examine and optimize AGI. Application of various theories from the fields of sociology, social psychology, computer science, physics, biology, and economics demonstrates the possibility of a more human-aligned and socially responsible AGI. The purpose of such a digital environment is to provide a dynamic platform where advanced AI agents can interact and make independent decisions, thereby mimicking realistic scenarios. The actors in this digital city, operated by the LLMs, serve as the primary agents, exhibiting high degrees of autonomy. While this approach shows immense potential, there are notable challenges and limitations, most significantly the unpredictable nature of real-world social dynamics. This research endeavors to contribute to the development and refinement of AGI, emphasizing the integration of social, ethical, and theoretical dimensions for future research.Comment: 32 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

UM ESTUDO SOBRE A INTRODUÇÃO DE UM ASSISTENTE VIRTUAL PARA SUPORTE À ESCRITA COLETIVA

Este artigo apresenta um estudo sobre o desenvolvimento de umassistente virtual para o ETC - Editor de Texto Coletivo. A pesquisa é parteintegrante dos estudos desenvolvidos pelo NUTED/UFRGS (NúcleoTecnologia Digital aplicada à Educação/ Universidade Federal do Rio Grandedo Sul). O agente tem por objetivo organizar as informações e coordenações deações do estudante no ETC e apresentá-las ao professor, oferecendo a este,suporte para a gestão pedagógica e tendo como foco a interação eaprendizagem do aluno diante do processo coletivo