TY - CHAP A1 - Bryson, Joanna ED - Campbell, Aifric T1 - Never Love a Robot: Romantic Companions and the Principle of Transparency T2 - The Love Makers N2 - It’s Christmas Eve when Scarlett leaves an underground tech lab to catch the last flight that will get her home in time to open presents with her three year-old son. She offers a lift to a young woman in distress, who shares her intimate life story as they drive to the airport, but these revelations will have devastating consequences for both of their lives. Aifric Campbell combines her novel with essays from leading scientists and commentators who examine what’s at stake in our human–machine relationships. What is our future as friends, parents, lovers? What is the future of love? Will advances in intelligent machines reverse decades of progress for women? From robot nannies to generative art and our ancient dreams of intelligent machines, The Love Makers blends storytelling with science communication to investigate the challenges and opportunities of emergent technologies and how we want to live. Y1 - 2021 UR - https://www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-press/publications/the-love-makers/ SN - 97819126858442 SP - 283 EP - 290 PB - Goldsmiths Press CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bryson, Joanna T1 - The (Most) Algorithmic Animal. Unknowable Causal Structures in the Information Age JF - Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion N2 - Rituals are a means of regulation – they are a means for maintaining coherence and attaining long-term goals, including social coherence. But does their efficacy depend entirely, or at all, on their opacity? In this requested commentary on Harvey Whitehouse’s new book, The Ritual Animal, I discuss the utility of costly rituals in an evolutionary context, and suggest that causal opacity is only one, potentially substitutable cost. I relate this to the urgent topical concerns of polarization and of regulating sustainability globally. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1558/jcsr.23612 VL - 8 IS - 2 SP - 115 EP - 121 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Racine, Elise A1 - Bryson, Joanna T1 - Epidemic modeling as a means to reimagine health education and policy post-COVID JF - Health Education N2 - Purpose As illustrated by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), epidemic models are powerful health policy tools critical for disease prevention and control, i.e. if they are fit for purpose. How do people ensure this is the case and where does health education fit in? Design/methodology/approach This research takes a multidisciplinary approach combining qualitative secondary and primary data from a literature review, interviews and surveys. The former spans academic literature, grey literature and course curriculum, while the latter two involve discussions with various modeling stakeholders (educators, academics, students, modeling experts and policymakers) both within and outside the field of epidemiology. Findings More established approaches (compartmental models) appear to be favored over emerging techniques, like agent-based models. This study delves into how formal and informal education opportunities may be driving this preference. Drawing from other fields, the authors consider how this can be addressed. Practical implications This study offers concrete recommendations (course design routed in active learning pedagogies) as to how health education and, by extension, policy can be reimagined post-COVID to make better use of the full range of epidemic modeling methods available. Originality/value There is a lack of research exploring how these methods are taught and how this instruction influences which methods are employed. To fill this gap, this research uniquely engages with modeling stakeholders and bridges disciplinary silos to build complimentary knowledge. KW - Health education, Health policy, Epidemiology, Modeling, Agent-based Models/ABM, Qualitative methods Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-02-2021-0028 SN - 0965-4283 VL - ahead of print ER - TY - CHAP A1 - McBride, Keegan A1 - Kupi, Maximilian A1 - Bryson, Joanna ED - Stephens, Melodena ED - Awamleh, Raed ED - Salem, Fadi T1 - Untangling Agile Government: On the Dual Necessities of Structure and Agility T2 - Agile Government: Emerging Perspectives in Public Management N2 - The governments of today are not able to transform and adapt to changes in the world around them, as demanded by their constituents. The nature of work, value of public goods, and the constant bombardment of crises are making the old bureaucratic structures obsolete. Agile Government is an emerging theme, that of government-wide reinvention for adaptiveness and responsiveness. It places the accountability, delivery, capture, design and creation of public value at the heart of the government. The concept of agile government is confused with terms like Agile Manifesto, agile governance, agility among others, and because of this, needs some unpacking. This book is a deep dive into this topic. It offers insights from the theoretical development