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Artificial Intelligence in HCI First

International Conference AI HCI 2020


Held as Part of the 22nd HCI
International Conference HCII 2020
Copenhagen Denmark July 19 24 2020
Proceedings Helmut Degen
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Helmut Degen
Lauren Reinerman-Jones (Eds.)
LNAI 12217

Artificial Intelligence in HCI


First International Conference, AI-HCI 2020
Held as Part of the 22nd HCI International Conference, HCII 2020
Copenhagen, Denmark, July 19–24, 2020
Proceedings

123
Lecture Notes in Computer Science 12217

Founding Editors
Gerhard Goos
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Juris Hartmanis
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Editorial Board Members


Elisa Bertino
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
Wen Gao
Peking University, Beijing, China
Bernhard Steffen
TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany
Gerhard Woeginger
RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
Moti Yung
Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/7409
Helmut Degen Lauren Reinerman-Jones (Eds.)

Artificial Intelligence in HCI


First International Conference, AI-HCI 2020
Held as Part of the 22nd HCI International Conference, HCII 2020
Copenhagen, Denmark, July 19–24, 2020
Proceedings

123
Editors
Helmut Degen Lauren Reinerman-Jones
Siemens University of Central Florida
Princeton, USA Orlando, FL, USA

ISSN 0302-9743 ISSN 1611-3349 (electronic)


Lecture Notes in Computer Science
ISBN 978-3-030-50333-8 ISBN 978-3-030-50334-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50334-5
LNCS Sublibrary: SL3 – Information Systems and Applications, incl. Internet/Web, and HCI

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Foreword

The 22nd International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCI International


2020 (HCII 2020), was planned to be held at the AC Bella Sky Hotel and Bella Center,
Copenhagen, Denmark, during July 19–24, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus
pandemic and the resolution of the Danish government not to allow events larger than
500 people to be hosted until September 1, 2020, HCII 2020 had to be held virtually. It
incorporated the 21 thematic areas and affiliated conferences listed on the following
page.
A total of 6,326 individuals from academia, research institutes, industry, and gov-
ernmental agencies from 97 countries submitted contributions, and 1,439 papers and
238 posters were included in the conference proceedings. These contributions address
the latest research and development efforts and highlight the human aspects of design
and use of computing systems. The contributions thoroughly cover the entire field of
human-computer interaction, addressing major advances in knowledge and effective
use of computers in a variety of application areas. The volumes constituting the full set
of the conference proceedings are listed in the following pages.
The HCI International (HCII) conference also offers the option of “late-breaking
work” which applies both for papers and posters and the corresponding volume(s)
of the proceedings will be published just after the conference. Full papers will be
included in the “HCII 2020 - Late Breaking Papers” volume of the proceedings to be
published in the Springer LNCS series, while poster extended abstracts will be included
as short papers in the “HCII 2020 - Late Breaking Posters” volume to be published in
the Springer CCIS series.
I would like to thank the program board chairs and the members of the program
boards of all thematic areas and affiliated conferences for their contribution to the
highest scientific quality and the overall success of the HCI International 2020
conference.
This conference would not have been possible without the continuous and unwa-
vering support and advice of the founder, Conference General Chair Emeritus and
Conference Scientific Advisor Prof. Gavriel Salvendy. For his outstanding efforts,
I would like to express my appreciation to the communications chair and editor of
HCI International News, Dr. Abbas Moallem.

July 2020 Constantine Stephanidis


HCI International 2020 Thematic Areas
and Affiliated Conferences

Thematic areas:
• HCI 2020: Human-Computer Interaction
• HIMI 2020: Human Interface and the Management of Information
Affiliated conferences:
• EPCE: 17th International Conference on Engineering Psychology and Cognitive
Ergonomics
• UAHCI: 14th International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer
Interaction
• VAMR: 12th International Conference on Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality
• CCD: 12th International Conference on Cross-Cultural Design
• SCSM: 12th International Conference on Social Computing and Social Media
• AC: 14th International Conference on Augmented Cognition
• DHM: 11th International Conference on Digital Human Modeling and Applications
in Health, Safety, Ergonomics and Risk Management
• DUXU: 9th International Conference on Design, User Experience and Usability
• DAPI: 8th International Conference on Distributed, Ambient and Pervasive
Interactions
• HCIBGO: 7th International Conference on HCI in Business, Government and
Organizations
• LCT: 7th International Conference on Learning and Collaboration Technologies
• ITAP: 6th International Conference on Human Aspects of IT for the Aged
Population
• HCI-CPT: Second International Conference on HCI for Cybersecurity, Privacy and
Trust
• HCI-Games: Second International Conference on HCI in Games
• MobiTAS: Second International Conference on HCI in Mobility, Transport and
Automotive Systems
• AIS: Second International Conference on Adaptive Instructional Systems
• C&C: 8th International Conference on Culture and Computing
• MOBILE: First International Conference on Design, Operation and Evaluation of
Mobile Communications
• AI-HCI: First International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in HCI
Conference Proceedings Volumes Full List

