Ethical considerations of society 5.0

Abstract

Society 5.0 is the vision of a data-driven, human-centred society that uses advanced technology to address challenges such as sustainability and economic inequality. A key feature of Society 5.0 is the coming together of cyberspace and physical space through the integration of 4th Industrial Revolution technology into systems that affect all of society. The use of Industry 4.0 technology such as artificial intelligence and big data means that the ethical challenges present in those technologies currently may also be present in Society 5.0 implementations. There also exists the potential for emergent ethical issues not widely seen in the current industrial context of these technologies. This pragmatist, mixed method study focused on identifying and understanding the ethical considerations of Society 5.0. The study collected data using a survey strategy. A systematic literature review focusing on the ethical considerations of the advanced technologies required for Society 5.0 was conducted to inform the creation of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was self-administered online using Google Forms and was used to collect quantitative data. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted using purposive sampling of technology experts to collect qualitative data and provide context to the ethical considerations identified in the systematic literature review. The quantitative data was analysed through tallies, graphs and descriptive statistics. The qualitative data was transcribed from audio recordings using Microsoft Word and then analysed by using axial coding to identify themes for a thematic analysis. The result of this study was a categorised list of ethical considerations of Society 5.0, informed by the perceptions of technical and non-technical members of society. The expected outcome was that organisations will be able to use this categorised list as a reference frame for considering the ethics of future Society 5.0 endeavours. It was also expected that this study will serve as a frame for future research by providing an ethical perspective of Society 5.0.