Jo Ann Oravec

• MA, MS, MBA, PhD
• Professor (Full) at University of Wisconsin–Whitewater

This paper explores the transformative impact of AI on automating knowledge work leading to the anticipated 'Age of Abundance' in a post-labor society where work is performed by machines rather than human labor. Through a detailed model incorporating variables such as cost of computing, AI model efficiency, and human-equivalent production output (d...

What kinds of romantic attachments are humans forming with robots, smartphones, and other artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced entities? Movies, books, and television shows with these themes are becoming commonplace, and the notion of individuals being tightly coupled with their devices is increasingly familiar. People who share intimate thoughts...

Introduction Many years ago, the moral fable of Pinocchio warned children about the evils of lying (Perella). This article explores how children are learning lie-related insights from genres of currently marketed polygraph-style “spy kits”, voice stress analysis apps, and electric shock-delivering games. These artifacts are emerging despite the fac...

For employees, work involves taking breaks as well as engaging in specific required duties, and sometimes that break taking is construed as “cyberslacking” by employers. After historical treatments of cyberslacking concepts, this article analyzes ways that artificial intelligence (AI) methodologies and the “bossware” platform genre are aiding manag...

Cheating behaviors have been construed as a continuing and somewhat vexing issue for academic institutions as they increasingly conduct educational processes online and impose metrics on instructional evaluation. Research, development, and implementation initiatives on cheating detection have gained new dimensions in the advent of artificial intell...

Robot-inflicted deaths and injuries are often, unfortunately, among the grim side effects of production and mobility despite decades of efforts on safety and risk management. Deaths and injuries that are associated with robots and other autonomous entities are often placed in a different light than other sorts of incidents in dramaturgical perspect...

Sex robots are playing critical roles in the ecology of robot and AI-enhanced entities. This chapter’s focuses are on emerging controversies involving sex robots and other forms of AI-enabled sexual activity, which often help to elucidate the emerging power and control relationships between humans and robots. Questions of whether robots “outclass”...

Overstatements and hyperbolic themes and concepts, often stemming from artificial intelligence (AI)’s early periods, are being employed in characterizations of current AI approaches in apparently opportunistic attempts to provide rhetorical support for various large-scale and consumer initiatives. The chapter addresses the relative neglect of consi...

This chapter analyzes emerging varieties of robot and autonomous entity sabotage, bullying, and manipulation by humans, placing them in context of security concerns as well as other kinds of aggression and abusive conduct. An increasing amount of this behavior can be considered in terms of self-defense, given the specific intrusions of these entiti...

Robots, artificial intelligence, and autonomous vehicles are associated with substantial narrative and image-related legacies that often place them in a negative light. This chapter outlines the basics of the “dramaturgical” and technosocial approaches that are used throughout this book to gain insights about how these emerging technologies are aff...

Robots and other AI-enabled entities can present the opportunity for new and startling forms of sabotage, spoofing, and distress as well as imaginative manipulations designed to support wellbeing and smooth societal operations. The very projections of potentials for the proliferation of robots, autonomous vehicles, and other AI-enhanced entities in...

Many kinds of robots, autonomous vehicles, and other AI-enhanced entities have been developed to fill military, police, and security missions, with capabilities including facial recognition, thermal imaging, and other biometric identification. Increasingly, they are designed to incapacitate or kill humans in certain circumstances without the direct...

This opening chapter describes how the problem of “bad robots” may not be solved by making robots seem more human. We may be living with robots, automated vehicles, and other AI-related entities that many of us perceive to be “dark” and “creepy” for many years to come. Some of these dark traits are the result of designers’ decisions, such as the ma...

Robotic and AI initiatives are branching out into many aspects of societal functioning, and planning for a world filled with autonomous robots and self-driving vehicles has already begun by governments and corporations. Research and development efforts to produce and disseminate robots and AI-enhanced entities are often funded by institutions that...

