Ethical Ambiguities Research Articles

AI and Indian Dystopias: Cultural Disruption and Ethical Dilemmas in Asur and Ok Computer

This paper seeks to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and cultural disruption in Indian dystopian narratives, with a focus on the shows Asur and Ok Computer. Both series offer compelling insights into how AI reshapes societal structures, ethical paradigms, and human identities in a rapidly evolving technological landscape, particularly in the post-COVID context. Asur blends mythology and technology to depict a chilling dystopia where AI tools like facial recognition and behavioural analysis become weapons for moral and ideological battles. The show critiques the ethical ambiguity of AI applications and highlights the dangers of unchecked technological advancement in a culturally diverse society. It raises critical questions about the relationship between traditional Indian philosophies of dharma and karma and the cold logic of AI systems. In contrast, Ok Computer offers a satirical lens on a future where AI and robotics are deeply entrenched in daily life, questioning the ethics of automation, data governance, and the boundaries of human-machine relationships. The series critiques blind faith in technology, juxtaposing Western models of technological determinism with Indian spiritual perspectives on consciousness and ethical responsibility. This analysis investigates how these narratives reflect the broader anxieties surrounding AI in India, including digital colonialism, socio-cultural disruptions, and ethical dilemmas. By integrating Indian philosophical frameworks with global AI discourses, the paper aims to highlight the unique dimensions of human-machine relationships in the Indian context. Through the lens of Asur and Ok Computer, this paper demonstrates how Indian dystopian fiction engages with pressing concerns about technology and cultural identity, offering critical insights into the evolving dynamics of AI-driven futures.

Asia, Moral Duties, and American Films Noir: World for Ransom and Macao

ABSTRACT Leading American film critics, including, among others, Tony Williams and Robert Miklitsch, have claimed that both World for Ransom and Macao reflect an orientalist, racist, and reactionary worldview. In this article I argue that, on the contrary, these 1950s films noir portray Asian and American characters alike actually carrying out their moral duties. To be sure, these American films employ aesthetic techniques to help illustrate the ethical ambiguities for which film noir is justly celebrated. Still, where the fulfillment of moral duties is concerned, the films’ resolutions are clear. This article enlists the thought of moral philosophers H.L.A. Hart and Daniel Statman to vindicate the ethical outlook of these works, which reward characters who fulfill imperfect, perfect, and/or supererogatory moral obligations. The American protagonists transcend their given circumstances by carrying out high-stake duties in an Asian setting, while forming amorous alliances tested by the aesthetics of film noir. Moreover, I show that none of the protagonists’ moral duties involves maligning Asia. Indeed, were these films noir to disparage Asia, they would diminish the very milieu breathing life into their finest characters.

Mass Media Journalists and Social Media Ethics in Sri Lanka

One of the most important components of broadcasting media professionalism is media ethics. The majority of journalists in Asia have quickly adopted social media in recent years. Professional journalists’ enthusiastic involvement in this technological advancement has expanded the field, affected professional journalism ethics, and caused the public to question whether Sri Lankan mainstream media journalists are trustworthy. This study discussed the findings on how far the emerging of social media affect journalistic ethics observance ’truthfulness, objectivism, balance and fairness and accuracy’ as important resources for journalism in the mass media and how journalists employed social media in their job. To make the data very apparent, two television media firms were chosen using probability and deliberate sampling approaches, and they were given questionnaires to complete in order to investigate how social media affected their professional ethical values. According to this factual viewpoint, it is crucial to make extra efforts to counteract the ongoing effects of social media on mainstream media broadcasting journalism ethical principles. This can be achieved by focusing on internal training to prevent ethical ambiguity, newsroom ethics and codes, and specific social media rules. By taking these proposed proactive actions, major broadcasting media journalists in Sri Lanka may eventually will flourish under the consideration of ethical principles of professionalism. Media self-regulation body is very important for the accountability and flourish of broadcasting landscape. Broadcasting media organizations and journalists should observe principles of Objectivism in their daily activities

