Ethics and Information Technology 17 (3):175-188 (2015)
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Abstract |
English - language Wikipedia is constantly being plagued by vandalistic contributions on a massive scale. In order to fight them its volunteer contributors deploy an array of software tools and autonomous bots. After an analysis of their functioning and the ‘ coactivity ’ in use between humans and bots, this research ‘ discloses ’ the moral issues that emerge from the combined patrolling by humans and bots. Administrators provide the stronger tools only to trusted users, thereby creating a new hierarchical layer. Further, surveillance exhibits several troubling features : questionable profiling practices, the use of the controversial measure of reputation, ‘ oversurveillance ’ where quantity trumps quality, and a prospective loss of the required moral skills whenever bots take over from humans. The most troubling aspect, though, is that Wikipedia has become a Janus - faced institution. One face is the basic platform of MediaWiki software, transparent to all. Its other face is the anti - vandalism system, which, in contrast, is opaque to the average user, in particular as a result of the algorithms and neural networks in use. Finally it is argued that this secrecy impedes a much needed discussion to unfold ; a discussion that should focus on a ‘ rebalancing ’ of the anti - vandalism system and the development of more ethical information practices towards contributors.
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Keywords | bots disclosive ethics profiling surveillance vandalism Wikipedia |
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DOI | 10.1007/s10676-015-9366-9 |
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References found in this work BETA
Moral Deskilling and Upskilling in a New Machine Age: Reflections on the Ambiguous Future of Character.Shannon Vallor - 2015 - Philosophy and Technology 28 (1):107-124.
The Nature, Importance, and Difficulty of Machine Ethics.James Moor - 2006 - IEEE Intelligent Systems 21:18-21.
Disclosing the Digital Face: The Ethics of Facial Recognition Systems.Lucas D. Introna - 2005 - Ethics and Information Technology 7 (2):75-86.
How Can Contributors to Open-Source Communities Be Trusted? On the Assumption, Inference, and Substitution of Trust.Paul B. de Laat - 2010 - Ethics and Information Technology 12 (4):327-341.
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Citations of this work BETA
Profiling Vandalism in Wikipedia: A Schauerian Approach to Justification.Paul B. de Laat - 2016 - Ethics and Information Technology 18 (2):131-148.
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