Additional information
by Manuel Wörsdörfer (Author)
This volume presents seven essays that examine the ethical, cultural, regulatory, and socio-political dimensions of AI, drawing on historical, philosophical, business/computer ethics, and policy perspectives. It begins with a historical analysis of AI's origins and early debates, tracing lessons on hype, institutional influence, and the limits of replicating human intelligence. Subsequent chapters explore AI in popular culture, analyzing recurring motifs such as autonomy, surveillance, and techno-authoritarianism to reveal ethical insights and critique dystopian narratives. The volume then addresses governance challenges, evaluating the need for stronger AI regulation, the implications of U.S. policy shifts, and the strengths and limitations of the E.U.'s AI Act and California's Transparency in Frontier AI Act. Finally, it examines antitrust concerns and the ethical, economic, and societal rationale for interventions, including breaking up dominant tech firms. Collectively, the essays provide a multidimensional and interdisciplinary framework for understanding AI's promises, perils, and governance in an evolving technological landscape.
Author Biography
Dr. Wörsdörfer is an Associate Professor at the Maine Business School and the School of Computing and Information Science, and an Associate Member of the Climate Change Institute and AI Initiative at the University of Maine. Before joining UMaine, he served as a lecturer and research fellow at the Murdough Center for Engineering Professionalism and as a member of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. He was also a postdoctoral research fellow at the Cluster of Excellence 'The Formation of Normative Orders' and a member of the Centre for Business Ethics at Goethe University Frankfurt. Additionally, he has held visiting research fellowships at Beijing University, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Toronto, and York University. Dr. Wörsdörfer's research focuses on business and human rights, AI ethics, big tech and antitrust, and climate finance. His work has been presented at major international conferences, including the Australasian Business Ethics Network, European Business Ethics Network, and the Society for Business Ethics, and published in journals such as AI and Ethics, Business and Society Review, Journal of Business Ethics, Philosophy & Technology, The Antitrust Bulletin, and Transnational Legal Theory.
