How to Balance Individual and Collective Values After COVID-19?:Ethical Reflections on Crowd Management at Dutch Train Stations

This chapter explores the shift in the balance of individual versus collective values instigated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The incredible viral spread rate among the population and its relatively high fatality rate has initially resulted in an assertion of the primacy of collective values (such as collective safety, collective responsibility, conformism). In contrast, individual rights and values (such as the individual counterparts of autonomy, freedom, responsibility, and privacy) took a ‘back seat’ for the good of the collective. However, as the pandemic extended over the months, there emerged a pressure to reject the primacy of collective values and restore the importance of individual values. If we are to return to a healthy and prosperous living within a well-functioning society, this balance shift between collective and individual values will have to be re-negotiated and resolved to reach a societally acceptable balance position. We conduct this ethical exploration, first, by following the ethico-philosophical discussion on the balance between individual and collective values generally, as well as in times of crisis, with special focus on the COVID-19 crisis. Second, we explore this topic through the lens of recent changes to how particular technologies were and are used before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. More precisely, we identify and explore broad trends we see relevant to ethics – with a particular focus on crowd management and nudging and on the balance shift between individual and collective values. Finally, by exploring findings from a sociophysics case study dealing with crowd management of people before and during the pandemic, we argue that some sociophysical phenomena can be used as proxies for ethical principles. Here, distance is used as a conceptual proxy for individual and collective responsibility, having in mind COVID-19 distancing rules and recommendation. With all the above, we identify several broad trends that have been instigated by the pandemic that are relevant to ethics. These changes relate to future crowd management, nudging, and control; individual (per-person) tracking; insistence on the importance of collective values in times of crisis, and the rejection of this infringement upon individual rights. In this regard, we assert that such value changes are an opportunity to rethink and (re)set balance points between individual and collective rights for each particular society.</p

The Influence of Macroscopic Pedestrian Structures on Train Boarding Efficiency

A deeper understanding of pedestrian dynamics is essential to improve crowd flows in public spaces such as train stations. It is essential to understand both the physical and the psychological processes present in this context. However, current research on train boarding behavior is limited in scope and mainly focuses on how group level variables such as number of boarders/deboarders influence train boarding efficiency. Viewing pedestrian dynamics through a psychological lens is important for a detailed understanding of the train boarding context and to recognize target areas for improving crowd flows. At Dutch train stations, boarders follow a social norm of waiting at the train door until deboarding is complete. Although people generally adhere to this norm, the way it is executed may not be optimal for deboarding efficiency. We investigate how waiting boarders form a deboarding channel (a corridor where deboarders exit the train) which is a macroscopic structure formed by pedestrians, and how this channel in turn influences the efficiency of deboarding. Analyzing a dataset with 3278 boarding events at Utrecht Centraal Station in the Netherlands from 2017 - 2020 (a subset of a trajectory dataset that captures 100,000 trajectories per day), we found that higher numbers of boarders and a higher ratio of boarders to deboarders, reduced the width of the deboarding channel, and a lower width was associated with lower deboarding efficiency. These results shift the focus from group level variables to identifying macroscopic structures that are formed when pedestrians interact within a social system and provide specific target areas where nudges/behavioral interventions could be implemented

The Influence of Macroscopic Pedestrian Structures on Train Boarding Efficiency

A deeper understanding of pedestrian dynamics is essential to improve crowd flows in public spaces such as train stations. It is essential to understand both the physical and the psychological processes present in this context. However, current research on train boarding behavior is limited in scope and mainly focuses on how group level variables such as number of boarders/deboarders influence train boarding efficiency. Viewing pedestrian dynamics through a psychological lens is important for a detailed understanding of the train boarding context and to recognize target areas for improving crowd flows. At Dutch train stations, boarders follow a social norm of waiting at the train door until deboarding is complete. Although people generally adhere to this norm, the way it is executed may not be optimal for deboarding efficiency. We investigate how waiting boarders form a deboarding channel (a corridor where deboarders exit the train) which is a macroscopic structure formed by pedestrians, and how this channel in turn influences the efficiency of deboarding. Analyzing a dataset with 3278 boarding events at Utrecht Centraal Station in the Netherlands from 2017 - 2020 (a subset of a trajectory dataset that captures 100,000 trajectories per day), we found that higher numbers of boarders and a higher ratio of boarders to deboarders, reduced the width of the deboarding channel, and a lower width was associated with lower deboarding efficiency. These results shift the focus from group level variables to identifying macroscopic structures that are formed when pedestrians interact within a social system and provide specific target areas where nudges/behavioral interventions could be implemented

Investigating sociophysical attributes underlying train boarding efficiency and their importance for nudging