Case Management Organization and Implementation in Probation Services in Romania

Since there is little prior knowledge on the effects of case management on offenders behavioral patterns, this paper aims to identify how the activities carried out by probation officers has impacted supervised persons, but also to draw useful conclusions regarding ethical standards in case management. The topic of this paper is of real interest to probation practitioners, as conducting the supervision process, preparing pre- and post-sentence reports in the course of assistance and counseling activities, and the specific nature of interactions with beneficiaries of Probation Services inherently lead to the emergence of ethically challenging situations. The foundation of this topic lies in the need to explore and analyze the nature of these dilemmas, their frequency, the ways counselors respond when faced with ethical ambiguity, identifying optimal responses and reactions from a deontological and ethical perspective, and ultimately outlining best practices. Although this topic is extremely broad, in this paper the focus is on the counselor-beneficiary relationship, being mindful of the numerous aspects that can be addressed, as highlighted in discussions with colleagues from various services and in the final question of the questionnaire used in this study. As a result of the research undertaken, I aimed to present how we, as probation counselors, analyze and manage various dilemmas encountered in daily practice, relevant legislative guidelines, and optimized response strategies. In the end, the conclusions provide an opportunity for reflection and learning, which can offer a greater degree of confidence, security, and control over these situations.

Triage ethics in mass casualty incident simulation: A phenomenological exploration.

Disaster scenarios challenge both novice and experienced nurses to navigate complex ethical dilemmas in resource-limited environments. Traditional nursing education often leaves new nurses unprepared for the ethical demands of disaster nursing. Utilitarianism must often guide triage ethics and decision-making. There is a critical need to equip nursing students with these ethical competencies. This study explores nursing students' lived experiences using introductory triage ethics in mass casualty incident simulation (MCIS). A qualitative, interpretive phenomenological approach was employed, analyzing reflective journal responses from senior nursing students following MCIS participation. Participants were senior-year nursing students from a private university in the U.S., engaging in MCIS as part of their curriculum, which simulated resource-limited disaster scenarios requiring real-time ethical decisions. The study received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, and participants provided informed consent. Data were anonymized and did not affect academic evaluation. Two major themes emerged: 1. Living in Ethical Dilemmas (subthemes: We Could Have Saved Them If…, Looking Past Obvious Suffering, How Can We Be Prepared?, We Can't Abandon Them). 2. Development of Ethical Competency (subthemes: Knowing You've Done Enough, Finding New Perspectives, There Is No Right Answer). Students grew in moral reasoning and emotional resilience, transitioning from patient-centered care to utilitarian decision-making. Participation in the mass casualty incident simulation allowed nursing students to confront and navigate complex ethical challenges in real time, fostering significant growth in moral reasoning and emotional resilience. Through immersion in simulated ethical dilemmas, students grappled with the tension between patient-centered care and the realities of utilitarian decision-making. This experience catalyzed a deeper understanding of ethical ambiguity and the development of moral clarity, equipping them with foundational skills for ethically navigating crises. Nursing curricula should recognize and incorporate opportunities that facilitate this ethical growth through experiential learning.

Artificial Aesthetics and Ethical Ambiguity: Exploring Business Ethics in the Context of AI-driven Creativity

Artificial Aesthetics and Ethical Ambiguity: Exploring Business Ethics in the Context of AI-driven Creativity

The Price of Survival: Violence, Kindness, And the Emotional Calculus of Selling Children in Rita Chowdhury's Chinatown Days

This paper examines the harrowing scene in Rita Chowdhury's novel Chinatown Days where famine-stricken parents are driven to sell their children into slavery. By applying Damasio's Somatic Marker Hypothesis and Kahneman and Tversky's Prospect Theory, the study explores how the complex interplay of psychological and environmental factors shapes this agonizing decision. The parents' seemingly emotionless demeanour, particularly that of the mother, is analysed to reveal how famine, as a pervasive force, erodes societal norms and compels individuals towards extreme survival strategies. Ultimately, the paper grapples with the ethical ambiguity of their actions, questioning if selling their children, despite its inherent cruelty, can be rationalized as an act of love and sacrifice or constitutes an act of violence against them.