of the topic of agile government, some lessons from government practices around the world, and ongoing academic and policy research. The project is spearheaded by the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, which is the first teaching and research institution in the Arab world focusing on public policy and governance. Y1 - 2022 SN - 9789811239694 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811239700_0002 PB - World Scientific Publishing CY - Singapur ER - TY - INPR A1 - Dempsey, Mark A1 - McBride, Keegan A1 - Haataja, Meeri A1 - Bryson, Joanna T1 - Transnational digital governance and its impact on artificial intelligence N2 - The rapid pace of technological advancement and innovation has put governance and regulatory mechanisms to the test. There is a clear need for new and innovative regulatory mechanisms that enable governments to successfully manage the integration of such technologies into our societies and ensure that such integration occurs in a sustainable, beneficial, and just manner. Artificial Intelligence stands out as one of the most debated such innovations. What exactly is it, how should it be built, how can it be used, and how and should it be regulated? Yet, in this debate, AI is becoming widely utilized within both existing, evolving, and bespoke regulatory contexts. The present chapter explores in particular what is arguably the most successful AI regulatory approach to date, that of the European Union. We explore core definitional concepts, shared understandings, values, and approaches currently in play. We argue that due to the so-called ‘Brussels effect’, regulatory initiatives within the European Union have a much broader global impact and, therefore, warrant close inspection. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/xu3jr ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bryson, Joanna T1 - One Day, AI Will Seem as Human as Anyone. What Then? JF - Wired Y1 - 2022 UR - https://www.wired.com/story/lamda-sentience-psychology-ethics-policy/ ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bryson, Joanna A1 - Haataja, Meeri T1 - The European Parliament’s AI Regulation: Should We Call It Progress? JF - Amicus Curiae N2 - The European Union (EU) has been leading the world with its influential digital regulation. However, the EU’s legislative process is sufficiently complex and careful that some national legislation clearly influenced by the EU’s AI Regulation is already in place in other countries, before the law has even been finalized in the EU. Meanwhile, other states and regions are just beginning to develop AI policy. For both the EU and such others, we here describe the outcomes of the first round of legislative action by one of the EU’s two legislative bodies, the European Parliament, in terms of modifying the Artificial Intelligence Act. The Parliament has introduced a number of changes we consider to be enormously important, some in a very good way, and some in a very bad way. At stake is whether the AI Act really brings the power and strength of product law to continuously scale improved practice on products in the EU with intelligent components, or whether the law becomes window-dressing aimed only at attacking a few elite actors post hoc. We describe here the EU process, the changes and our recommendations. Y1 - 2023 UR - https://journals.sas.ac.uk/amicus/article/view/5612 U6 - https://doi.org/10.14296/ac.v4i3.5612 VL - 4, Series 2 IS - 3 SP - 707 EP - 718 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Darius, Philipp A1 - Stockmann, Daniela A1 - Bryson, Joanna A1 - Cingolani, Luciana A1 - Griffin, Rachel A1 - Hammerschmid, Gerhard A1 - Kupi, Maximilian A1 - Mones, Haytham A1 - Munzert, Simon A1 - Riordan, Rónán A1 - Stockreiter, Simona T1 - Implementing Data Access of the Digital Services Act: Collaboration of European Digital Service Coordinators and Researchers in Building Strong Oversight over Social Media Platforms N2 - The EU Digital Service Acts signals a move away from self-regulation towards co-regulation of social media platforms within the European Union. To address online harms and rising platform power the DSA clarifies responsibilities of platforms and outlines a new technology regulatory framework to increase oversight. One key oversight instrument constitutes Article 40 of the DSA, which lays out data access for vetted researchers, who add value to regulators and the broader public as creators of knowledge, educators, advisors, innovators, and watchdogs. Currently, the EU Commission and national governments make important decisions regarding Digital Service Coordinators (DSCs) that play a key role in implementation. Based on expertise on European public administration and political science we lay out key challenges and success factors of DSCs that will play a role in promoting successful cooperation between DSCs and researchers. We provide three recommendations: First, we recommend to strengthen transfer of scientific knowledge into policy-making by processing publicly accessible publications within public administrative bodies. To this end, capacities of DSCs need to be increased. In