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Sekalala S, Chatikobo T. Colonialism in the new digital health agenda. BMJ Glob Health 2024; 9:e014131. [PMID: 38413105 PMCID: PMC10900325 DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-014131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
The advancement of digital technologies has stimulated immense excitement about the possibilities of transforming healthcare, especially in resource-constrained contexts. For many, this rapid growth presents a 'digital health revolution'. While this is true, there are also dangers that the proliferation of digital health in the global south reinforces existing colonialities. Underpinned by the rhetoric of modernity, rationality and progress, many countries in the global south are pushing for digital health transformation in ways that ignore robust regulation, increase commercialisation and disregard local contexts, which risks heightened inequalities. We propose a decolonial agenda for digital health which shifts the liner and simplistic understanding of digital innovation as the magic wand for health justice. In our proposed approach, we argue for both conceptual and empirical reimagination of digital health agendas in ways that centre indigenous and intersectional theories. This enables the prioritisation of local contexts and foregrounds digital health regulatory infrastructures as a possible site of both struggle and resistance. Our decolonial digital health agenda critically reflects on who is benefitting from digital health systems, centres communities and those with lived experiences and finally introduces robust regulation to counter the social harms of digitisation.
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Alkhaaldi SMI, Kassab CH, Dimassi Z, Oyoun Alsoud L, Al Fahim M, Al Hageh C, Ibrahim H. Medical Student Experiences and Perceptions of ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence: Cross-Sectional Study. JMIR MEDICAL EDUCATION 2023; 9:e51302. [PMID: 38133911 PMCID: PMC10770787 DOI: 10.2196/51302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize the way medicine is learned, taught, and practiced, and medical education must prepare learners for these inevitable changes. Academic medicine has, however, been slow to embrace recent AI advances. Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT has emerged as a fast and user-friendly large language model that can assist health care professionals, medical educators, students, trainees, and patients. While many studies focus on the technology's capabilities, potential, and risks, there is a gap in studying the perspective of end users. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to gauge the experiences and perspectives of graduating medical students on ChatGPT and AI in their training and future careers. METHODS A cross-sectional web-based survey of recently graduated medical students was conducted in an international academic medical center between May 5, 2023, and June 13, 2023. Descriptive statistics were used to tabulate variable frequencies. RESULTS Of 325 applicants to the residency programs, 265 completed the survey (an 81.5% response rate). The vast majority of respondents denied using ChatGPT in medical school, with 20.4% (n=54) using it to help complete written assessments and only 9.4% using the technology in their clinical work (n=25). More students planned to use it during residency, primarily for exploring new medical topics and research (n=168, 63.4%) and exam preparation (n=151, 57%). Male students were significantly more likely to believe that AI will improve diagnostic accuracy (n=47, 51.7% vs n=69, 39.7%; P=.001), reduce medical error (n=53, 58.2% vs n=71, 40.8%; P=.002), and improve patient care (n=60, 65.9% vs n=95, 54.6%; P=.007). Previous experience with AI was significantly associated with positive AI perception in terms of improving patient care, decreasing medical errors and misdiagnoses, and increasing the accuracy of diagnoses (P=.001, P<.001, P=.008, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The surveyed medical students had minimal formal and informal experience with AI tools and limited perceptions of the potential uses of AI in health care but had overall positive views of ChatGPT and AI and were optimistic about the future of AI in medical education and health care. Structured curricula and formal policies and guidelines are needed to adequately prepare medical learners for the forthcoming integration of AI in medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saif M I Alkhaaldi
- Khalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Carl H Kassab
- Khalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Zakia Dimassi
- Department of Medical Science, Khalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Leen Oyoun Alsoud
- Department of Medical Science, Khalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Maha Al Fahim
- Education Institute, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Cynthia Al Hageh
- Department of Medical Science, Khalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Halah Ibrahim
