Are 'Nudging Technologies' Ethical?

Posted by Soulskill on Friday June 17, 2011 @08:00AM from the directing-your-thoughts dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Researchers are debating the ethics of so-called 'nudging technologies' — ambient technology systems designed to shape or influence human behavior, such as an installation which encourages people to take the stairs rather than the lift by using hanging colored balls to represent stairs vs lift usage. A researcher on the project said: 'Most people, when we asked them, "Do you think this has changed your behavior," they said no. But the data showed that it had actually done that.'"

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"the lift" by Anonymous Coward · 2011-06-17 08:15 · Score: -1, Flamebait

Sigh, please realize that the vast majority of Slashdot readers are American. When you submit things, keep this in mind when using localized phrases like "the lift" instead of the correct words (in this case, "the elevator"). This site is not intended to be used as a soap box for people to spread around their "quaint" (read: bastardized) regional dialects of the English language. Stick to the standards and you'll be sure to have the widest understanding of whatever it is you're trying to say.