addition, we also point towards the database of vetted researchers collected by the Board of DSCs as important resource in order to strengthen knowledge transfer. Second, the DSC network requires agile institutions with fast response time in order to enable researchers to play a constructive role in implementation. This also includes institutional procedures between DSCs and the Intermediary Body and Data Protection Agencies. To avoid delay in implementation agile institution-building needs to start now. Finally, institutional safeguards will help to avoid strategic choice of companies of the DSC of establishment. At the same time, the Irish DSC's capacity should be strengthened compared to other national DSCs since most large intermediary services providers have their European headquarters in Ireland. Y1 - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-49479 U6 - https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-4947 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Baum, Kevin A1 - Bryson, Joanna A1 - Dignum, Frank A1 - Dignum, Virginia A1 - Grobelnik, Marko A1 - Hoos, Holger A1 - Irgens, Morten A1 - Lukowicz, Paul A1 - Muller, Catelijne A1 - Rossi, Francesca A1 - Shawe-Taylor, John A1 - Theodorou, Andreas A1 - Vinuesa, Ricardo T1 - From Fear to Action: AI Governance and Opportunities for All JF - Frontiers in Computer Science Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2023.1210421 VL - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Backovsky, David A1 - Bryson, Joanna T1 - Going Nuclear? Precedents and Options for the Transnational Governance of AI JF - Horizons Y1 - 2023 UR - https://www.cirsd.org/en/horizons/horizons-summer-2023--issue-no24/going-nuclear SN - 2406-0402 IS - Summer 2023, No.24 SP - 84 EP - 95 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bryson, Joanna T1 - Margaret Boden obituary: cognitive scientist who explored how machines might emulate human imagination JF - Nature Y1 - 2025 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-02548-0 VL - 644 IS - 8077 SP - 603 EP - 603 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bryson, Joanna T1 - Human Experience and AI Regulation: What European Union Law Brings to Digital Technology Ethics JF - Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society N2 - Although nearly all artificial intelligence (AI) regulatory documents now reference the importance of human-centering digital systems, we frequently see AI ethics itself reduced to limited concerns, such as bias and, sometimes, power consumption. Although their impacts on human lives and our ecosystem render both of these absolutely critical, the ethical and regulatory challenges and obligations relating to AI do not stop there. Joseph Weizenbaum described the potential abuse of intelligent systems to make inhuman cruelty and acts of war more emotionally accessible to human operators. But more than this, he highlighted the need to solve the social issues that facilitate violent acts of war, and the immense potential the use of computers offers in this context. The present article reviews how the EU’s digital regulatory legislation—well enforced—could help us address such concerns. I begin by reviewing why the EU leads in this area, considering the legitimacy of its actions both regionally and globally. I then review the legislation already protecting us—the General Data Protection Regulation, the Digital Services Act, and the Digital Markets Act—and consider their roles in achieving Weizenbaum’s goals. Finally, I consider the almost-promulgated AI Act before concluding with a brief discussion of the potential for future enforcement and global regulatory cooperation. Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.34669/WI.WJDS/3.3.8 SN - 2748-5625 VL - 3 IS - 3 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Mellmann, Heinrich A1 - Arbuzova, Polina A1 - Kontogiorgos, Dimosthenis A1 - Yordanova, Magdalena A1 - Haensel, Jennifer X. A1 - Hafner, Verena V. A1 - Bryson, Joanna T1 - Effects of Transparency in Humanoid Robots - A Pilot Study T2 - Companion of the 2024 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction N2 - Transparency is recognized as a vital feature for understanding and predicting robot behavior. Another feature that affects interaction with robots is their anthropomorphism. The relationship between these remains under-explored but is postulated to be negative. We present a pilot study investigating the effects of robot transparency in human-robot interactions, where the robot has an anthropomorphic appearance. We asked participants to evaluate and interact with the humanoid robot Pepper to examine whether visualizing the robot's goals and behavior affects perceived intelligence, anthropomorphism, and robot agency. Our preliminary findings suggest that users may attribute higher ratings of agency when interacting with a robot visualizing its goals. In this late-breaking report, we propose our experiment on the interplay between transparency and anthropomorphism in human-robot interaction and summarize insights from our preliminary pilot study. Y1 - 2024 SN - 9798400703232 