This book explores how robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance human lives but also have unsettling "dark sides." It examines expanding forms of negativity and anxiety about robots, AI, and autonomous vehicles as our human environments are reengineered for intelligent military and security systems and for optimal workplace and domesti...

This article analyzes emerging artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced lie detection systems from ethical and human resource (HR) management perspectives. I show how these AI enhancements transform lie detection, followed with analyses as to how the changes can lead to moral problems. Specifically, I examine how these applications of AI introduce hum...

Abstract: Manufacturing-, hospital-, and transportation-related deaths and injuries are, unfortunately, often among the grim effects of production and mobility. These deaths and injuries have not ceased to be a factor despite decades of efforts on safety and risk management. Deaths and injuries that are associated with robots and other autonomous e...

As a part of artificial intelligence (AI), expert system and KBE strategies attracted considerable academic, corporate, and military attention in the 1980s and early 1990s. Social and historical perspectives on expert systems and knowledge-based engineering (KBE) during this period can provide insights for current research and development direction...

This paper explores everyday political and security-related concerns involving online information distortion and political gaming in the contexts of electioneering and voting, with an emphasis on incidents situated within the US and UK. Computer networking has afforded the means for election-related information to be manipulated by entities both in...

This paper addresses the ethical dimensions of the complex and evolving relationships between individuals and health-related self-tracking devices in the context of workplace systems. Many self-tracking initiatives can indeed have useful medical applications, aiding individuals and healthcare professionals in diagnosis and treatment. However, in so...

Abstract: Face-to-face classroom interaction in higher education contexts incorporates various aspects of personal appearance in its visual dimensions. The advent of online delivery of education (such as utilization of internet platforms including Blackboard and Desire2Learn as well as social media) is creating new spheres of intellectual communica...

Online social shaming involves the intentional collection and dissemination of data that are potentially stigmatizing in modes that are widely accessible and in which observers (including members of the public) can often add input. This article examines changes in shaming following the advent of the widespread use of computer networking, focusing i...

Community engagement has played central roles in tertiary education, expanding the potentials for academic as well as civic enhancement. Such efforts are often undertaken in part with the use of metrics, as tertiary education institutions attempt to reach various community audiences with quantitatively-supported defenses of their missions, through...

The dramatic expansion of the use of metrics in higher education institutions worldwide has brought with it gaming and manipulation practices designed to enhance artificially both individual and institutional reputation, including coercive citation, forced joint authorship, ghostwriting, H-index manipulation, and many others. This article maps thes...

This chapter outlines hoarding issues involving virtual or digital goods (including video and image files, digital documents, etc.) in the context of workplace and household settings. It covers “dark data” security issues and intellectual property concerns as well as matters related to information flow. It discusses research about why and how indiv...

“Cyberbullying” comprises a wide spectrum of behaviors that have negative and often devastating impacts upon their targets (or “victims”). This chapter is intended to analyze research trends on cyberbullying as well as related concerns involving online harassment, online reputational damage, and cyberstalking. Its focuses are as follows: (1) analyz...

“Cyberloafing” in workplace and educational contexts refers to the uses of computer-related applications and devices in ways or at times that are not directly sanctioned by employers, managers, or teachers. It has often been considered as a kind of “time theft” on the part of employees, possibly decreasing workplace and educational productivity by...

The potential societal impacts of automation using intelligent control and communications technologies have emerged as topics in recent writings and public policy initiatives. Constructed entities labelled as ‘thinking machines’ (such as IBM’s Watson as well as intelligent chatbot and robotic systems) have also played significant roles in this disc...

Societal pressures on high tech organizations to define and disseminate their ethical stances are increasing as the influences of the technologies involved expand. Many Internet-based businesses have emerged in the past decades; growing numbers of them have developed some kind of moral declaration in the form of mottos or ethical statements. For ex...

Space travel has often been reported, explained, promoted, and interpreted for fellow space voyagers as well as non-space travelers through the words and actions of celebrities. This article addresses how social media (such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube) and other channels of expression are becoming part of such celebrity initiatives in the con...

