Digital Commons Network^™

Towards Human-Machine Collaboration In Autonomous Material Handling On Construction Sites, Jyrki Oraskari, Lukas Kirner, Marit Zöcklein, Sigrid Brell-Cokcan

Human-Machine Communication

In the contemporary construction industry, the shortage of skilled labor has prompted the exploration of automation as a remedy and machine autonomy as a potential solution to the environmental conditions at the site. This research explores the balance between human oversight and the independent decision-making capabilities of robots for material delivery on construction sites. Using a scenario-based approach, autonomy in construction robotics is evaluated across four human-machine interaction cases with spatial and temporal dimensions. The expected outcomes revolve around improved safety through better human-machine communication and establishing an interoperable data model to enhance robot autonomy. This aims to automate tasks …

Accomplishing Robotic Autonomy: The Complexities Of Sociotechnical Care And Agency In The Laboratory, Yifan Xu, Elliott Hauser

Human-Machine Communication

Effective ethical interventions in emerging technologies such as robotic autonomy demand situated understandings of the practices that shape them. Drawing upon a year of participatory ethnography, this study examines the sociomaterial practices used to accomplish robotic agency in an engineering research laboratory. Ironically, the robot was often a helpless, even pathetic, figure. Roboticists displayed an attitude of surprisingly genuine, diligent, and self-effacing care toward the robot as they helped enable it to perform basic competencies such as picking up a bottle. Using a practice theory, we show how roboticists’ care practices, motivated and sustained by anticipatory narratives of robotic agency, …

Between Autonomy And Automation: Mapping Practices Among Syrian Delivery Drivers In Beirut, Blake Atwood

Human-Machine Communication

This article studies the tension between autonomy and automation as it is experienced by Syrian refugee food-delivery drivers who work on the Toters app in Beirut, Lebanon. Central to this study are the freedom narratives these drivers construct, which reflect their ambivalent relationship with digital labor platforms. These narratives highlight how the algorithmic nature of the Toters app provides opportunities for self-employment and flexible work, crucial for refugees facing employment barriers and limited physical and social mobility in Lebanon. However, in these narratives, the drivers’ sense of autonomy is also often compromised by the app’s increasing automation, which imposes surveillance …

Wired To Offend: Cancel Culture Meets Generative Artificial Intelligence, Andrew Prahl, Shanice Koh Jie Qing, Justina Tan Ann Qi

Human-Machine Communication

Cancel culture has been limited to individuals and corporations being cancelled. However, AI is also getting cancelled, challenging our understanding of machine autonomy and cancel culture. This paper investigates how AI cancellation is discussed on X (Twitter) using a recent AI cancellation incident involving Nothing, Forever, an AI-generated parody of Seinfeld. Qualitative content analysis is performed on 734 relevant posts to extract the main categories dominating the discourse, including emotional expression, attitudes toward AI, and discussion of human versus AI qualities. The results provide insights regarding how people perceive the autonomy of AI and who is responsible for AI output.

Autonomy And Agency In Farming: Exploring Human, Machine, And Animal Dynamics, Ricarda Drüeke, Corinna Peil

Human-Machine Communication

Human-Machine Communication is reshaping the agricultural sector as digital technologies and automated systems transform farms into complex communicative environments. Farms, which serve as both workplaces and living spaces, uniquely integrate these technologies, yet their impact on farmers’ daily practices, labor, and decision-making remains underexplored. Through an ethnographic approach involving qualitative interviews and farm visits in Austria and southern Germany, the study investigates the interactions among farmers, automated technologies, smart devices, and animals. Using Actor-Network Theory, the redistribution of labor and agency in smart farming is explored. This analysis examines two forms of human-machine relations: the dynamics of automation and autonomy …

Human-Machine Relations And Relational Autonomy, Hendrik Kempt, Camilla Colombo, Saskia K. Nagel

Human-Machine Communication

The ever-growing use of interactive technologies and digitization processes in decisionmaking contexts raises key challenges to the conceptualization of autonomy. Starting from the shortcomings of individualistic models, we argue that relational accounts of autonomy provide a more adequate characterization of human beings as socially embedded and integrated. By introducing a decision-theoretic framework, and further theoretical elaboration, we suggest a substantial account of relational autonomy incorporating machines and technologies within the significant relations entertained by agents. Besides optimizing decision-making performances, human-machine interactions could genuinely support and enhance individual autonomy, by fostering human connections, expanding the individual’s social context with additional perspectives, …