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1145/3610978.3640613 SP - 750 EP - 754 PB - Association for Computing Machinery CY - New York, NY, USA ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bryson, Joanna T1 - Governing society with flexible AI JF - Science N2 - Policy that prioritizes human agency is possible, even in an age of artificial intelligence Y1 - 2024 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn6814 SN - 0036-8075 VL - 383 IS - 6688 SP - 1185 EP - 1185 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Schmitz, Chris A1 - Bryson, Joanna T1 - A Moral Agency Framework for Legitimate Integration of AI in Bureaucracies N2 - Public-sector bureaucracies seek to reap the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI), but face important concerns about accountability and transparency when using AI systems. In particular, perception or actuality of AI agency might create ethics sinks — constructs that facilitate dissipation of responsibility when AI systems of disputed moral status interface with bureaucratic structures. Here, we reject the notion that ethics sinks are a necessary consequence of introducing AI systems into bureaucracies. Rather, where they appear, they are the product of structural design decisions across both the technology and the institution deploying it. We support this claim via a systematic application of conceptions of moral agency in AI ethics to Weberian bureaucracy. We establish that it is both desirable and feasible to render AI systems as tools for the generation of organizational transparency and legibility, which continue the processes of Weberian rationalization initiated by previous waves of digitalization. We present a three-point Moral Agency Framework for legitimate integration of AI in bureaucratic structures: (a) maintain clear and just human lines of accountability, (b) ensure humans whose work is augmented by AI systems can verify the systems are functioning correctly, and (c) introduce AI only where it doesn’t inhibit the capacity of bureaucracies towards either of their twin aims of legitimacy and stewardship. We suggest that AI introduced within this framework can not only improve efficiency and productivity while avoiding ethics sinks, but also improve the transparency and even the legitimacy of a bureaucracy. Y1 - 2025 U6 - https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2508.08231 IS - v3 PB - arXiv ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Bryson, Joanna ED - Raue, Benjamin ED - von Ungern-Sternberg, Antje ED - Kumkar, Lea Katharina ED - Rüfner, Thomas T1 - From Definition to Regulation: Is the European Union Getting AI Right? T2 - Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Rights: The AI Act of the European Union and its implications for global technology regulation Y1 - 2025 SN - 9783565013197 U6 - https://doi.org/10.25353/ubtr-dab1-9b5c-1ec6 VL - 4 SP - 11 EP - 34 PB - Verein für Recht und Digitalisierung e.V. Institute for Digital LawTrier (IRDT) CY - Trier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Evans, Katie D. A1 - Robbins, Scott A. A1 - Bryson, Joanna T1 - Do We Collaborate With What We Design? JF - Topics in Cognitive Science N2 - The use of terms like “collaboration” and “co-workers” to describe interactions between human beings and certain artificial intelligence (AI) systems has gained significant traction in recent years. Yet, it remains an open question whether such anthropomorphic metaphors provide either a fertile or even a purely innocuous lens through which to conceptualize designed commercial products. Rather, a respect for human dignity and the principle of transparency may require us to draw a sharp distinction between real and faux peers. At the heart of the concept of collaboration lies the assumption that the collaborating parties are (or behave as if they are) of similar status: two agents capable of comparable forms of intentional action, moral agency, or moral responsibility. In application to current AI systems, this not only seems to fail ontologically but also from a socio-political perspective. AI in the workplace is primarily an extension of capital, not of labor, and the AI “co-workers” of most individuals will likely be owned and operated by their employer. In this paper, we critically assess both the accuracy and desirability of using the term “collaboration” to describe interactions between humans and AI systems. We begin by proposing an alternative ontology of human–machine interaction, one which features not two equivalently autonomous agents, but rather one machine that exists in a relationship of heteronomy to one or more human agents. In this sense, while the machine may have a significant degree of independence concerning the means by which it achieves its ends, the ends themselves are always chosen by at least one human agent, whose interests may differ from those of the individuals interacting with the machine. We finally consider the motivations and risks inherent to the continued use of the term “collaboration,” exploring its strained relation to the concept of transparency, and consequences for the future