- Department of Medical Science, Khalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Stoumpos AI, Kitsios F, Talias MA. Digital Transformation in Healthcare: Technology Acceptance and Its Applications. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 20:3407. [PMID: 36834105 PMCID: PMC9963556 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20043407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 63.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2022] [Revised: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Technological innovation has become an integral aspect of our daily life, such as wearable and information technology, virtual reality and the Internet of Things which have contributed to transforming healthcare business and operations. Patients will now have a broader range and more mindful healthcare choices and experience a new era of healthcare with a patient-centric culture. Digital transformation determines personal and institutional health care. This paper aims to analyse the changes taking place in the field of healthcare due to digital transformation. For this purpose, a systematic bibliographic review is performed, utilising Scopus, Science Direct and PubMed databases from 2008 to 2021. Our methodology is based on the approach by Wester and Watson, which classify the related articles based on a concept-centric method and an ad hoc classification system which identify the categories used to describe areas of literature. The search was made during August 2022 and identified 5847 papers, of which 321 fulfilled the inclusion criteria for further process. Finally, by removing and adding additional studies, we ended with 287 articles grouped into five themes: information technology in health, the educational impact of e-health, the acceptance of e-health, telemedicine and security issues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelos I. Stoumpos
- Healthcare Management Postgraduate Program, Open University Cyprus, P.O. Box 12794, Nicosia 2252, Cyprus
| | - Fotis Kitsios
- Department of Applied Informatics, University of Macedonia, 156 Egnatia Street, GR54636 Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Michael A. Talias
- Healthcare Management Postgraduate Program, Open University Cyprus, P.O. Box 12794, Nicosia 2252, Cyprus
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Özdemir V. Public Engagement and Global Governance of Science: Beyond Instrumentalism. OMICS : A JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2023; 27:45-46. [PMID: 36695721 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2022.0190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Vural Özdemir
- OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, New Rochelle, New York, USA
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Özdemir V, Springer S. Broadening Diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Through Gender and 2SLGBTQ+ Equity. OMICS : A JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2022; 26:321-323. [PMID: 35666493 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2022.0059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Vural Özdemir
- OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, New Rochelle, New York
| | - Simon Springer
- Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, Discipline of Geography and Environmental Studies, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
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Hamdi Y, Mulder N, Abdelhak S. Women in Systems Science and Gender Parity: Why and How to Democratize the "Technology, Innovation, and Society Nexus". OMICS : A JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2022; 26:329-338. [PMID: 35666517 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2022.0055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
A career in systems science offers exciting prospects as well as challenges around the world, which are often underexplored or unknown. Gender parity, diversity, inclusion, and equity are essential for knowledge production, systems science research, and innovation to be representative, democratic, and critically informed. By virtue of its focus on systems, omics science is ideally poised to understand and respond to systemic and structural issues that hinder gender parity, equity, and democracy in science and society. In this context, voices from women in systems science in resource-limited countries are often inaudible, a gap that this article aims to bridge. We present here some of the pressing issues and possible ways forward for equitable representation of women in science. We highlight emerging frontiers of systems science such as digital transformation, Industry 4.0, and cyber-physical systems where gender parity and equity are crucial. This article also examines some of the challenges faced by women scientists in Africa. All in all, much work is needed across communities and countries worldwide for diversity and gender equity in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM)-based programs. Adapting a critical lens that examines power asymmetries in STEM in Africa and around the world, and new ways of thinking for bringing women scientists in Africa to leadership positions in traditional STEM fields such as computer science and engineering where large gender equity gaps exist, is a timely and principled necessity in 21st century science and society.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yosr Hamdi
- Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Université Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia
- Laboratory of Human and Experimental Pathology, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Nicola Mulder
- Computational Biology Division, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, IDM University of Cape Town Faculty of Health Sciences, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Sonia Abdelhak
- Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Université Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia
