Combining behavioral insights with artificial intelligence: New perspectives for technology assessment

Policy decisions concerning technology applications can have far-reaching societal consequences. Rationality-enhancing procedures are thus essential to ensure that such decisions are in the best interest of society. We propose a novel framework addressing this challenge. It combines a structured approach to decision-making, the mediating assessments protocol (MAP), with artificial intelligence (AI) methods to mitigate human bias and handle uncertainty in a normative manner. We introduce the steps for implementing MAP and discuss how it can be complemented and improved by AI methods such as dynamic programming, reinforcement learning and natural language processing. As a potential practical application, we consider the construction of a new wind park in a community and highlight critical aspects warranting special caution.Politische Entscheidungen in Bezug auf Technikanwendungen können weitreichende gesellschaftliche Folgen haben. Rationalitätsfördernde Verfahren sind daher unerlässlich, um sicherzustellen, dass die Entscheidungen im Interesse der Gesellschaft getroffen werden. Wir stellen hier eine neue Methode für ein solches Verfahren vor. Unser Ansatz kombiniert ein strukturiertes Verfahren zur Entscheidungsfindung, das sogenannte Mediating Assessments Protocol (MAP), mit Methoden der künstlichen Intelligenz (KI), um den Einfluss menschlicher Voreingenommenheit zu reduzieren und Unsicherheiten normativ zu handhaben. Wir beschreiben die Implementierung von MAP und erörtern, wie dieses von KI‑Methoden wie der dynamischen Programmierung, verstärkendem Lernen und der automatischen Verarbeitung natürlicher Sprache profitiert. Anhand eines Beispiels zur Errichtung eines Windparks in einer Kommune veranschaulichen wir unseren Ansatz und zeigen kritische Aspekte auf, bei denen besondere Vorsicht geboten ist

Accurately accounting for effects on times-of-flight caused by finite field-transition times during the ejection of ions from a storage trap: A study for TOF and MRTOF mass spectrometry

In applied forms of time-of-flight mass spectrometry utilizing ion storage devices prior to an analysis device, a non instantaneous electric ejection pulse applied in the region of ion storage is used to accelerate ions into the time-of-flight analyzer. The calculated mass value of the ions from the time-of-flight is dependent on the duration of the field transition up to full strength. For novel applications dedicated to precision measurements, such as multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometry of short-lived isotopes, the goal is to continuously decrease the measurement uncertainty while providing a mass accuracy on the same order. Even though dynamic-field models for time-of-flight mass spectrometry have been considered in the past for technological advances, it is important to study the accuracy of the measured mass in this context. Using a simplified linear model for the field transition, we provide a basic investigation of the scenario, and discuss the deviation from the classical "mass-over-charge" dependency of the ions' time-of-flight, which becomes violated. The emerging mass discrepancy depends on the distance between the mass of the ion used for calibration and that of the ion of interest and, in extreme cases, can increase to about one percent for systems with short times-of-flight. However, for typical conditions in single-reference multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometry, mass deviations caused by this effect typically remain below the 1 ppm level. If a mass calibration using two or more ion species is possible during the measurement, the effect becomes negligible for appropriate choices of reference masses.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure

Geometry: The leading parameter for the Poisson’s ratio of bending-dominated cellular solids

Control over the deformation behaviour that a cellular structure shows in response to imposed external forces is a requirement for the effective design of mechanical metamaterials, in particular those with negative Poisson’s ratio. This article sheds light on the old question of the relationship between geometric microstructure and mechanical response, by comparison of the deformation properties of bar-and-joint-frameworks with those of their realisation as a cellular solid made from linear-elastic material. For ordered planar tessellation models, we find a classification in terms of the number of degrees of freedom of the framework model: first, in cases where the geometry uniquely prescribes a single deformation mode of the framework model, the mechanical deformation and Poisson’s ratio of the linearly-elastic cellular solid closely follow those of the unique deformation mode; the result is a bending-dominated deformation with negligible dependence of the effective Poisson’s ratio on the underlying material’s Poisson’s ratio and small values of the effective Young’s modulus. Second, in the case of rigid structures or when geometric degeneracy prevents the bending-dominated deformation mode, the effective Poisson’s ratio is material-dependent and the Young’s modulus View the MathML sourceE˜cs large. All analysed structures of this type have positive values of the Poisson’s ratio and large values of View the MathML sourceE˜cs. Third, in the case, where the framework has multiple deformation modes, geometry alone does not suffice to determine the mechanical deformation. These results clarify the relationship between mechanical properties of a linear-elastic cellular solid and its corresponding bar-and-joint framework abstraction. They also raise the question if, in essence, auxetic behaviour is restricted to the geometry-guided class of bending-dominated structures corresponding to unique mechanisms, with inherently low values of the Young’s modulus