of work. Y1 - 2025 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12682 N1 - Open Access publication is funded by the Hertie School Library. First published: 15 August 2023 VL - 17 IS - 2 SP - 392 EP - 411 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jugl, Marlene A1 - Pagel, William A. M. A1 - Garcia Jimenez, Maria Camilla A1 - Salendres, Jean Pierre A1 - Lowe, Will A1 - Malikova, Helena A1 - Bryson, Joanna T1 - Spamming the regulator: exploring a new lobbying strategy in EU competition procedures JF - Journal of Antitrust Enforcement N2 - Regulation plays a central role in modern governance; yet, we have limited knowledge of how subjects of regulation—particularly, private actors—act in the face of potentially adverse regulatory decisions. Here, we document and examine a novel lobbying strategy in the context of competition regulation, a strategy that exploits the regulator’s finite administrative capacities. Companies with merger cases under scrutiny by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition appear to be employing a strategy of ‘spamming the regulator,’ through the strategic and cumulative submission of economic expert assessments. Procedural pressures may result in an undeservedly favourable assessment of the merger. Based on quantitative and qualitative analyses of an original dataset of all complex merger cases in the European Union 2005–2020, we present evidence of this new strategy and a possible learning process among private actors. We suggest remedies to ensure regulatory effectiveness in the face of this novel strategy. Y1 - 2024 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/jaenfo/jnad009 N1 - Published: 18 April 2023 VL - 12 IS - 1 ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Baum, Leonard A1 - Bryson, Joanna J. T1 - Policy lessons from China: A quantitative examination of China's new competition regime for the digital economy N2 - Growing global concern about the problems associated with concentrated market power in the digital economy is leading to a renewed interest in competition policy. Since the late 2010s, China’s government has squarely confronted the problems of its own ‘Big Tech’ with a new competition regime for digital markets. Outcomes represent a unique learning opportunity for Western academics, competition authorities and lawmakers alike, which has so far been underutilized. However, given unreliable official figures, a new methodology is needed to assess competition in China’s digital economy. This article introduces a market capitalization approach that builds on the informativeness of China’s financial markets. We use Bloomberg financial data of 1142 publicly listed firms for the period 2019 to 2022 to quantitatively examine the impact of China’s new digital competition regime. We find a causal link between the new governance approach and a reduction of market concentration and aggregate growth in the primary markets of China’s three most dominant digital platforms – Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BATs). Further, our results show a robust correlation between the new competition regime and reduced market concentration and market capitalization growth rates across China’s digital markets. Other empirical findings include a negative correlation between market concentration and the openness of digital markets, a non-relationship between market concentration and profits, and the inability of profit and revenue-based metrics to capture market power effectively in China’s digital economy. Finally, we discuss the relevance of these insights for Western regulatory strategies, particularly as the EU and China emerge as global frontrunners in the field of digital competition regulation. Y1 - 2025 U6 - https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/zyc6s_v3 PB - Center for Open Science ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Heddesheimer, Vincent A1 - Bryson, Joanna J. T1 - Economic Insecurity Increases Affective Polarization and Outgroup-Aversion N2 - Affective polarization --- a deep emotional divide between opposing social and political groups --- has become a pressing global governance challenge, disrupting both democratic processes and policy uptake. While some degree of position polarization should be expected in a healthy, multi-party political system, the factors driving recent extremes in divisions remain unclear. One candidate factor, economic instability, has been frequently linked to rising polarization, but causal evidence to date has been limited. Using panel survey data from the Netherlands and a difference-in-differences design, we show that economic insecurity significantly increases affective polarization. The effect persists for years, with a longer (though slower) expression among men. It is also accompanied by increased distrust and social group clustering. Our findings suggest that economic insecurity is a key driver of polarization, highlighting the role of labor market stability in shaping political and social cohesion. Y1 - 2025 U6 - https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/x23bj_v1 PB - Center for Open Science ER -