Nudging has become a popular method to change the behavior of pedestrians in public spaces. However, nudges often do not work as intended because they are based on an incomplete understanding of the nudging environment, physical (e.g., pedestrian trajectories), but not psychological data is used in their development, and behavioral theories are often inadequate or not (correctly) applied. In this article, we argue that the design of nudges can benefit from complementary psychological data analyzed using relevant social and environmental psychological theories. Adequate theories, we argue, are those that aim at describing the objective (i.e., person independent) attributes of the environment or situation and how these affect human decision-making. Using the example of train boarding, and in particular the formation of the deboarding corridor, we demonstrate how psychological theories like interdependence theory and social norms theory can be applied to relevant psychological data—in our case obtained with two focus groups—to better characterize the sociophysical attributes of the train boarding situation. The focus group, or sometimes called a “group discussion”, is a qualitative research method in which data is generated from guided discussions amongst research participants following pre-defined discussion topics. Based on the thematic analysis of the focus group data, we find that a high level of competition and interdependence are related to structural aspects of the train boarding situation. Subsequently, we use these insights to provide tentative explanations for, or hypotheses about micro- and macroscopic behavior patterns observed during train boarding. Finally, we discuss how these insights, in turn, can inform the design of nudges that can be further investigated in future research.</p

Foundations of an Ethical Framework for AI Entities: the Ethics of Systems

The field of AI ethics during the current and previous decade is receiving an increasing amount of attention from all involved stakeholders: the public, science, philosophy, religious organizations, enterprises, governments, and various organizations. However, this field currently lacks consensus on scope, ethico-philosophical foundations, or common methodology. This thesis aims to contribute towards filling this gap by providing an answer to the two main research questions: first, what theory can explain moral scenarios in which AI entities are participants?; and second, what theory can explain the process of moral reasoning, decision and action, for AI entities in virtual, simulated and real-life moral scenarios? This thesis answers these two research questions with its two main contributions to the field of AI ethics, a substantial (ethico-philosophical) and a methodological contribution. The substantial contribution is a coherent and novel theory named Ethics of Systems Framework, as well as a possible inception of a new field of study: ethics of systems. The methodological contribution is the creation of its main methodological tool, the Ethics of Systems Interface. The second part of the research effort was focused on testing and demonstrating the capacities of the Ethics of Systems Framework and Interface in modeling and managing moral scenarios in which AI and other entities participate. Further work can focus on building on top of the foundations of the Framework provided here, increasing the scope of moral theories and simulated scenarios, improving the level of detail and parameters to reflect real-life situations, and field-testing the Framework on actual AI systems

Foundations of an Ethical Framework for AI Entities: the Ethics of Systems

The field of AI ethics during the current and previous decade is receiving an increasing amount of attention from all involved stakeholders: the public, science, philosophy, religious organizations, enterprises, governments, and various organizations. However, this field currently lacks consensus on scope, ethico-philosophical foundations, or common methodology. This thesis aims to contribute towards filling this gap by providing an answer to the two main research questions: first, what theory can explain moral scenarios in which AI entities are participants?; and second, what theory can explain the process of moral reasoning, decision and action, for AI entities in virtual, simulated and real-life moral scenarios? This thesis answers these two research questions with its two main contributions to the field of AI ethics, a substantial (ethico-philosophical) and a methodological contribution. The substantial contribution is a coherent and novel theory named Ethics of Systems Framework, as well as a possible inception of a new field of study: ethics of systems. The methodological contribution is the creation of its main methodological tool, the Ethics of Systems Interface. The second part of the research effort was focused on testing and demonstrating the capacities of the Ethics of Systems Framework and Interface in modeling and managing moral scenarios in which AI and other entities participate. Further work can focus on building on top of the foundations of the Framework provided here, increasing the scope of moral theories and simulated scenarios, improving the level of detail and parameters to reflect real-life situations, and field-testing the Framework on actual AI systems

How to Balance Individual and Collective Values After COVID-19?: Ethical Reflections on Crowd Management at Dutch Train Stations

This chapter explores the shift in the balance of individual versus collective values instigated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The incredible viral spread rate among the population and its relatively high fatality rate has initially resulted in an assertion of the primacy of collective values (such as collective safety, collective responsibility, conformism). In contrast, individual rights and values (such as the individual counterparts of autonomy, freedom, responsibility, and privacy) took a ‘back seat’ for the good of the collective. However, as the pandemic extended over the months, there emerged a pressure to reject the primacy of collective values and restore the importance of individual values. If we are to return to a healthy and prosperous living within a well-functioning society, this balance shift between collective and individual values will have to be re-negotiated and resolved to reach a societally acceptable balance position. We conduct this ethical exploration, first, by following the ethico-philosophical discussion on the balance between individual and collective values generally, as well as in times of crisis, with special focus on the COVID-19 crisis. Second, we explore this topic through the lens of recent changes to how particular technologies were and are used before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. More precisely, we identify and explore broad trends we see relevant to ethics – with a particular focus on crowd management and nudging and on the balance shift between individual and collective values. Finally, by exploring findings from a sociophysics case study dealing with crowd management of people before and during the pandemic, we argue that some sociophysical phenomena can be used as proxies for ethical principles. Here, distance is used as a conceptual proxy for individual and collective responsibility, having in mind COVID-19 distancing rules and recommendation. With all the above, we identify several broad trends that have been instigated by the pandemic that are relevant to ethics. These changes relate to future crowd management, nudging, and control; individual (per-person) tracking; insistence on the importance of collective values in times of crisis, and the rejection of this infringement upon individual rights. In this regard, we assert that such value changes are an opportunity to rethink and (re)set balance points between individual and collective rights for each particular society