Yan Bai

Artificial intelligence (AI) poses new challenges to human rationality and moral judgment in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world. This paper integrates key insights from moral philosophy, normative and applied ethics, and management studies and proposes a behavioral perspective on the ethics of AI. Prior research has indicated that people have biased perceptions towards AI’s decision outcomes; however, less attention has been paid to understanding human rationality and moral judgment under the complexity and ambiguity of the AI age. This paper focuses on people’s perception of the ethicality of decisions made by human versus AI systems. Specifically, it examines the perception of identical (un)ethical decisions made by human versus AI systems and decisions applying different moral principles (Utilitarian vs. Kantian) in a moral dilemma. I argue that humans are perceived as more unethical than AI when both make the same unethical decision, yet paradoxically, human decisions are perceived as more ethical than identical ones made by AI. Moreover, when moral dilemmas involve different ethical principles, utilitarian decisions made by humans are judged as less ethical than those made by AI. Conversely, non-utilitarian indecision lacking clear reasoning is perceived as less ethical for AI than for humans, although this difference disappears when the non-utilitarian decision is grounded in Kantian reasoning. By proposing a behavioral perspective on the ethics of AI, this paper contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of bounded human rationality and moral perception in the age of artificial intelligence.

ObjectivesAbnormal brain function in ASD patients changes dynamically across developmental stages. However, no one has studied the brain function of prepubertal children with ASD. Prepuberty is an important stage for children’s socialization. This study aimed to investigate alterations in local spontaneous brain activity in prepubertal boys with ASD.Materials and MethodsMeasures of the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations and regional homogeneity acquired from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging database, including 34 boys with ASD and 49 typically developing boys aged 7 to 10 years, were used to detect regional brain activity. Pearson correlation analyses were conducted on the relationship between abnormal ALFF and ReHo values and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised scores.ResultsIn the ASD group, we found decreased ALFF in the left inferior parietal lobule and decreased ReHo in the left lingual gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, left middle occipital gyrus, and right cuneus. There were negative correlations between ReHo values in the left LG and left STG and the ADOS social affect score and a negative correlation between ReHo values in the left STG and the calibrated severity total ADOS score.ConclusionBrain regions with functional abnormalities, including the left IPL, left LG, left STG, left MOG, and right cuneus may be crucial in the neuropathology of prepubertal boys with ASD. Furthermore, ReHo abnormalities in the left LG and left STG were correlated with sociality. These results will supplement the study of neural mechanisms in ASD at different developmental stages, and be helpful in exploring the neural mechanisms of prepubertal boys with ASD.

BackgroundProblem-Based Learning is an instructional method of hands-on, active learning centered on investigating and resolving messy, real-world problems. This study aims to systematically analyze the current status and hotspots of PBL research and provide insights for research in the field.MethodsProblem-based learning-related publications were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection using “Problem-Based Learning”. Annual publications, countries, institutions, authors, journals, references, and keywords in the field were visually analyzed using the R, VOSviewer, and Microsoft Excel 2019 software.ResultsA total of 2,790 articles and reviews were analyzed, with a steady increase in publications in the field of PBL. Overall, the United States was the major contributor to the study of PBL. Van Der Vleuten CPM was the key researcher in this field. Moreover, most of the publications were published in Medical Education. Keyword analysis showed that current research hotspots focus on the extensions of PBL teaching mode, application of PBL teaching method, and reform of PBL.ConclusionResearch on PBL is flourishing. Cooperation and exchange between countries and institutions should be strengthened in the future. These findings will provide a better understanding of the state of PBL research and inform future research ideas.