Claire Boine, Cécile Castets-Renard, Aurélie Clodic, and Rachid Alami. 12/15/2020. “
In Love with a Corporation Without Knowing It: An Asymmetrical Relationship.” In Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications,
edited by Marco Nørskov and Johanna Seibt, IOS Press.
Abstract
Most areas of the law rely on the assumption on free will, which manifests in the expression of consent. We examine the nature of human emotions toward fictional characters and social robots, and question the concept of consent in the context of these unreciprocated fictional relationships. We conclude that policies need to regulate the use of social robots in order to protect consumers, and especially vulnerable ones, from an asymmetry of power between them and robotic companies. We propose different statutory and design-based solutions depending on the purpose of the robots and the type of users.
Michael Siegel and Claire Boine. 11/2020. “
The Meaning of Guns to Gun Owners in the U.S.: The 2019 National Lawful Use of Guns Survey.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 59, 5.
Publisher's VersionAbstract
Introduction: A better understanding of the lawful use of guns and the symbolic meaning of guns to gun owners is essential to bridge the divide in public opinion regarding policies to reduce gun violence in the U.S.
Methods: A national, prerecruited Internet panel of U.S. adults in 2019 was used to survey gun owners (n=2,086) to ascertain their gun-related attitudes and practices. Data were analyzed in 2020.
Results: The primary reason given for owning a gun was defense (59.4%), followed by recreation (26.8%). A minority of the gun owners in the sample (22.9%) reported taking part in any gun- related activity more than rarely. The proportion of respondents who agreed that guns are an important part of their identity was just 10.0%. The majority of the gun owners viewed gun control advocates as wanting to take away all guns (58.5%). Nearly 70% of gun owners reported that a rea- son for their reluctance to engage in gun violence prevention was that they feel alienated because they perceive gun control advocates as blaming them for the gun violence problem, not understand- ing gun ownership, and not understanding much about guns.
Conclusions: For most of the gun owners, gun ownership plays a practical role as a method of self- protection and has a symbolic association with freedom. Public health practitioners must develop novel communication strategies that avoid alienating gun owners by creating a perception that the ultimate aim is to take their guns away.
Claire Boine, Michael Siegel, Craig Ross, Eric W. Fleegler, and Ted Alcorn. 7/8/2020. “
What is gun culture? Cultural variations and trends across the United States.” Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 7, 21.
Publisher's VersionAbstractWe developed empirical methods to identify variations in elements of gun culture across states. Using these methods, we then analyzed the prominence of these subcultures between states and over time from 1998 through 2016. Using state-level data, we conducted a principal component analysis of 11 variables associated with gun-related behaviors and retained only the significant components. We then analyzed the presence of these components over time and across states. Based on the principal component analysis, we identified three cultural variations. Component 1 reflected recreational elements of gun culture. Component 2 represented a self-defense element of gun culture. Component 3 was indicative of a symbolic cultural element centered around the protection of the Second Amendment and insurrectionism. Over time, the recreational cultural element declined in prominence while the self-defense one rose and the Second Amendment advocacy one remained stable. This paper advances the literature on gun culture by demonstrating that: (1) gun culture is not monolithic; (2) there are multiple elements of gun culture that vary substantially between states; (3) over time, the recreational gun subculture has been falling in prominence whereas the self-defense subculture has been rising; and (4) there is another subculture, distinct from the self-defense one, which consists in mobilization around the Second Amendment and was strongest in places where state firearm laws are most extensive.