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Özdemir V, Springer S. Decolonizing Knowledge Upstream: New Ways to Deconstruct and Fight Disinformation in an Era of COVID-19, Extreme Digital Transformation, and Climate Emergency. OMICS : A JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2022; 26:247-269. [PMID: 35544326 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2022.0041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Lies and disinformation have always existed throughout human history. However, disinformation has become a "pandemic within a pandemic" with convergence of COVID-19 and digital transformation of health care, climate emergency, and pervasive human-computer interaction in all facets of life. We are living through an era of post-truth. New approaches to fight disinformation are urgently needed and of paramount importance for systems science and planetary health. In this study, we discuss the ways in which extractive and entrenched epistemologies such as technocracy and neoliberalism co-produce disinformation. We draw from the works of David Collingridge in technology entrenchment and the literature on digital health, international affairs, climate emergency, degrowth, and decolonializing methodologies. We expand the vocabulary on and interventions against disinformation, and propose the following: (1) rapid epistemic disobedience as a critical governance tool to resist the cultural hegemony of neoliberalism and its master narrative infinite growth that is damaging the planetary ecosystems, while creating echo chambers overflowing with disinformation, and (2) a two-tiered taxonomy of reflexivity, a state of self-cognizance by knowledge actors, for example, scientists, engineers, and physicians (type 1 reflexivity), as well as by chroniclers of former actors, for example, civil society organizations, journalists, social sciences, and humanities scholars (type 2 reflexivity). This article takes seriously the role of master narratives in quotidian life in production of disinformation and ecological breakdown. The infinite growth narrative does not ask critical questions such as "growth in what, at what costs to society and environment?," and is a dangerous game of brinkmanship that has been testing the planetary ecological boundaries and putting at risk the veracity of knowledge. There is a need for scholars and systems scientists who break ranks with entrenched narratives that pose existential threats to planetary sustainability and are harmful to knowledge veracity. Scholars who resist the obvious recklessness and juggernaut of the pursuit of neoliberal infinite growth would be rooting for living responsibly and in solidarity on a planet with finite resources. The interventions proposed in this study, rapid epistemic disobedience and the expanded reflexivity taxonomy, can advance progressive policies for a good life for all within planetary boundaries, and decolonize knowledge from disinformation in ways that are necessarily upstream, radical, rapid, and emancipatory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vural Özdemir
- OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, New Rochelle, New York, USA
| | - Simon Springer
- Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, Discipline of Geography and Environmental Studies, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
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Springer S, Özdemir V. Disinformation as COVID-19's Twin Pandemic: False Equivalences, Entrenched Epistemologies, and Causes-of-Causes. OMICS : A JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2022; 26:82-87. [PMID: 35041538 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2021.0220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/28/2023]
Abstract
We are currently facing and traversing in the thick of a twin pandemic: coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and disinformation. Disinformation is false information created and spread deliberately with the intention to mislead public opinion, obscure truths, and undermine trust in knowledge. The digital age we live in is quite different than the printing revolution and invention of the oil-based ink printing press centuries ago. Digital technologies can spread and repeat disinformation at extremely high speeds, while anyone, a qualified expert or not, and with internet access, can become an author. To fight disinformation, we ought to dismantle the entrenched and extractive epistemologies that act as upstream drivers and sites of disinformation production. Epistemology refers to the value-laden knowledge frames, overarching master narratives, and storylines, in which knowledge is produced. If the epistemologies in which we generate knowledge are false, then the knowledge products will be laden with disinformation. Moreover, the harms caused by disinformation can extend well beyond the immediate knowledge domain where disinformation has originated. This occurs when "false equivalence" is used as a form of rhetoric. False equivalence is a type of flawed sense making where equal weight is given to arguments with concrete material evidence, and those that are conjecture, untrue, or unjust. This article presents an analysis of the disinformation pandemic attendant to COVID-19, with an eye to its causes-of-causes: unchecked extractive epistemologies (e.g., technocracy), and the practice of false equivalence in pandemic discourses. We argue that holding the political agency of master narratives to account is essential (1) to fight the disinformation pandemic and (2) for prefigurative politics to build egalitarian and democratic societies in place of the instrumental/transactional relationships that typify the contemporary nation states and the neoliberal university whose ossified rituals lack the normative capacities for critical governance in a time of converging social, digital, and ecological crises. For liberation from disinformation, we should start with liberation from entrenched extractive epistemologies in science and society.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Springer
- Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, Discipline of Geography and Environmental Studies, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
| | - Vural Özdemir
- OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, New Rochelle, New York, USA
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Geanta M, Tanwar AS, Lehrach H, Satyamoorthy K, Brand A. Horizon Scanning: Rise of Planetary Health Genomics and Digital Twins for Pandemic Preparedness. OMICS : A JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2022; 26:93-100. [PMID: 34851750 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2021.0062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated research and development not only in infectious diseases but also in digital technologies to improve monitoring, forecasting, and intervening on planetary and ecological risks. In the European Commission, the Destination Earth (DestinE) is a current major initiative to develop a digital model of the Earth (a "digital twin") with high precision. Moreover, omics systems science is undergoing digital transformation impacting nearly all dimensions of the field, including real-time phenotype capture to data analytics using machine learning and artificial intelligence, to name but a few emerging frontiers. We discuss the ways in which the current ongoing digital transformation in omics offers synergies with digital twins/DestinE. Importantly, we note here the rise of a new field of scholarship, planetary health genomics. We conclude that digital transformation in public and private sectors, digital twins/DestinE, and their convergence with omics systems science are poised to build robust capacities for pandemic preparedness and resilient societies in the 21st century.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marius Geanta
- Centre for Innovation in Medicine, Bucharest, Romania
- KOL Medical Media, Bucharest, Romania
- United Nations University-Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Ankit Singh Tanwar
- United Nations University-Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Department of Public Health Genomics, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
| | - Hans Lehrach
- Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPIMG), Berlin, Germany
- Alacris Theranostics GmbH, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kapaettu Satyamoorthy
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
| | - Angela Brand
- United Nations University-Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Department of Public Health Genomics, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
- Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Dr. TMA Pai Endowment Chair in Public Health Genomics, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
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Özdemir V. All Things Digital Transformation: Health Care, Disinformation, Big Data, and Death. OMICS : A JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2022; 26:75-76. [PMID: 35041545 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2021.0226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Vural Özdemir
- OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, New Rochelle, New York, USA
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Özdemir V, Springer S, Yıldırım A, Biçer Ş, Kendirci A, Şardaş S, Kılıç H, Hekim N, Kunej T, Arga KY, Dzobo K, Wang W, Geanta M, Brand A, Bayram M. Thanatechnology and the Living Dead: New Concepts in Digital Transformation and Human-Computer Interaction. OMICS : A JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2021; 25:401-407. [PMID: 34191613 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2021.0100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
In a digital society, shall we be the authors of our own experience, not only during our lifetime but also after we die? We ask this question because dying and bereavement have become even harder, and much less private, in the digital age. New big data-driven digital industries and technologies are on the rise, with promises of interactive 3D avatars and storage of digital memories of the deceased, so they can continue to exist online as the "living dead" in a digital afterlife. Famous rock and roll icons like Roy Orbison, Frank Zappa, Ronnie James Dio, and Amy Winehouse have famously been turned into holograms that can once again give "live" performances on the touring circuit, often pulling in large audiences. Death studies, dying, and grief have become virtual in the 21st century. We live in truly unprecedented times for human-computer interactions. Thanatology is the scientific study of death, dying, loss, and grief. In contrast to the biological study of biological aging (cellular senescence) and programmed cell death (apoptosis), thanatology employs multiple professional lenses, medical, psychological, physical, spiritual, ethical, descriptive, and normative. In 1997, Carla Sofka introduced the term thanatechnology as "technological mechanisms such as interactive videodiscs and computer programs that are used to access information or aid in learning about thanatology topics." Onward to 2021, the advent of social media, the Internet of Things, and sensors that digitize and archive nearly every human movement and experience are taking thanatechnology, and by extension, digital transformation, to new heights. For