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Advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, are increasingly common, but often come with significant tradeoffs and effects which may elude initial observations. Among these, the term "soft impacts" has come to signify the qualitative implications of a technological device or intervention. How can these sorts of effects be addressed, and what role do they have in the development phases of emerging technologies? In this paper, we outline our interdisciplinary Responsible Robotics project, which harnesses and builds upon an embedded ethics framework. We describe the embedded ethics approach, summarize some of its challenges, and highlight a key benefit. In short, by addressing the so-called "soft impacts" of technology, embedded ethics may stand to benefit not only the users of emerging systems, but also the developers. Although confirming this with a great degree of confidence will call for substantive longitudinal studies, we believe the aims and current roll-out of the embedded ethics approach provide grounds for optimism concerning the intended benefits described here. Accordingly, the mere prospect of increasing social and ethical sensitivity in development settings can serve to encourage a wider adoption of embedded ethics programs worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although gamified sustainable consumption apps (SCAs) have been on the rise, only a few have survived longer than two years. While most existing research focuses on how gamification contributes to engagement and the formation of more sustainable consumption habits, there is little about how their survival is secured. Intervention's Purpose: Twenty-one SCA creators shared their considerations and experiences managing SCAs, providing valuable insights into the field of gamified sustainable consumption and practical insights for their stakeholders. Methods: Ideal-type and narrative analyses of the interviews unraveled some relevant survival strategies and lessons learned. Results: The creators' motivation and background play a role in the app's survival. Their experiences exposed several aspects affecting their gamification strategies and their relevance for the apps, highlighting traps to avoid and opportunities to improve their standing in an increasingly competitive market. Discussion: Most creators shared stories of "learn as you go," presenting how the flexibility to adjust the apps' business models rather than the creators' professional background is a critical success factor. Since their apps represent their understanding of sustainability, SCA creators should find practical and emotional ways to engage their users while considering the objectives of their apps. Conclusion: Awareness of the risks and pitfalls when creating an SCA may not be enough for successfully undertaking this enterprise. The creators should be capable of strategically plan for all the activities that creating and managing an SCA convey even before the app is conceptualized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unique capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) have forced theologians to develop analytical categories beyond the instrumentalist model of technology. Recent work examines AI in terms of whether it has the qualities of a person, its effects on character, and its embedding in structures of sin. Constructive responses have focused on principles, communities, and virtues. None of these responses fully addresses concerns raised by critical analyses, suggesting that moral theology is still searching for a replacement for the instrumentalist model of technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct-to-consumer tele-mental health services—therapy delivered by video conference, email, and text message—is a burgeoning model of service delivery. The practice of on-demand digital psychotherapy presents ethical questions, as new economic models, service delivery systems, and therapeutic models are introduced. Virtual therapy, now offered on a subscription basis by third-party providers, requires users to accept Terms of Service (ToS) agreements to access services. This article describes the results of a survey in which participants (n = 579) were asked to compare the values of the Human Rights Framework with the language of one tele-mental health platform's ToS user agreement. Findings suggest that those clients with prior experience with a mental health professional will find the ToS agreements to be the most ethically compromised. Similarly, employed and better educated individuals also found the ToS to be ethically suspect. The most vulnerable of the groups we surveyed, individuals who hold less education and those who are unemployed, may be at most risk for signing consent to a system they do not understand. The study provides one example of the ethical questions that emerge from the introduction of a new model of for-profit service provision in mental health. Recommendations for consumers and practitioners are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

mHealth programmes and apps have been developed by organisations like Beyond Blue and the Black Dog Institute, as tools to help people manage their mental health. The pace of development raises questions about ensuring sustained engagement and an ethical approach. Derived from ethnographic research at each organisation, this article explores reflections by research and development workers on the relational aspects of technology development, how this is negotiated and considered within mental health organisations, and the mediated relationship between users and organisations as a result. We use Silverstone's concept of 'proper distance' alongside Levinas' conceptualisation of responsibility to explore the relational ethics of apps. We argue for the importance of relational ethics in mobile mental health, in the way that medical ethics considers the doctor–patient relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet protocol development is a social process, and resulting protocols are shaped by their developers’ politics and values. This article argues that the work of protocol development (and more broadly, infrastructure design) poses barriers to developers’ reflection upon values and politics in protocol design. A participant observation of a team developing internet protocols revealed that difficulties defining the stakeholders in an infrastructure and tensions between local and global viewpoints both complicated values reflection. Further, Internet architects tended to equate a core value of interoperability with values neutrality. The article describes how particular work practices within infrastructure development overcame these challenges by engaging developers in praxis: situated, lived experience of the social nature of technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standards for technology ethics were first introduced into the Code of Professional Ethics for Rehabilitation Counselors in 2002. Since that time, the proliferation of technology has enhanced practice, changed the American vernacular, and become infused in the delivery of services to and teaching of individuals, families, and groups. The 2010 revision to the Code updates and reinforces standards involving behavior, accessibility, confidentiality, informed consent, security, assessment, records, legal issues, advertising, research and publication, counseling unavailability, disclosure, and distance counseling. However, it introduces new standards that are absent from the literature in the counseling and helping professions specific to technology ethics involving consultative and distance group counseling as well as in teaching, supervision, and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]