The ethical, legal, and societal aspects of representing nonhuman participants through chatbots
The impact of technological and economic decisions on nonhuman stakeholders is becoming increasingly visible and more widely debated. With the rapid rise of generative AI the question becomes more urgent: how do we balance potential productivity or profit gains with environmental risks? We believe it is time to give nonhuman stakeholders such as bodies of water trees and birds a place at the table. How much better could our decisions become if nature itself were more directly represented?
Together with a partner from the private sector we explore what it would take to give pigeons a voice in conversations about urban development and policy. In this workshop we examine from an ELSA perspective (ethical legal and societal aspects) the opportunities and limits of representing this avian stakeholder through a chatbot.
Key learning question:
How can nonhuman stakeholders gain a meaningful voice in urban decision making through a chatbot and what roles do ELSA and Systemic Co-design play in designing this form of representation?