A poetics of opacity: disability, race and gender in Khady Sylla’s Une fenêtre ouverte

ABSTRACT Une fenêtre ouverte/An Open Window (2005), a documentary by the Senegalese writer and filmmaker Khady Sylla, offers an intimate, unsettling portrait of the mental health difficulties suffered by both Sylla and her friend, Aminta Ngom. This article reads Sylla’s film as embracing Black female disabled subjectivities that have been historically constructed – through intersecting patriarchal, colonialist and ableist regimes – as abject or aberrant. While scholarship on Sylla’s film has addressed ideas of female madness, it has not engaged with (Black feminist) disability studies – a critical lacuna addressed here. Drawing on ideas of opacity (Glissant), ‘mad methodology’ (Bruce) and Black feminist disabled perspectives that question emancipatory or healing coherence (Pickens, Nack Ngue), the article reads Sylla’s film in terms of a poetics of opacity that opens to a cripping of cinematic time and space. While focusing on a relationship of female friendship, solidarity and care that offers refuge from fraught familial dynamics, the film’s empathy is capacious, extending to Aminta’s mother and daughter too. As Une fenêtre ouverte traces the tensions that structure these various relationships, it reveals its feminist approach, its mode of feeling in solidarity, to be one that embraces strategies of opacity and ethical ambiguities.

Competence or Experience

Competence or Experience

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Cybersecurity

The aim of this research is to examine the structure of the impact of AI technology on improving cybersecurity. Also, this research focuses on using machine learning and big data analysis techniques to enhance the ability to better detect and respond to cyber threats. This research follows a qualitative methodology to meet the core research objectives of assessing the impact of Artificial Intelligence on Cybersecurity by reviewing the previous studies on this field. This research focuses on using machine learning and big data analysis techniques to enhance the ability to better detect and respond to cyber threats. The comprehensive analysis of over 20 studies published between 2015-2024 offers valuable insights into the current state and impact of AI in enhancing cybersecurity policies and practices. The findings of the research revealed that artificial intelligence and machine learning significantly expand capabilities for cyber threat detection, incident alerting, and automated response through adaptive pattern recognition across diverse monitoring sources like network traffic, endpoint behaviors and security information feeds, performed at machine scale. By constantly retraining on evolving attack trends and benign usage shifts, AI holds immense potential enhancing protection. However, sizable gaps observed between touted expectations versus measured impact today highlight obstacles of practical integration like monitoring overheads, skills shortages, result interpretability, human-AI teaming dynamics, and adversarial manipulations that could undermine or reverse security aims. While transformative upside exists long-term, pragmatic roadmaps addressing these formidable challenges using best practices around responsible AI governance appear essential to maximize gains while minimizing unintended consequences of well-intentioned systems interacting with ever stealthier threats amid zones of high operational and ethical ambiguity. The research recommends using machine learning and big data analysis techniques to enhance the ability to better detect and respond to cyber threats.

Legal and Ethical Conundrums in the AI Era: A Multidisciplinary Analysis

The article embarks on an investigative journey into the complex legal and ethical landscape shaped by the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The research problem centres on the urgent need to understand and address the gap between evolving AI technologies and the existing legal and ethical frameworks. This gap poses significant challenges to societal norms, legal systems, and ethical principles, warranting a comprehensive multidisciplinary analysis.
 
 The research objectives are twofold: firstly, to dissect the legal implications AI poses to existing regulatory structures, and secondly, to explore the ethical dilemmas emanating from AI's pervasive influence across various societal sectors. The study employs an eclectic research method, integrating doctrinal analysis with a qualitative examination of case studies and existing literature across disciplines like law, ethics, technology, and sociology. This approach facilitates a holistic understanding of the AI era's legal and ethical intricacies.
 
 The key findings of this research underscore a dissonance between rapid technological advancements in AI and the slower evolution of legal and ethical norms. This disjunction leads to legal loopholes and ethical ambiguities in AI governance, privacy, accountability, and human rights. Furthermore, the study identifies a pressing need for adaptive legal frameworks and ethical guidelines that can keep pace with AI's transformative impact.
 
 Implications of these findings are profound for both theory and practice. Theoretically, the article contributes to an enriched understanding of the intersection between law, ethics, and technology. Practically, it offers actionable insights for policymakers, technologists, and ethicists to collaboratively formulate responsive legal and ethical strategies. These strategies are essential for safeguarding societal values while embracing technological progress, ensuring AI's development is both legally sound and ethically responsible.

