Journals Published by Vilnius Tech
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Existential risk from transformative AI: an economic perspective
Get PDFThe prospective arrival of transformative artificial intelligence (TAI) will be a filter for the human civilization – a threshold beyond which it will either strongly accelerate its growth, or vanish. Historical evidence on technological progress in AI capabilities and economic incentives to pursue it suggest that TAI will most likely be developed in just one to four decades. In contrast, theoretical problems of AI alignment, needed to be solved in order for TAI to be “friendly” towards humans rather than cause our extinction, appear difficult and impossible to solve by mechanically increasing the amount of compute. This means that transformative AI poses an imminent existential risk to the humankind which ought to be urgently addressed. Starting from this premise, this paper provides new economic perspectives on discussions surrounding the issue: whether addressing existential risks is cost effective and fair towards the contemporary poor, whether it constitutes “Pascal’s mugging”, how to quantify risks that have never materialized in the past, how discounting affects our assessment of existential risk, and how to include the prospects of upcoming singularity in economic forecasts. The paper also suggests possible policy actions, such as ramping up public funding on research on existential risks and AI safety, and improving regulation of the AI sector, preferably within a global policy framework.
First published online 10 July 202
Do financial inclusion and bank competition matter for banks’ stability in Asia?
Get PDFThis study investigates the effect of financial inclusion (FI), considering micro and macro indicators as well as micro- and macro-FI separately, on the stability of Asian banks and examines the moderating effect of bank competition (BC) on this relationship. Using data from 2011 to 2021, this study examines the relationship between FI, BC, and bank stability (BS). The hypotheses were tested using a “two-step system-GMM framework”. The findings were also authenticated using the panel OLS approach. The results indicate that FI (considering micro- and macro-indicators) and micro- and macroFI have significant positive effects on the stability of Asian banks. However, the impact of micro-FI is greater than that of macro-FI on the BS in Asia. Furthermore, the results manifest that BC has a significant positive impact on BS and positively moderates the relationship between micro-FI and BS, whereas it negatively moderates the relationship between macro-FI and BS. The findings of this study have practical implications for regulators, bankers, and policymakers involved in formulating strategies to enhance Asian banks’ stability
Well-being effects of the digital platform economy: the case of temporary and self-employment
Get PDFThe surge in non-traditional employment, including self-employment and temporary jobs, driven by the digital platform economy (commonly known as the gig economy), has thrust this form of work into the centre of social and political discussions. Among the European Union countries, Spain stands out with the highest volume of digital platform work. To explore the well-being effects of various gig economy employment arrangements, this study utilizes microdata from the Spanish Living Conditions Survey for 2018 and Google Trends data related to platforms like Deliveroo, Airbnb, Just Eat, Uber, and Freelance as a proxy for digital platform economy demand. Employing an econometric approach based on instrumental variables, the study reveals that the most detrimental well-being effects are observed among self-employed workers. Specifically, in terms of self-reported health, self-employed individuals (own-account workers) exhibit 125.8% lower average health levels compared to permanent workers. These findings suggest that the heightened job insecurity and precariousness associated with self-employment outweigh the potential benefits arising from greater flexibility and autonomy in this type of work.
first published online 17 September 202
What do the contrasting views of Harries and Eisenman add to architectural culture in bringing aesthetic impressions back to the built environment?