This article outlines hoarding issues involving virtual goods (including databases, videos, images, avatars, and digital documents) in workplaces, households, and personal contexts. It explores the implications of the growing literature on digital or virtual hoarding for psychological as well as organizational approaches to computing technology. It...

Increasing utilizations of kill switches, remote deletion, and intelligent agents as a part of “Internet of Things” (IoT) architectures present emerging cybersecurity and privacy challenges. These issues are compounded in complexity by the frequent updates and other controls instituted by the growing assortment of purveyors of household IoT devices...

Abstract - “Cyber hygiene” strategies for the Internet of Things (IoT) may soon expand far beyond the various approaches that are prescribed for today’s computing technologies in workplaces and households (the latter including frequently changing passwords and installing malware protections). This paper explores the various roles of health professi...

Higher education institutions are joining many other social entities in shifting how participants are evaluated; work is undergoing increasing analysis through metrics, big data analytics, and related methodologies. As applications of academic metrics expand, new formulations of what is considered as ‘excellence’ in teaching and research are being...

This article provides some potential directions in exploring the construction of the persona of the “hoarder” and addresses how such a persona can move to the foreground of an individual’s set of workplace-related personas. Hoarding throws into relief some critical concerns about the social standings of individuals in workplaces and the extent to w...

Gamification approaches in the workplace are encountering strong and passionate critics as well as dedicated proponents as the very notions of games, play, and work are being reconsidered and reframed. Workplaces are incorporating increasing varieties of concurrent and emerging games; some of these games are directly linked to how employees are pro...

Many participants in higher education build academic reputations in conjunction with their research initiatives (and subsequent citations) along with their teaching efforts. An assortment of reputadonal considerations related to scholarly publication and teaching is emerging in part as a result of availability of various Internet search and analysi...

DEPRAVED, DISTRACTED, DISABLED, OR JUST “PACK RATS”? WORKPLACE HOARDING PERSONAS IN PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL REALMS JO ANN ORAVEC ABSTRACT This article provides some potential directions in exploring the construction of the persona of the “hoarder” and addresses how such a persona can move to the foreground of an individual’s set of workplace-related p...

Federal and state agencies as well as private sector agencies often try to serve the needs of small and medium-sized firms to facilitate their efforts for globalization. Educational and training programs are usually developed based on hypothetical needs. Understanding the perceived barriers or impediments for globalization of small and medium sized...

Expert system technologies are varieties of artificial intelligence (AI) approaches in which decision-making knowledge is codified and modeled. This design case has the challenging task of characterizing this set of technologies during a particularly important period in its development (1984-1991), with an emphasis on a particular system that was u...

Many Internet-based businesses have emerged and gained prominence in past decades; growing numbers of them have developed moral declarations in the form of mottos or ethical statements. For example, the corporate motto “don't be evil” (linked with Google) has generated considerable controversy, and Twitter and Facebook have comparable ethical prono...

Using the search engine Google to locate information linked to individuals and organizations has become part of everyday functioning. This article addresses whether the “gaming” of Internet applications in attempts to modify reputations raises substantial ethical concerns. It analyzes emerging approaches for manipulation of how personally-identifia...

This paper outlines concerns for inclusive classrooms involving personal digital image modifications and selections, as well as avatar configurations. Classroom interactions incorporate various dimensions of personal appearance; however, educators try to make them primarily about knowledge and wisdom. Students in environments where they can interac...

This article examines how radio talk shows can promote a sense of community among listeners and shape the narrative accounts of show participants. In "Coast to Coast AM" and "Dreamland," Art Bell has fostered the collective generation of conspiracy theories and narratives of the paranormal in a manner that strengthens the identification of his audi...

Mental health care involves interaction among individuals. As many individuals spend increasing amounts of time interacting with others online, counselling activities on the Internet and other forms of computer networking are becoming more popular. This article describes a variety of modes of online mental health care, including e-mail counselling,...

