Purpose Whereas integration of big data in “e-Oman” – the e-government face of Oman – is a significant prospect, this paper aims to underscore the challenges of privacy concerns in effecting such integration. Design/methodology/approach Providing a brief description about the concepts of e-government and big data, the paper follows a discussion on “e-Oman”. While drawing a framework for integration of big data in “e-Oman”, the paper throws light on the privacy concerns in effecting such an integration following a qualitative approach. (...) Findings Integration of big data in “e-Oman” is fraught with ethical challenges in terms of privacy issues which have social implications. Practical implications While the pros of integration of big data in “e-Oman” are noteworthy, technical and administrative constraints vis-à-vis the cons of such integration need to be taken care of. It may be underlined that there is a trade-off between the norms of transparency and privacy of individuals versus the deployment of big data in “e-Oman” for effective real-time problem-solving. Social implications Technical and administrative infrastructure needs to be robust for countering challenges of cybercrimes. Furthermore, confidentiality and privacy of individuals may be at stake; the government needs to tackle these issues. Originality/value Integration of big data in “e-Oman” needs to be probed, and this paper seeks to fill this gap. Second, the paper underscores that it is important that ethical norms are being accounted for while effecting this integration. (shrink)

Even though morally competent artificial agents have yet to emerge in society, we need insights from empirical science into how people will respond to such agents and how these responses should inform agent design. Three survey studies presented participants with an artificial intelligence agent, an autonomous drone, or a human drone pilot facing a moral dilemma in a military context: to either launch a missile strike on a terrorist compound but risk the life of a child, or to cancel the (...) strike to protect the child but risk a terrorist attack. Seventy-two percent of respondents were comfortable making moral judgments about the AI in this scenario and fifty-one percent were comfortable making moral judgments about the autonomous drone. These participants applied the same norms to the two artificial agents and the human drone pilot. However, people ascribed different patterns of blame to humans and machines as a function of the agent’s decision of how to solve the dilemma. These differences in blame seem to stem from different assumptions about the agents’ embeddedness in social structures and the moral justifications those structures afford. Specifically, people less readily see artificial agents as embedded in social structures and, as a result, they explained and justified their actions differently. As artificial agents will perform many actions with moral significance, we must heed such differences in justifications and blame and probe how they affect our interactions with those agents. (shrink)

This book highlights some of the most pressing safety, ethical, legal and societal issues related to the diverse contexts in which robotic technologies apply. Focusing on the essential concept of well-being, it addresses topics that are fundamental not only for research, but also for industry and end-users, discussing the challenges in a wide variety of applications, including domestic robots, autonomous manufacturing, personal care robots and drones.

Complete works of Śaṅkarācārya, Hindu mystic and philosopher.

Religion and philosophy in 'Akāla usatati', portion of Daswen̲ Pādshāh kā Granth, attributed to Gobind Singh, Guru, 1666-1708.