This article presents the first thematic review of the literature on the ethical issues concerning digital well-being. The term ‘digital well-being’ is used to refer to the impact of digital technologies on what it means to live a life that isgood fora human being. The review explores the existing literature on the ethics of digital well-being, with the goal of mapping the current debate and identifying open questions for future research. The review identifies major issues related to several key social (...) domains: healthcare, education, governance and social development, and media and entertainment. It also highlights three broader themes: positive computing, personalised human–computer interaction, and autonomy and self-determination. The review argues that three themes will be central to ongoing discussions and research by showing how they can be used to identify open questions related to the ethics of digital well-being. (shrink)

Ambient assisted living technologies can provide assistance and support to persons with dementia. They might allow them the possibility of living at home for longer whilst maintaining their comfort and security as well as offering a way towards reducing the huge economic and personal costs forecast as the incidence of dementia increases worldwide over coming decades. However, the development, introduction and use of AAL technologies also trigger serious ethical issues. This paper is a systematic literature review of the on-going scholarly (...) debate about these issues. More specifically, we look at the ethical issues involved in research and development, clinical experimentation, and clinical application of AAL technologies for people with dementia and related stakeholders. In the discussion we focus on: the value of the goals of AAL technologies, the special vulnerability of persons with dementia in their private homes, the complex question of informed consent for the usage of AAL technologies. (shrink)

In this article we will put forward the proposal that the concept of functional diversity can be considered as a relevant analytical category necessarily applicable as a perspective of analysis to the social sphere. To this end, we will situate the idea of functional diversity in six different and interrelated dimensions of human experience, which we call: body dimension, relational, political, ethical, social and cultural dimension, in relation to the corresponding dimensions of the social sphere. The idea of functional diversity (...) will appear as a fundamental element in each of these six dimensions, extending from the body to culture. We consider this breadth in the scope of the idea’s presence to be essential as an argument in favour of its conceptual importance. This approach to the idea of functional diversity will involve, at the same time, a deconstructive examination of the discourse of ableism, which we consider to be opposed to the discourse emanating from the anti-ableist perspective of functional diversity. If, as such a category, functional diversity manages to embrace such a wide spectrum of dimensions of human experience and social life, the possibility of beginning to include it in an epistemic-political sense as a necessary analytical perspective in the social sphere acquires value, perhaps as relevant in the future as the gender perspective is at present. (shrink)

In this article, the authors examine whether and how robot caregivers can contribute to the welfare of children with various cognitive and physical impairments by expanding recreational opportunities for these children. The capabilities approach is used as a basis for informing the relevant discussion. Though important in its own right, having the opportunity to play is essential to the development of other capabilities central to human flourishing. Drawing from empirical studies, the authors show that the use of various types of (...) robots has already helped some children with impairments. Recognizing the potential ethical pitfalls of robot caregiver intervention, however, the authors examine these concerns and conclude that an appropriately designed robot caregiver has the potential to contribute positively to the development of the capability to play while also enhancing the ability of human caregivers to understand and interact with care recipients. (shrink)