Air America is a self-identified liberal radio talk show network initiated in the months before the 2004 U.S. presidential election. This article examines Air America's efforts to gain legitimacy in politically tense times as well as attract audience through its use of comic genres. The article explores how its grappling with fundamental questions...

In its ideal, electronic democracy would empower citizens to vote online with convenience, security, reliability, and accessibility. However, electronic vote fraud can prevent citizens from exercising their basic rights in a democracy. Inaccessible e-voting systems can also deny citizens their rights. Unfortunately, attention to these problems is g...

Collaborative filtering is being used within organizations and in community contexts for knowledge management and decision support as well as the facilitation of interactions among individuals. This article analyzes rhetorical and technical efforts to establish trust in the constructions of individual opinions, reputations, and tastes provided by t...

Peaceblogs and warblogs are kinds of ‘weblogs’, chronological streams of hyperlinks and related diary‐like narratives. Many thousands of weblogs emerged in the past several years, providing frequently updated analysis and commentary on various issues along with a personal, human‐scale perspective. Weblogs emphasizing peace and war issues have been...

Artifacts in our lives are both ephemeral and eternal; many will disappear without traces, and others will live onward for many millennia (sometimes despite our best efforts). Unfortunately, we do not know which artifacts will indeed provide us and our culture with some form of legacy. Time capsules are attempts to help make the decision as to whic...

It is all too clear that for many individuals the basic questions of the role of AI in society have been already answered or perhaps are not even worth asking. This neglect is unfortunate and often costly, as Diana Forsythe's book (posthumously compiled of materials written in the 1980s and 90s) so ably demonstrates. "Studying Those Who Study Us" i...

Varieties of knowledge work are proliferating in almost every economic sector and particularly in entrepreneurial and innovative organisations. Transparency in knowledge work (including openness, contextual sensitivity and reflection) allows for expanded perspectives on employees' initiatives as well as increased value for organisations. Entreprene...

Organizations have become more permeable — integrating more influences from the outside world — as participants engage in such online diversions as trading stocks, engaging in multiplayer games, or viewing images of their children in daycare. Availability of these activities has brought the potential for abuse but also new opportunities. Constructi...

Weblogs (‘blogs’) are emerging in many educational contexts as vehicles for personal expression and the dissemination and critique of Internet materials. The study of the weblog phenomenon in itself can convey important insights about social construction; hundreds of thousands of blogs emerged worldwide within a fairly short time span without consi...

WEBLOGS (or “blogs”) emerged in the past decade as an Internet applications genre, providing a platform for the development of critical, individual voices within the context of Internet resources. Weblogs consist of links to particular Web materials with specific commentary, generally presented in chronological format, harkening back to older, more...

Distance education issues affect nearly all participants in higher education, whether or not they are planning to offer (or to take) on-line courses. These issues are affecting business-university interactions as well as the relationship between faculty mem bers and their institutions. This article discusses an assortment of concerns in the USA and...

Muir Gray JA. The Resourceful Patient .Oxford: eRosetta Press, 2002 Economic, social and technological shifts have changed medical care, affecting relationships between patients and health professionals. Patients and clinicians are using new strategies and sources for acquiring health information, including the Internet. Patients may be equipped w...

Students’ professional training often focuses on narrow technical considerations that exclude accessibility concerns and universal design perspectives. This can make them ill-equipped to understand the importance of accessibility approaches let alone become advocates for them. This article explores how students who design Web sites and work with co...

Weblogs can be used in classrooms to enhance literacy and critical thinking skills.

"Banana Time" takes on new dimensions when it comes to the Internet.

Deliveries of medical information and assistance on the Internet are becoming increasingly popular, despite growing concern by some affected professional groups. "Self-help" efforts are abounding as individuals band together to support each other socially as well as gain political clout. The advent of widespread on-line health care is having a grow...