Four Notions Of Autonomy. Pitfalls Of Conceptual Pluralism In Contemporary Debates, Roman Wagner, Bert Heinrichs

Human-Machine Communication

The concept of autonomy is indispensable in the history of Western thought. At least that’s how it seems to us nowadays. However, the notion has not always had the outstanding significance that we ascribe to it today and its exact meaning has also changed considerably over time. In this paper, we want to shed light on different understandings of autonomy and clearly distinguish them from each other. Our main aim is to contribute to conceptual clarity in (interdisciplinary) discourses and to point out possible pitfalls of conceptual pluralism.

Rethinking Autonomy In The Digital Age: Between Human Exceptionalism, Hybridity And Conviviality, Anne Hoss

Human-Machine Communication

In the humanities and social sciences, there is a long tradition of discourses on the relationship between automats and human autonomy. Socio-technological transformation processes of the past decades have revitalized related discussions. At the same time, based on ideas of either human exceptionalism or hybridity, current debates tend to focus on ontological questions and comparisons between humans and machines. This paper aims to widen recent discursive foci by introducing Ivan Illich’s work which highlights institutions, power structures, and the social shaping of technology as key factors of humanartifact relations and autonomous action. It will be argued that Illich’s approach contributes …

"There Is No Such Thing As A Machine That Acts Outside Of Relations With Humans”, Lucy Suchman, Caja Thimm

Human-Machine Communication

Starting with her early works on “Talk with Machines” (1986, republished in 2021) and her books Plans and Situated Actions: The Problem of Human-Machine Communication (1987) and Human-Machine Reconfigurations (2007a), Lucy Suchman not only opened up a new domain of scientific interest in humans and technology, but also showed how the scope of human machine relations needs to be reconceptualized. With her most recent works (2023a, 2023b), she not only widens the perspective on the contexts for machine usage, particularly by the military, but she also gives insights on how to conceptualize AI in terms of its ontological status and …

From Automation To Autonomy: Human Machine Relations In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence, Caja Thimm, Gabriele Gramelsberger, Maximilian Mayer, Frank T. Piller

Human-Machine Communication

The shift from automation to autonomy marks a new chapter in human-machine relations, especially in the context of the expanding and diversifying applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI). As machines gain capabilities that resemble autonomous agency, the boundary between human and machine autonomy blurs, challenging traditional concepts of agency, control, and independence. This special issue examines the multidisciplinary perspectives on autonomy in the digital age, addressing the complexities of attributing autonomy to machines and AI systems. Philosophical, sociological, and technical approaches converge to explore how emerging forms of machine autonomy impacts human agency, freedom, and decision-making, with applications spanning from autonomous …

Meeting Minutes 11-20-2024, Staff Council

Staff Advisory Council Meeting Documents

No abstract provided.

Know Your Library - Proquest Historical Newspapers: Florida Collection, Diamond R. Williams

Libraries' Documents

No abstract provided.

Experiencing Ai: Learning Through Exploration, Nicole Mishnick, Dana Wise

Teaching Repository of AI-Infused Learning

The strategy of experiencing AI is centered around AI exploration and reflection in a doctoral-level technology course. Throughout the course, students were encouraged to use AI to complete assignments. However, they were also asked to critically reflect on the impact of AI use on their academic development and understanding of the coursework. Through discussion, reflection, and exploration, students learned to navigate the complexities of AI in a way that aligns with academic values and professional expectations.

Service-Learning Reflection: Advent Health Hospital, Paola Urena

UN SDG Open Pedagogy Faculty Fellowship: Renewable Assignments

No abstract provided.

An Introduction To Crochet: Learn How To Make A Bookmark!, Kasey Bennett

Libraries' Documents

No abstract provided.

The Scoop, Vol. 11 Issue 8, November 2024, Health Sciences Library

Volume 11

Latest news and updates from the Health Sciences Library in our monthly newsletter for November 2024. Please see page 2 for a text-only version of this issue!

