In an article for The Conversation France, professor Ismael Al-Amoudi, director of the Centre for Social Ontology, and John Latsis, chairman of the Independent Social Research Foundation, investigate AI’s deresponsibilizing tendencies: ‘Artificial intelligence and algorithmic irresponsibility: the devil in the machine?‘
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Director of the Centre for Social Ontology, professor Ismael Al-Amoudi, recently appeared on Xerfi Canal to discuss the risks of techno-totalitarian drift in digital enterprises. The video can be viewed here (in French):
The work of Professor Andrea Maccarini was the subject of a recent article in Research Features entitled ‘Transition and the morphogenetic approach to social change‘. The full text can be found here. The article focuses particularly on Maccarini’s recent book, Deep Change and Emergent Structures in Global Society.
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Director of the Centre for Social Ontology, professor Ismael Al-Amoudi, recently presented a lecture to Midi MINATEC regarding the risks of AI. The video can be viewed here (in French):
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On January 14, 2021, Professor Ismael Al-Amoudi presented a guest lecture at the University of Bristol, entitled “From Artificial Intelligence to Artificial Irresponsibility: Deep machine learning in organisations”.
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Professor Gazi Islam gave an invited presentation entitled “Ritual, Communitas and Critique: Theorizing Events as Moments of Organizing” to the HEC Montréal Department of Management, on the 26th of November, 2020. Details can be found here.
Professor Margaret Archer has been jointly awarded the 2020 International Oreste Benzi Award for her work against human trafficking. Archer’s ‘Housing, Help and Hospitality’ charity for trafficked women and their children was particularly lauded in the award announcement. A detailed account of the work of this charity can be found here.
The Father Oreste Benzi Foundation “promotes research, studies and opportunities for analysis and discussion on the needs of suffering, marginalised and disadvantaged people,” inspired by the work of Father Oreste Benzi, priest of the Diocese of Rimini.
In autumn of 2020, professor Ismael Al-Amoudi gave an inaugural lecture to Masters students of Energy Management and Purchasing Management at the Grenoble Ecole de Management, entitled “Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility as Buzzwords?” The presentation slides are available upon request.
Professor Gazi Islam gave an invited presentation on “Leadership, Organizations and COVID-19” to the Whitaker Institute at NUI Galway, on the 12th of October, 2020. The below recording and summary of the event are taken from the event page.
On 12 October, the Whitaker Institute hosted a live webinar titled Leadership, Organizations and COVID-19. The webinar discussed the challenges of being a leader against a backdrop of radical uncertainty including the need to make rapid decisions. Available information changes fast, and is often based on contested evidence. Meanwhile anxious employees and stakeholders seek guidance and some sense of certainty amid the challenges.
These challenges have impacts on people’s lives. In politics, the ambiguity accompanying Covid-19 continues to be exploited by populist leaders worldwide. In business, the corporate social responsibility initiatives that many have celebrated over the past ten years, are now being tested to their limits. Demands of those with short-term, profit-driven interests are pitted against longer-term concerns including the health and well-being of employees, customers and other stakeholders. In the public sector including education, the implicit contract of public service is likewise being challenged, as traditional funding sources dry up.
In the event, established leadership theories were also questioned. For some, the pandemic marks the end of the traditional, masculine model of leadership in which power ought to be centralized, and decision-making unilateral. Instead, we see examples of strong feminine leaders coming to the fore, with collaborative and empathetic approaches winning out. For others, such claims of a paradigm shift are premature.
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Professor Jamie Morgan, together with Dr. Thomas Haines-Doran, Professor Andrew Brown, and Professor Gary Dymski (all University of Leeds), and Dr. Richard Whittle (Manchester Metropolitan University), recently submitted an inquiry into post-pandemic economic growth to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee. This submission is reproduced on the Yorkshire Universities Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) network site here.
These scholars offer expert guidance to local authorities as part of the West Yorkshire ‘Place-Based Economic Recovery Network’ (PERN), with the aim of shaping the economic recovery strategy for the region. Initial webinar discussions and presentations took place in July 2020. Details of these webinars can be found here.
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Centre for Social Ontology 