ABSTRACT

A plethora of evidence demonstrates the effects of the digitisation of society on everyday life. Developments in web science (the world wide web), online technologies (internet of things, social media, e-governance), artificial intelligence and robotics present major challenges for contemporary societies. These technological advances create risks (loss of autonomy, cybercrime, online abuse, threats to children’s safety and national security) and opportunities (climate change mitigation, responses to global health scourges, medical therapies, intergenerational connectivity, smart cities). This article focusses on the contribution of the social sciences to the digital revolution, whether it be in the public or private sectors, civil society or households. The authors explore how technological innovations can result from international cooperation between researchers in different disciplines. They consider how evidence from the social sciences is used to measure the societal impacts of technological change in different cultural, economic and political contexts. They review the ethical issues raised by the datafication of society and autonomous learning machines, while assessing the contribution of social sciences to the policymaking process in the digital age.

摘要

大量证据证明了社会数字化对日常生活的影响。网络科学（万维网），在线技术（物联网，社交媒体，电子政务），人工智能和机器人技术的发展为当代社会带来了重大挑战。这些技术进步创造了风险（自治权丧失，网络犯罪，在线滥用，对儿童安全和国家安全的威胁）和机遇（减轻气候变化，对全球健康祸害的应对，医疗疗法，代际连接，智慧城市）。本文重点关注社会科学对数字革命的贡献，无论是在公共部门还是私营部门，民间社会还是家庭中。作者探讨了不同学科的研究人员之间的国际合作如何产生技术创新。他们考虑了如何利用社会科学的证据来衡量技术变革在不同文化，经济和政治背景下的社会影响。他们回顾了社会和自主学习机器的数据化所引发的伦理问题，同时评估了社会科学对数字时代决策过程的贡献。