Additional Role of 3D ASL Perfusion in Skull Base Lesions.

Background Arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion imaging is widely used since its main advantage is that no intravenous contrast is needed. Given that perfusion is a crucial biological characteristic for identifying tumor lesions, the qualitative noncontrast perfusion characteristics of these lesions were examined. Aim We attempted utilizing the three-dimensional (3D) ASL technique to characterize skull base lesions and to highlight its crucial role in differentiating lesions. Methods and Material 3D ASL imaging of 20 patients with posterior skull base lesions was performed in a 3-T magnetic resonance (MR) system (Siemens Healthineers, Skyra, Erlangen, Germany). The common differential diagnoses of skull base lesions could be distinguished based on this qualitative evaluation. Results and Conclusions Glomus tumor has a strikingly increased perfusion when compared to meningiomas. The perfusion characteristics of metastasis depends on the primary tumor. Chondrosarcomas have a heterogeneously increased perfusion. Chordomas have variable perfusion, which helps in prognosticating the tumors. ASL benefits pediatric patients and in renal failure as well since it avoids the ethical ambiguity associated with contrast agents.

THE REFORMATION OF MEDICAL ORGANIZATIONS IN OMNIBUS LAW ON HEALTH: SINGLE OR MULTI-BAR

The Omnibus Law on Health had been approved which in consequence allow other medical professional organizations to be established as doctors’ right to organize in which may provoke ethical problems. The recent Omnibus Law on Health enabled opportunity for multi-bar organizations; even it was in accordance with single-bar system. This paper aims to review the medical professional organization system in the Omnibus Law on Health which is most in line with the freedom of association and does not reduce the right to health as a human right that must be accepted by the wider community. The author argues that the emergence of several professional organizations as embodiment of doctor’s right may not suitable as it may procure ethical ambiguity. However, the compulsion to join single organization per se was a violation of our Constitution. In this case, we need the highest regulatory and controlling authority from the State to preserve the public interest. The concept of this federal multi-bar association may solve this problem.

Assessing Resident Well-Being: Ethical Considerations for Researchers When Conducting Qualitative Wellness Research With Resident Populations.

Assessing Resident Well-Being: Ethical Considerations for Researchers When Conducting Qualitative Wellness Research With Resident Populations.

Ethical ambiguity and complexity: tech workers’ perceptions of big data ethics in China and the US

ABSTRACT Despite extensive studies on ethical data use and algorithms, little is known about the ethical perspectives of tech workers – insiders of a profession that heavily relies on data and algorithms. Nor have there been sufficient cross-national comparisons of their perspectives. Relying on interviews with 98 tech workers in China and the US, this paper is guided by two questions: (1) What are tech workers' perceptions of big data ethics, and (2) what are the cross-national similarities and differences in China and the US? The study found that there are cross-national similarities in tech workers’ cautious enthusiasm about the applications of big data in their work, as well as in their complex and ambivalent ethical perspectives on the use of big data in government digital surveillance. The main cross-national differences occur in tech workers’ perceptions of whether big data may reinforce social inequalities. US-based tech workers are concerned about the reinforcement of race and gender-based inequalities through the use of big data, whereas their colleagues in China are optimistic that the use of big data may reduce income-based inequalities across geographical regions. The study's findings have implications for how to leverage tech workers’ influence and promote the ethical use of data and algorithms.