The explosion of special-purpose computing devices--Internet appliances, handheld computers, wireless Internet, networked household appliances--challenges business educators attempting to provide computer literacy education. At a minimum, they should address connectivity, expanded applications, and social and public policy implications of these tec...

Psychologists have stressed the importance of toys and play in childhood development (Erikson, 1977; Rogers & Sawyer, 1988). Toys are "learning instruments" (Mann, 1996)--objects that stimulate children's imaginations and help them develop socially and intellectually. Therefore, it is not surprising that many new children's toys are cause for conce...

This chapter analyzes the emerging forms of online recreation and play in the workplace and addresses how their benefits and drawbacks are being defined. It discusses how online work and play are often becoming seamlessly melded and sometimes confused, as predicted by Orwell in the epigraph. Managers are responding to online recreation in a wide sp...

This chapter analyzes the emerging forms of online recreation and play in the workplace and addresses how their benefits and drawbacks are being defined. It discusses how online work and play are often becoming seamlessly melded and sometimes confused, as predicted by Orwell in the epigraph. Managers are responding to online recreation in a wide sp...

Families are increasingly integrating computing technologies into their everyday activities, expanding the range of external influence upon them. For many families, basic notions of 'home' are undergoing shifts as large-scale cultural and economic changes occur that are related to the 'Information age' and as family members spend more time on the I...

This article provides an overview of on-line medical information and service delivery. It outlines the immediate implications of these advances for health education professionals as well as projects some of their potentials and regulatory repercussions for the future. The article also analyzes the varieties of medical misinformation and rumor that...

School violence is of increasing concern to educators worldwide in the wake of tragedies such as the one in Littleton, Colorado. This article explores how hate group web sites, violent computer games, and related Internet activities are delivering material to young people with hostile and violent content. The Internet is also serving as a new vehic...

According to Stewart Brand, the Stonehenge of our age will be the "Clock of the Long Now," the topic of his latest book. The Long Now Foundation has endeavored to construct a clock and a library that can endure and serve the needs of visitors and patrons for at least 10 millennia. Brand and other proponents of these projects admit that the chances...

Digital video and photography are becoming aspects of everyday business activities, allowing for the quick modification and distribution of images. From development of websites to the editing of a single photograph on a desktop PC, people are using digital images in many business contexts. However, important business ethics issues are emerging conc...

Recreation on the Internet is becoming a part of everyday workplace activity. Should it be encouraged by management? Can it be managed constructively?

The year 2000 (Y2K) problem presents a complex mix of technical and social concerns that has broad implications for many industries. Examination of the problem in business classrooms can illuminate issues concerning the relationship of information technology to organizations and to society as a whole. This article outlines risk assessment and hands...

Privacy studies may be seen by some teacher educators as being 'anti-technology' in their character, with the potential to dim the enthusiasm of future teachers for new technological initiatives. However, privacy is taking on new significance in an age of the Internet and advanced information technologies, as the examples and sources outlined in th...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1992. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 944-1029). Photocopy. s

Those who design, implement, and use computer network applications are deeply involved in the processes of social and cultural change, whether or not they choose to consider these processes. Issues such as "community" and "privacy," "dependence" and "individualism" are no longer simply the province of philosophers and social scientists; they are ti...

Construction of self and group often incorporates the use of objects associated with "expression," including videos, films, and photographs. In this article, I describe four different sites for construction of groups (group portraiture, courtrooms, video-assisted group therapy, and videoconferencing). I discuss potential aspects of shifts in the wa...

An abstract is not available.

There is a need for a knowledge base of knowledge-based system design and implementation efforts, one that includes accounts of astounding successes and unfortunate failures, half-hearted ef­forts that collapse after a few months as well as long-term project commitments built with tenacity and fortitude. The widely distributed studies of indi­vidua...

IntroductIon Organizations have become more permeable— integrating more influences from the outside world— as participants engage in such online diversions as trading stocks, engaging in multiplayer games, or viewing images of their children in daycare. Ready availability of these activities has brought the potential for abuse but also new opportun...