Dionysios S. Demetis

Large language models (LLMs) not only mimic human language generally but are also showing the ability to exhibit nuanced, idiosyncratic human behavior. This could lead to the expanded use of LLMs in research and a diminution of the influence of humans. It also has implications for AI alignment and the role of the technology in society.

The meteoric rise in cybercrime in recent years has resulted in renewed efforts to stem the potential negative effects of these nefarious activities. In this context, the role of the chief information security officer (CISO) has become one of strategic importance, safeguarding the integrity of the organization’s digital assets. Given the economic impact of cybercrime, it has become critically important to understand the cybercrime-related issues that organizations face. We sought to identify these issues by conducting a bibliographic analysis of cybercrime research. The results identified the most prolific and impactful authors, journals, and countries of publication, the most influential articles, and trends in the literature on cybercrime. The research suggests that interest in the field is wide-reaching with the growth in publications stemming from diverse academic disciplines and geographies. The identified trends represent critical knowledge areas for the CISO that are likely to continue the expansion of the field.

Following the articulation of the concept of autopoiesis in the biological realm by Maturana and Varela, this chapter introduces the basic principles and questions that led to the development of social autopoiesis. In exploring the developments around the autopoietic character of society, this chapter focuses on the core ideas behind Niklas Luhmann’s social systems theory as an abstraction and expansion of the biologically-inspired autopoiesis. The central ideas around Luhmann’s decision to operationalise the system/environment distinction as a society/human distinction are discussed while the principles of the different function subsystems of society are outlined. A sample of applications that apply Luhmann’s ideas are provided and one of these cases is expanded.

The world of information technology is buzzing around the possibilities that quantum computers might open up for organizations. But what are quantum computers and what could be their business potential, eventually? Part of why quantum computers are steeped in mystery is because they rely on some very strange properties of the microcosm. From quantum interference to quantum entanglement, not to mention some of the underlying philosophical quantum implications like the possibilities for multiple universes and the foundations of quantum physics that revolve around peculiar mathematical formulations, quantum computers have been under development for decades, with IBM, D-Wave, and Google being amongst a handful of companies investing in this space.

A cryptocurrency needs a relatively stable value if it is to fulfill the traditional functions of money and be useful as a currency. To achieve this, controls are needed within the ecosystem of the cryptocurrency. Although a simulation cannot predict future currency rates or other variables exactly, it is argued that a model that simulates a range of challenging behavior can be a useful testbed for control schemes. To illustrate and explore this idea, an agent-based economic model was used to simulate the early period of a hypothetical cryptocurrency and test two control mechanisms. The results suggest that this approach may be fruitful and that it may be important to include more than just coin minting within the control scheme. An economic simulation model is likely to be a valuable tool in developing and regulating effective cryptocurrency systems.

By returning to the foundational principles of second-order cybernetics and resting on the central role of the observer, this essay explores how the distinction between data/information can be conceptualized. Using systems theory, we derive a series of systemic principles for the distinction between data/information and we illustrate them with a case study from Anti-Money Laundering.

Following Lee & Demetis [20] who showed how systems theorizing can be conducted on the basis of a few systems principles, in this paper, we apply these principles to theorize about the systemic character of technology and investigate the role-reversal in the relationship between humans and technology. By applying systems-theoretical requirements outlined by Lee & Demetis, we examine conditions for the systemic character of technology and, based on our theoretical discussion, we argue that humans can now be considered artifacts shaped and used by the (system of) technology rather than vice versa. We argue that the role-reversal has considerable implications for the field of information systems that has thus far focused only on the use of the IT artifact by humans. We illustrate these ideas with empirical material from a well known case from the financial markets: the collapse ("Flash Crash") of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.