Agenda 2024-11, Staff Council

Staff Advisory Council Meeting Agendas

A meeting agenda is a list of the topics that will be discussed during a meeting, along with other details. The agenda is usually shared with participants before the meeting so they can prepare. The agenda's purpose is to give participants a clear outline of what should happen in the meeting, who will lead each task, and how long each step should take.

Know Your Library - Vinnie The Vulture, Diamond R. Williams

Libraries' Documents

No abstract provided.

The World Series Begins, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It seems that the biggest news in baseball this week is off the field. Usually, that is not a good thing. Yesterday, the Commissioner of Baseball, Rob Manfred, announced that Pete Rose and sixteen other players have been re-instated from baseball’s  “permanently ineligible” list. Among the sixteen others are several players caught up in the Black Sox scandal of 1919.

Helen V. Stelle And The Tampa Public Library: A Case Study In The Development Of Florida Public Libraries During The 1920s, Rachel E. Trnka

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Presentation at the Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting and Symposium.

As has been discussed by many historians, the nineteen twenties were a complex period in Florida, marked by the promise of the great land boom and increased migration to the state, which was countered by the challenges of the land bust, two major hurricanes, and the subsequent depression. The career of Helen V. Stelle, who served as the director of the Tampa Public Library from 1917 to 1949 and helped to establish the Florida Library Association (FLA) in 1922, provides one example of how Florida libraries were affected by these …

Meeting Minutes 10-16-2024, Staff Advisory Council

Staff Advisory Council Meeting Documents

No abstract provided.

Know Your Library - Spirit Splash Duck Exhibit, Diamond R. Williams

Libraries' Documents

No abstract provided.

A Literature Overview: Ai, Oer, And Implications For Scaling Innovation, Rebecca Mcnulty, Lily Dubach, Sarah A. Norris, Amanda Major

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Conference Presentation for the 2024 Open Education Conference.

The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and open educational resources (OER) holds significant potential for transforming education and scaling innovation. This presentation will offer an overview of the existing scholarly literature to describe the current landscape, including the opinions, opportunities, challenges, risks, and emerging trends. AI can play a pivotal role in enhancing the adoption, adaption, and authorship of OER, both through small experiments and larger theoretical discussions. However, AI also presents challenges and risks, including data privacy concerns, algorithmic bias, and ethical implications, in addition to a broader potential impact on …

Agenda 2024-10, Staff Council

Staff Advisory Council Meeting Agendas

A meeting agenda is a list of the topics that will be discussed during a meeting, along with other details. The agenda is usually shared with participants before the meeting so they can prepare. The agenda's purpose is to give participants a clear outline of what should happen in the meeting, who will lead each task, and how long each step should take.

Rethinking Digital Scholarship: Integrating Innovation, Ai, And Evolving Research Practices, Sarah A. Norris, Rachel Vacek

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Presentation from the Library 2035 Mini-Conference.

As we approach the next decade, libraries are poised to undergo significant transformations driven by evolving research practices, emerging technologies, and shifting societal needs. Given this, advocating for the library's engagement in the research enterprise becomes increasingly critical. This session will explore how we can design forward-thinking digital scholarship services and models from the ground up, leveraging the lessons learned by others while envisioning novel solutions to help us rethink and innovate our approach to enhancing research encompassing digital publishing, data visualization, the digital humanities, data science, and data analysis.

The presenters will highlight …

The Scoop, Vol. 11 Issue 7, October 2024, Health Sciences Library

Volume 11

Latest news and updates from the Health Sciences Library in our monthly newsletter for October 2024. Please see page 2 for a text-only version of this issue!

Two Academic Libraries, One Study: Using Project Outcome For Assessment And Advocacy Across Partner Institutions, Katy Miller, Karen Kaufmann, Rachel E. Trnka

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Slides from a webinar presentation hosted by ACRL Project Outcome promoting the publication of the book, Assessment and Advocacy: Using Project Outcome for Academic Libraries. The book collects case studies demonstrating how a variety of libraries have used Project Outcome to make improvements in their practice and highlighting the value the toolkit has brought to institutions and the academic library profession.

Video Spotlight - Google Scholar Search Features, Diamond R. Williams

Libraries' Documents

No abstract provided.

Know Your Library - Podcast Studio, Diamond R. Williams

Libraries' Documents

No abstract provided.

Video Spotlight - Using Search Limiters, Diamond R. Williams

Libraries' Documents

No abstract provided.