The Life and Legacy of Danijela Kulezic-Wilson

The Life and Legacy of Danijela Kulezic-Wilson

The Educative Role of Social Reintegration Programs on Desistance from Crime

Social reintegration programs carried out within probation services are an important factor contributing to desistance from crime. A large number of people in the records of these services have the obligation to participate in at least one such program. It is known that the programs carried out by the probation officers have a significant educational component on the supervised persons, as they include many of the elements of an effective correctional treatment. It was also observed that delinquents participating in these programs develop thinking techniques that help them carefully evaluate the consequences of their own decisions and actions. The topic of this paper represents a real interest for probation practitioners, since the development of the supervision process, the preparation of educational reintegration programs in the activity of assistance and counselling, require interactions with the beneficiaries of the Probation Services. Therefore, the emergence of some situations may inherently present professional ethical dilemmas. ​​This paper highlights the need to explore and analyse the nature of these dilemmas, their frequency, the way counsellors manifest themselves in the face of an ethical ambiguity, the highlighting of optimal answers and reactions from a deontological and ethical point of view, and finally, the creation of some good practices. Although the chosen subject is an extremely challenging one, in this paper I will focus on the counsellor-beneficiary relationship, being aware of the multitude of issues that can be discussed with colleagues from different services. I will mention general aspects related to the notions of ethics, morals, and deontology in educational reintegration programs. I will also highlight certain relevant aspects in the Romanian legislation and in the European recommendations in the matter of probation. The present study was carried out at the national level, namely at the level of the Probation Services between 15.10.2022 and 14.11.2022. The research was built on the basis of the sociological survey method and as an investigation tool we used questionnaires. Which included both closed and open questions. Also, to obtain information, I used other techniques, such as the study of documents (probation files) and open-ended discussions. The data were collected by completing the questionnaires to the probation counsellors through remote communication means, and personally by colleagues from the Bistrița-Năsăud Probation Service. Thus, a number of 50 colleagues from most services in the country agreed to complete the questionnaire. In the last part of the paper, as a result of the research undertaken, I aimed to present the way in which we analyse and manage a variety of professional ethical dilemmas encountered in everyday practice. In addition, the relevant legislative benchmarks are discussed, optimized response strategies are presented, and finally the conclusions represent an opportunity for reflection and learning that can provide professionals with greater self-confidence, and a sense of safety and control over these situations.

Ethical leadership supports safety voice by increasing risk perception and reducing ethical ambiguity: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Misconduct by business and political leaders during the pandemic is feared to have impacted people's adherence to protective measures that would help to safeguard against the spread of COVID-19. Addressing this concern, this article theorizes and tests a model linking ethical leadership with workplace risk communication-a practice referred to as 'safety voice' in the research literature. Our study, conducted with 511 employees from UK companies, revealed that ethical leadership is positively associated with greater intention to engage in safety voice regarding COVID-19. We also find that this association is mediated by relations with the perceived health risk of COVID-19 and ambiguity about ethical decision making in the workplace. These findings therefore underscore the importance of good ethical conduct by leaders for ensuring that health and safety risks are well understood and communicated effectively by organizational members particularly during crises. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our study and highlight further opportunities for future research to address the ethical dimensions of leadership, risk management, and organizational risk communication.

Tussen kosmopolitisme en gewetenswroeging

In this article I investigate the ‘adiaphorization’ of ethical discomfort in travel stories in the Dutch magazine Avenue (1965-2002) – a politically oriented, high-quality glossy that attracted a wealthy, anti-bourgeois, audience. Which became increasingly clear during this period, and also led to an international code of conduct for ethical tourism in the 1990s, is the fact that the desire to travel is at odds with its harmful effects. Traveling began to raise ethical dilemmas, for instance regarding encounters with ‘the Other’. How have Dutch travel authors, and popular magazines, in a period of ever-increasing mass tourism, dealt with this issue? In a heterogenous selection of four early Avenue travelogues (1967-1972), I will analyse the discursive strategies of romanticising travel and the role of a cosmopolitan discourse informed by insights from both postcolonial theory and travel writing studies. Furthermore, I will study the material qualities of the magazine (its photography and advertisements) and reflect on the effects of the fact that travel stories are mainly preserved in book form, stripped of their original glossy context and, possibly, of their ethical ambiguity.

Ethical Leadership Supports Safety Voice by Increasing Perceived Risk and Reducing Ethical Ambiguity

Drawing on social exchange theory, this paper theorizes and tests a model linking ethical leadership with workplace communication of health and safety risks by employees – termed ‘safety voice’ – regarding the dangers posed by COVID-19. Our study, conducted with 511 employees from UK companies, revealed that ethical leadership encourages safety voice through increasing the perceived health risk of COVID-19 and reducing ambiguity associated with making ethical decisions in the workplace. Our findings thereby underscore the importance of good ethical conduct by leaders for ensuring health and safety risks are managed and communicated effectively within organizations during crises. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our study, and highlight further opportunities for future research to address the ethical dimensions of leadership and organizational risk management and communication.