Ethical Computational modelling in science
XV Workshop on Artificial Life and Evolutionary Computation (WIVACE) held at the ZHAW -Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandten Wissenschaften-, Winterthur, Switzerland, on 15-17 September 2021
‘The development of data science, the explosion of computational power, the availability of the internet and the urgency for an understanding of complex systems require a responsible and ethical impementation of computational models in science, communication and decision-making. We discuss the impact of models and the responsibility emanating from the fact that models enable and guide experimentation. Furthermore, we investigate the difference between computational modelling in an interdisciplinary science project and computational models implemented as tools in the society in transdisciplinary decision support. We regard the communication of model structures and modelling results as essential. This communication should not happen in a technical manner, but model structures and modelling results ought to be translated into - narratives -. We discuss the role of disciplines such as literary theory, communication science, cultural studies and the potential gains that a broader approach enables. Considering concepts from the liberal arts, we conclude that, besides the responsibility of the model's author, the user/reader of the modelling results bears an equal reponsability.’