example, what happens to digital remains of persons once they cease to exist physically? This article offers a critical study and snapshot of this nascent field, and the "un-disciplinary" sociotechnical issues digital thanatechnologies raise in relation to big data. We also discuss how best to critically govern this new frontier in systems science and the digital society. We suggest that new policy narratives such as (1) the right to nonparticipation in relation to information and communication technologies and (2) the planetary public goods deserve further attention to democratize thanatechnology and big data. To the extent that systems science often depends on data from online platforms, for example, in times of pandemics and ecological crises, "critical thanatechnology studies," introduced in this article, is a timely and essential field of scholarship with broad importance for systems science and planetary health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vural Özdemir
- OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, New Rochelle, New York, USA
| | - Simon Springer
- Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, Discipline of Geography and Environmental Studies, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
| | - Arif Yıldırım
- Department of Journalism, Faculty of Communication, Çanakkale On Sekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey
| | - Şehmus Biçer
- Department of Media and Cultural Studies, School of Graduate Studies, Çanakkale On Sekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey
| | - Aslıgül Kendirci
- Ascot Science, Pharmaceutical and Clinical Trial Innovation, İstanbul, Turkey
- Faculty of Pharmacy, İstinye University, İstanbul, Turkey
| | - Semra Şardaş
- Faculty of Pharmacy, İstinye University, İstanbul, Turkey
| | - Hakan Kılıç
- Department for Migration and Globalization, Danube-University Krems, Krems, Austria
| | - Nezih Hekim
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Biruni Üniversity, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Tanja Kunej
- Department of Animal Science, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Kazım Yalçın Arga
- Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, Marmara University, İstanbul, Turkey
| | - Kevin Dzobo
- Division of Medical Biochemistry and Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Wei Wang
- Key Municipal Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Centre for Precision Health, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia
- School of Public Health, Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Tai'an, China
- The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China
| | - Marius Geanta
- Centre for Innovation in Medicine, Bucharest, Romania
- KOL Medical Media, Bucharest, Romania
- United Nations University-Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Angela Brand
- United Nations University-Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Department of Public Health Genomics, and Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
- Dr. TMA Pai Endowment Chair in Public Health Genomics, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
| | - Mustafa Bayram
- Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey
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Biçer Ş, Yıldırım A. Digital Death and Thanatechnology: New Ways of Thinking About Data (Im)Mortality and Digital Transformation. OMICS-A JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY 2021; 26:88-92. [PMID: 34171977 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2021.0096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Digital technologies such as the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence are changing how we live and do research, for example, the ways in which patient-reported outcomes and phenomics big data are curated and analyzed. Digital transformation is everywhere and is reshaping data (im)mortality in a wide range of sectors in medicine, engineering, journalism, and beyond. In this context, thanatechnology is a term introduced by Carla Sofka over two decades ago, referring to "any kind of technology that can be used to deal with death, dying, grief, loss, and illness." The field of thanatechnology has become relevant in the digital age as social media is full of accounts from dead individuals, whereas digital media is often harnessed as a source of data and metadata, and in times of pandemics and normalcy. Emerging macroscale analyses forecast billions of social media user accounts from deceased persons in the current century. What happens to digital remains of persons once they cease to exist physically? Digital death, or its absence in the case of deceased individuals, becomes a challenge for both data availability and veracity, and confound research and public health services. Data (im)mortality and digital death are also relevant for research on past events of significance for public health, for example, to discern the history of pandemics and ecological threats. This article examines and calls for new ways of thinking about digital death and thanatechnology as integral dimensions of digital transformation in medicine, new media studies, and society in the 21st century.
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Affiliation(s)
- Şehmus Biçer
- Department of Media and Cultural Studies, School of Graduate Studies, Çanakkale On Sekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey
| | - Arif Yıldırım
- Department of Journalism, Faculty of Communication, Çanakkale On Sekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey
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