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Digitalization and Humanism
Research Guide

What is Digitalization and Humanism?

Digitalization and Humanism examines tensions between digital technologies and humanistic values such as autonomy, relationality, and dignity in technological societies.

This subtopic analyzes existential implications of digital mediation on human obsolescence and ethical quantification (Sareen et al., 2020; Maillard, 2021). It explores legal personhood for AI systems and more-than-human architecture (Mocanu, 2022; Roudavski, 2018). Over 10 key papers since 2014 address these intersections, with Sareen et al. (2020) holding 35 citations.

Curated Papers

Key Challenges

Why It Matters

Digital humanism research informs ethical AI governance by questioning quantification's societal effects, as in Sareen et al. (2020) on performative legitimation. It shapes urban planning through posthuman body concepts in hyper cities (Landi, 2021) and open research institute designs (Guseva et al., 2021). Mocanu (2022) proposes gradient legal personhood for AI, impacting regulatory frameworks for autonomous systems.

Key Research Challenges

Ethical Quantification Risks

Quantification in digital societies enables obfuscation and performative legitimation, eroding humanistic values (Sareen et al., 2020). Balancing data-driven decisions with human autonomy remains unresolved. This challenge spans policy and urban tech applications.

AI Legal Personhood

Assigning moral and legal status to AI systems conflicts with human dignity frameworks (Mocanu, 2022; Milinković, 2021). Gradient personhood theories struggle with continental legal traditions. Implementation lacks consensus across jurisdictions.

Human Obsolescence in Digital Age

Digital mediation accelerates human obsolescence via Promethean gaps (Maillard, 2021; de Mul, 2014). Integrating posthuman architecture challenges relationality in urban environments (Roudavski, 2018). Sustainable education for SDG 4.7 addresses these gaps (Builes Vélez et al., 2022).

Essential Papers

Ethics of quantification: illumination, obfuscation and performative legitimation

Siddharth Sareen, Andrea Saltelli, Kjetil Rommetveit · 2020 · Palgrave Communications · 35 citations

Abstract The increasing use of quantification in all spheres of society is paralleled by the rise of digitalisation. These intertwining developments not only revolutionise data treatment, but also ...

Gradient Legal Personhood for AI Systems—Painting Continental Legal Shapes Made to Fit Analytical Molds

Diana Mădălina Mocanu · 2022 · Frontiers in Robotics and AI · 24 citations

What I propose in the present article are some theoretical adjustments for a more coherent answer to the legal “status question” of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. I arrive at those by using ...

26 Philosophical Anthropology 2.0

Jos de Mul · 2014 · Amsterdam University Press eBooks · 20 citations

The Obsolescence of Man in The Digital Society

Dominique Maillard · 2021 · International Journal for Applied Information Management · 12 citations

Commenting on the limitations of Man after the moral disasters of World War II and the logics of production inherent to the second industrial revolution, GuntherAnders had concluded to the "obsoles...

Notes on more-than-human architecture

Stanislav Roudavski · 2018 · 8 citations

What can the creation of artificial habitats to replace old-growth forests tell us about the process, value and future of design? This chapter takes a concrete and provocative example and uses it t...

Education for Sustainability approaching SDG 4 and target 4.7

Ana Elena Builes Vélez, Natalia Builes Escobar, Emilio Rossi et al. · 2022 · 5 citations

To face current sustainability challenges, we need to continue building, sharing, and applying the best possible knowledge to continue collaboratively developing solutions that allow us to improve ...

The Moral and Legal Status of Artificial Intelligence (Present Dilemmas and Future Challenges)

Igor Milinković · 2021 · Law and Business · 3 citations

Abstract The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) systems raises dilemmas regarding their moral and legal status. Can artificial intelligence possess moral status (significance)? And u...

Reading Guide

Foundational Papers

Start with Jos de Mul (2014) 'Philosophical Anthropology 2.0' for core humanism-digital tensions (20 citations), then Maillard (2021) on obsolescence.

Recent Advances

Study Sareen et al. (2020) on quantification ethics (35 citations), Mocanu (2022) on AI personhood, and Freyermuth (2023) on future histories.

Core Methods

Core techniques: bundle theory of legal personhood (Mocanu, 2022), Promethean gap analysis (Maillard, 2021), and more-than-human design rethinking (Roudavski, 2018).

How PapersFlow Helps You Research Digitalization and Humanism

Discover & Search

Research Agent uses searchPapers and exaSearch to find papers on digital humanism tensions, such as Sareen et al. (2020) on ethics of quantification. citationGraph reveals connections from de Mul (2014) to Maillard (2021) on obsolescence. findSimilarPapers expands to related AI personhood works like Mocanu (2022).

Analyze & Verify

Analysis Agent applies readPaperContent to extract Promethean gap concepts from Maillard (2021), then verifyResponse with CoVe checks claims against de Mul (2014). runPythonAnalysis with pandas quantifies citation networks for philosophical anthropology trends. GRADE grading scores evidence strength in AI status debates (Milinković, 2021).

Synthesize & Write

Synthesis Agent detects gaps in humane digital futures between Sareen et al. (2020) and Roudavski (2018), flagging contradictions on more-than-human designs. Writing Agent uses latexEditText and latexSyncCitations to draft reviews citing 10 papers, with latexCompile for publication-ready output and exportMermaid for ethical tension diagrams.

Use Cases

"Analyze citation trends in digital humanism papers on AI obsolescence"

Research Agent → searchPapers → runPythonAnalysis (pandas on citation data from Maillard 2021 and de Mul 2014) → matplotlib trend plot exported as image.

"Draft LaTeX review on gradient AI personhood and humanism"

Synthesis Agent → gap detection (Mocanu 2022 vs Milinković 2021) → Writing Agent → latexEditText → latexSyncCitations → latexCompile → PDF output.

"Find code repos linked to more-than-human architecture papers"

Research Agent → paperExtractUrls (Roudavski 2018) → paperFindGithubRepo → githubRepoInspect → summary of design simulation code for ecological habitats.

Automated Workflows

Deep Research workflow conducts systematic review of 50+ papers on digitalization tensions, chaining searchPapers → citationGraph → structured report with GRADE scores. DeepScan applies 7-step analysis to verify obsolescence claims in Maillard (2021) via CoVe checkpoints. Theorizer generates theories on humane urban digital futures from de Mul (2014) and Landi (2021).

Try Doxa for Digitalization and Humanism Research

Frequently Asked Questions

What defines Digitalization and Humanism?

It explores tensions between digital technologies and values like autonomy and relationality, analyzing existential implications (de Mul, 2014; Maillard, 2021).

What are key methods in this subtopic?

Methods include bundle theory for AI personhood (Mocanu, 2022), philosophical anthropology updates (de Mul, 2014), and critiques of quantification ethics (Sareen et al., 2020).

What are major papers?

Top papers: Sareen et al. (2020, 35 citations) on quantification ethics; Mocanu (2022, 24 citations) on AI personhood; de Mul (2014, 20 citations) on philosophical anthropology.

What open problems exist?

Challenges include resolving AI moral status (Milinković, 2021), mitigating human obsolescence (Maillard, 2021), and designing posthuman urban spaces (Landi, 2021; Roudavski, 2018).