Get PDFIn the era of modernism, the natural symbols of art – expressed through aesthetic elements – have been seen replaced by the verbal notations of communication. The replacement forced the postmodernists to deconstruct the concept of modernism to bring back the notion of symbolic art superficially and to revitalize the meaning of art and its cohesive presence in the built environment. The revitalization process, however, does not seem to have gone without raising questions in the academic community. Does the aesthetic impulse come from the structural spirit of a built form alone? Is just aesthetics deeply rooted in built-form identity? Is aesthetics not associated with the social environment and economic living? Can aesthetics exist in isolation? Can aesthetics be more of a by-product of functionality than the product itself? Using the works of Harries and Eisenman, the paper develops a review sketch exploring these questions. Many other attributes, such as aesthetics production, aesthetics generation, and environmental aesthetics, and their roles in art appreciation have ensured positions in the discussion. The conclusions seem to warn that the influence of social co-existence in defining built-form aesthetics in the postmodern era and later, divorced from reality – avoiding the presence of the different layers in the social fabric and their relationships among themselves – seldom helps to produce any futuristic vision but invites chaos in thoughts and perceptions crossing over between studies and practices in architecture
Evaluation of physical-spatial characteristics affecting the quality of apartment housing
Get PDFHousing quality is one of the most important domains of quality of life. One of the most important qualitative aspects of housing is paying attention to the residents’ satisfaction with their place of residence. The purpose of the upcoming research is to know the physical-spatial characteristics that affect the quality of apartment housing. The research method is combined and based on two quantitative and qualitative approaches. In this way, in the first part and the qualitative approach of the research, the text content analysis method was used. In this section, with the help of the content analysis method, the most important sources of the first category related to the quality of apartment housing are reviewed and the physical-spatial characteristics affecting the quality of the housing are identified. In the second stage of the research, with the help of a quantitative approach, the evaluation of people’s characteristics has been done with the help of TOPSIS method. The statistical population university professors related to housing was used to evaluate the physical-spatial characteristics. The findings of the research show that the characteristics related to housing quality are not only physical
Risk profiling question investigation for robo-advisor
Get PDFPurpose – this study aims to thoroughly investigate by reviewing previous literature on risk assessment queries for robo-advisors, comparing it with three existing robo-advisors and proposing suitable risk assessment questions for robo-advisor.
Research methodology – utilize the deductive content analysis technique to examine the risk assessment issue for financial robo-advisors, which is influenced by previous study.
Findings – there are nine questions share a similar context both in previous literature and among existing robo-advisors, with income being the most commonly used question. Then, there are three questions that are only asked by the existing robo-advisors: emergency funds, home ownership, and the source of transaction. These findings suggest some additional questions to enhance the effectiveness of risk assessment in robo-advisory services for individuals.
Research limitations – only two previous research papers have focused on risk profiling, and three available applications used in this research.
Practical implications – the robo-advisor’s developer should take into account various factors such as local culture and economic conditions, financial product knowledge, etc. when crafting diverse risk profiles to provide more precise investment recommendations.
Originality/Value – the study is the first research which explore the risk profiling for financial robo-advisor, which used by existing robo-advisor then compared to other countries in the world
The influence of unconventional monetary policy tools: an euro area perspective
Get PDFPurpose – This article aims to investigate the influence of unconventional monetary policy tools (UMPTs) employed by the European Central Bank (ECB) on the inflation rate and GDP growth rate within the euro area, motivated by the principles of the Taylor rule.
Research methodology – Elastic net regression with ARIMA residuals was used to analyse the relationship between UMPTs and economic indicators, measured by adjusted R-squared. Six samples were constructed, and hypothesis testing was performed using moving block bootstrapping. Residual diagnostics were used for model validation.
Findings – The study revealed significant impacts of UMPTs, particularly in combination with interest rates, on inflation rates. However, adjusted R-square values for GDP growth rate were less pronounced, indicating a more complex relationship. Research contributes to understanding the dynamics of monetary policy transmission mechanisms, informing policy institutions, and guiding future research directions.
Research limitations – Limitations include the focus on the euro area and the absence of analysis in other major economies. Future research should address these limitations and incorporate additional variables for a more comprehensive analysis.
Practical implications – The findings provide insight for policymakers regarding the efficacy of UMPTs in influencing inflation rates, aiding in informed decision-making in monetary policy formulation and implementation.
