Folk theories of ethical agency on reddit threads: Negotiating morality in ai data assemblages

OBREJA, Dragoş M.; ROSNER, Daniel; SIMINIUC, Rodica

dc.contributor.author	OBREJA, Dragoş M.
dc.contributor.author	ROSNER, Daniel
dc.contributor.author	SIMINIUC, Rodica
dc.date.accessioned	2026-02-17T17:21:08Z
dc.date.available	2026-02-17T17:21:08Z
dc.date.issued	2025
dc.identifier.citation	OBREJA, Dragoş M.; Daniel ROSNER and Rodica SIMINIUC. Folk theories of ethical agency on reddit threads: Negotiating morality in ai data assemblages. In: 24th RoEduNet International Conference Networking in Education and Research, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, 17-19 September, 2025. Universitatea Politehnică din Bucureşti. IEEE, 2025, pp. 1-6. ISBN 979-8-3315-5714-0, eISBN 979-8-331-55713-3, ISSN 2068-1038, eISSN 2247-5443.	en_US
dc.identifier.isbn	979-8-3315-5714-0
dc.identifier.isbn	979-8-331-55713-3
dc.identifier.issn	2068-1038
dc.identifier.issn	2247-5443
dc.identifier.uri	https://doi.org/10.1109/RoEduNet68395.2025.11208366
dc.identifier.uri	https://repository.utm.md/handle/5014/35268
dc.description	Acces full text: https://doi.org/10.1109/RoEduNet68395.2025.11208366	en_US
dc.description.abstract	In this paper, we discuss how to understand and integrate the diverse ethical perspectives which appear in the design, deployment, and application of AI systems. Drawing on qualitative content analysis of comments written on /r/Ethics, /r/Technology and /r/Futurology subreddits (n=1,018), written between July 2023 and June 2025, we identified three main folk theories regarding the ethical future of Artificial Intelligence: the first theory is that AI corporations manipulate truth and emotions through computational performance, the second theory questions the moral limits of AI systems as well as their sentience, and the third theory highlights that tech capitalists prioritize profit over ethical principles. All of these folk theories enact users with the necessary expertise to impose certain forms of human agency in relation to AI.	en_US
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.publisher	IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)	en_US
dc.rights	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States	*
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/	*
dc.subject	ai ethics	en_US
dc.subject	capitalism	en_US
dc.subject	folk theories	en_US
dc.subject	reddit	en_US
dc.title	Folk theories of ethical agency on reddit threads: Negotiating morality in ai data assemblages	en_US
dc.type	Article	en_US