Lachlan Urquhart

We present The Right to Repair (R2R) Cards, a novel design tool to support development of more sustainable consumer Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Current IoT systems are not built to last, with planned obsolescence and multiple routes to redundancy due to combined failures in hardware, software, and data management. This ultimately contributes to growing global eWaste. We consider the role of law in encouraging better IoT design practices. Our R2R cards consolidate analysis of 25 pieces of UK / EU legislation and standards, establishing 90 legal requirements around repair, cybersecurity, environmental design, consumer, and data rights. The R2R cards are a novel method for translating legal obligations for IoT system designers and wider stakeholders. We document the card development process, and insights from workshops with 37 participants, evaluating the utility of cards for critical reflection on legal obligations, and supporting transition to more sustainable IoT design.

As the importance of minimising e-waste and increasing sustainability increase, exploring the design matters impacting the transience of digital technologies has become a key concern. In this workshop we will explore this through the metaphorical lens of the lives, deaths, and afterlives of electronic objects. The workshop creatively engages with this by participants creating obituaries for IoT objects and postcards from the afterlife that will help us question the emotional, ethical, aesthetic and ecological implications of objects reaching the end of their life. Drawing upon our work for the EPSRC Fixing the Future Project, we anticipate that the discussions and collaborations that emerge through the workshop will generate design themes that contribute to the wider agendas and communities advocating for the Right-to-Repair of IoT devices globally.

This paper explores expert accounts of autonomous systems (AS) development in the medical device domain (MD) involving applications of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and other algorithmic and mathematical modelling techniques. We frame our observations with respect to notions of responsible innovation (RI) and the emerging problem of how to do RI in practice. In contribution to the ongoing discourse surrounding trustworthy autonomous system (TAS) [29], we illuminate practical challenges inherent in deploying novel AS within existing governance structures, including domain specific regulations and policies, and rigorous testing and development processes, and discuss the implications of these for the distribution of responsibility in novel AI deployment.

The risks AI presents to society are broadly understood to be manageable through ‘general calculus’, i.e., general frameworks designed to enable those involved in the development of AI to apprehend and manage risk, such as AI impact assessments, ethical frameworks, emerging international standards, and regulations. This paper elaborates how risk is apprehended and managed by a regulator, developer and cyber-security expert. It reveals that risk and risk management is dependent on mundane situated practices not encapsulated in general calculus. Situated practice surfaces ‘iterable epistopics’, revealing how those involved in the development of AI know and subsequently respond to risk and uncover major challenges in their work. The ongoing discovery and elaboration of epistopics of risk in AI (a) furnishes a potential program of interdisciplinary inquiry, (b) provides AI developers with a means of apprehending risk, and (c) informs the ongoing evolution of general calculus.

The way consumer Internet of Things (IoT) devices are built is leading to electronic waste (eWaste) growth. This arises from planned obsolescence, bundling of ‘smartness’ creating more routes to device failure, and lacking hardware modularity and repairability. Understanding how to best tackle these issues requires an interdisciplinary perspective bridging design, law, and the social science research. The legal landscape is shifting, encouraging design of repairable and long-lasting IoT, and reducing routes to redundancy. This one-day workshop explores the interface between design and legal research to address the socio-technical challenges around designing sustainable consumer IoT devices. The workshop will: map out the societal, legal, and environmental implications of IoT; envision the opportunities and barriers to designing more sustainable IoT; and share best practice and tools to help move towards more sustainable IoT futures.

AI-powered solutions are increasingly woven into the fabric of children’s digital worlds. They’re found in interactive toys, home automation systems, everyday apps, and various online services that young users engage with. As we look ahead, it’s almost certain that the prevalence of AI in tools and platforms designed for kids will grow, given AI’s ability to offer rich, tailored, and dynamic experiences. However, the nuances of how these AI-centric platforms cater to children and how they can be optimized to meet the unique needs of younger users remain largely underexplored. Building on the momentum from our inaugural CCAI workshop at CHI 2023, our aspirations for this year’s workshop include: (1) deepening the discourse on the essence of AI that prioritizes children, (2) focusing on actionable ethical strategies to operationalise child-centered AI design principles into practice, and (3) cultivating an ever-growing collective of professionals passionate about the future of child-focused AI innovations.