Originality/Value – This study contributes novelty by comprehensively analysing the relationship between UMPTs and economic indicators within the euro area, providing valuable insight into monetary policy institutions, and guiding future research directions
(In)effective communication about social responsibility? Examining large European businesses in the Czech Republic
Get PDFPurpose – Businesses are expected to be socially responsible by engaging in Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and even the Creation of shared values (CSV). The aim of this contribution is to critically explore whether large European businesses operating in Czechia, recognized as social responsibility leaders, effectively communicate CSR as opposed to their competitors.
Research methodology – A case study with three stages was conducted. First, 35 large European businesses were identified, which repeatedly ranked among the TOP 25 Czech companies with the highest social responsibility BpS synthetic index, and their 15 competitors. Second, an Internet search and content analysis of Websites of these 50 companies was performed to categorize and assess how they report about their socially responsible behaviors. Third, leading Czech disinformation websites were examined for evidence of tacit cooperation with the disinformation scene in the form of support via advertising.
Findings – The study revealed that large European businesses, recognized as social responsibility leaders, communicate extensively about their social responsibility. However, the effectiveness of such communications is controversial. In addition, a significant part of these businesses were found to be tacitly associated with disinformation platforms, which are completely at odds with with basic social responsibility concepts.
Research limitations – The qualitative nature of the case study does not allow direct generalizations.
Practical implications – The visualization of the juxtaposed results via comparative and complementary tables leads to pioneering propositions about the interest and lack of maturity regarding social responsibility, very diverse degrees of effectiveness of the communications, and even several alleged leaders failing in their efforts.
Originality/Value – It is the first study to compare CSR communications by alleged white sheep and black sheep, while having consistency tested by association with disinformation websites. The generated propositions call for further longitudinal and multi-jurisdiction studies to verify and enhance the awareness about efficient, effective, mature and consistent social responsibility in the EU
Differences between the creativity of people who are deaf or hard of hearing and those with typical hearing: a protocol for the further scoping review
Get PDFAs a step prescribed by the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology before conducting a scoping review, the protocol aims to describe differences in creativity between deaf and hard of hearing and typically hearing people. Creativity as a mental process is important for the development of personality, imagination, communication skills, and interpersonal relationships. For this study, the focus was on creativity of deaf and hard of hearing persons. Deaf and hard of hearing people show specific characteristics in their mode of creativity. All the studies that deal with creativity in deaf and hard of hearing people will be included. Studies of any design in English, German, or Czech will be accepted as sources for assessment and analysis for systematic review. The Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for a scoping review will act as a framework for the review that will be prepared. 14 scientific databases will be chosen for this review. Two independent reviewers will identify and evaluate all the titles and abstracts that are acquired. The selected data will be extracted and reported in tabular form and a descriptive format
Phatic emoji of Javanese netizens in social media: a cyberpragmatics perspective on a creative communicative strategy
Get PDFThe massive shift of communication culture from direct to virtual channels due to the COVID-19 pandemic affected virtual politeness performance. The limitation of physical expression in digital platforms encourages emojis to replace gestures, mimics, and other expressions. This study aims to describe the types of speech acts and the function of the emojis along with the performance of politeness strategies in the WhatsApp group of Javanese netizens. Understanding politeness performance through the use of speech acts and emojis in virtual communication provides insights into how universal emojis are specifically used in a particular culture and shows the creativity of emoji use in phatic communication. The virtual textual data were taken from five WhatsApp group’s with 174 Javanese members by observation method. The emoji that occurred in the conversational texts were classified based on the types of speech acts and their functions. The analysis was conducted within the cyberpragmatics framework. The findings showed that emojis were used in assertive speech acts, directive speech acts, expressive speech acts, and phatic speech acts. The functions were to emphasize meaning, clarify meaning, direct certain actions, express feelings, and establish social rapport. The research contributes to the development of cyberpragmatics as the current approach in pragmatics study. Moreover, the findings depicted the current phenomenon of social media communication on a cultural basis