1. LNCS 12181, Human-Computer Interaction: Design and User Experience (Part I),
edited by Masaaki Kurosu
2. LNCS 12182, Human-Computer Interaction: Multimodal and Natural Interaction
(Part II), edited by Masaaki Kurosu
3. LNCS 12183, Human-Computer Interaction: Human Values and Quality of Life
(Part III), edited by Masaaki Kurosu
4. LNCS 12184, Human Interface and the Management of Information: Designing
Information (Part I), edited by Sakae Yamamoto and Hirohiko Mori
5. LNCS 12185, Human Interface and the Management of Information: Interacting
with Information (Part II), edited by Sakae Yamamoto and Hirohiko Mori
6. LNAI 12186, Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics: Mental
Workload, Human Physiology, and Human Energy (Part I), edited by Don Harris
and Wen-Chin Li
7. LNAI 12187, Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics: Cognition and
Design (Part II), edited by Don Harris and Wen-Chin Li
8. LNCS 12188, Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction: Design
Approaches and Supporting Technologies (Part I), edited by Margherita Antona
and Constantine Stephanidis
9. LNCS 12189, Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction: Applications and
Practice (Part II), edited by Margherita Antona and Constantine Stephanidis
10. LNCS 12190, Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality: Design and Interaction
(Part I), edited by Jessie Y. C. Chen and Gino Fragomeni
11. LNCS 12191, Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality: Industrial and Everyday
Life Applications (Part II), edited by Jessie Y. C. Chen and Gino Fragomeni
12. LNCS 12192, Cross-Cultural Design: User Experience of Products, Services, and
Intelligent Environments (Part I), edited by P. L. Patrick Rau
13. LNCS 12193, Cross-Cultural Design: Applications in Health, Learning,
Communication, and Creativity (Part II), edited by P. L. Patrick Rau
14. LNCS 12194, Social Computing and Social Media: Design, Ethics, User Behavior,
and Social Network Analysis (Part I), edited by Gabriele Meiselwitz
15. LNCS 12195, Social Computing and Social Media: Participation, User Experience,
Consumer Experience, and Applications of Social Computing (Part II), edited by
Gabriele Meiselwitz
16. LNAI 12196, Augmented Cognition: Theoretical and Technological Approaches
(Part I), edited by Dylan D. Schmorrow and Cali M. Fidopiastis
17. LNAI 12197, Augmented Cognition: Human Cognition and Behaviour (Part II),
edited by Dylan D. Schmorrow and Cali M. Fidopiastis
x Conference Proceedings Volumes Full List

18. LNCS 12198, Digital Human Modeling and Applications in Health, Safety,
Ergonomics and Risk Management: Posture, Motion and Health (Part I), edited
by Vincent G. Duffy
19. LNCS 12199, Digital Human Modeling and Applications in Health, Safety,
Ergonomics and Risk Management: Human Communication, Organization and
Work (Part II), edited by Vincent G. Duffy
20. LNCS 12200, Design, User Experience, and Usability: Interaction Design (Part I),
edited by Aaron Marcus and Elizabeth Rosenzweig
21. LNCS 12201, Design, User Experience, and Usability: Design for Contemporary
Interactive Environments (Part II), edited by Aaron Marcus and Elizabeth
Rosenzweig
22. LNCS 12202, Design, User Experience, and Usability: Case Studies in Public and
Personal Interactive Systems (Part III), edited by Aaron Marcus and Elizabeth
Rosenzweig
23. LNCS 12203, Distributed, Ambient and Pervasive Interactions, edited by Norbert
Streitz and Shin’ichi Konomi
24. LNCS 12204, HCI in Business, Government and Organizations, edited by Fiona
Fui-Hoon Nah and Keng Siau
25. LNCS 12205, Learning and Collaboration Technologies: Designing, Developing
and Deploying Learning Experiences (Part I), edited by Panayiotis Zaphiris and
Andri Ioannou
26. LNCS 12206, Learning and Collaboration Technologies: Human and Technology
Ecosystems (Part II), edited by Panayiotis Zaphiris and Andri Ioannou
27. LNCS 12207, Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population: Technologies,
Design and User Experience (Part I), edited by Qin Gao and Jia Zhou
28. LNCS 12208, Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population: Healthy and Active
Aging (Part II), edited by Qin Gao and Jia Zhou
29. LNCS 12209, Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population: Technology and
Society (Part III), edited by Qin Gao and Jia Zhou
30. LNCS 12210, HCI for Cybersecurity, Privacy and Trust, edited by Abbas Moallem
31. LNCS 12211, HCI in Games, edited by Xiaowen Fang
32. LNCS 12212, HCI in Mobility, Transport and Automotive Systems: Automated
Driving and In-Vehicle Experience Design (Part I), edited by Heidi Krömker
33. LNCS 12213, HCI in Mobility, Transport and Automotive Systems: Driving
Behavior, Urban and Smart Mobility (Part II), edited by Heidi Krömker
34. LNCS 12214, Adaptive Instructional Systems, edited by Robert A. Sottilare and
Jessica Schwarz
35. LNCS 12215, Culture and Computing, edited by Matthias Rauterberg
36. LNCS 12216, Design, Operation and Evaluation of Mobile Communications,
edited by Gavriel Salvendy and June Wei
37. LNCS 12217, Artificial Intelligence in HCI, edited by Helmut Degen and Lauren
Reinerman-Jones
Conference Proceedings Volumes Full List xi

38. CCIS 1224, HCI International 2020 Posters - Part I, edited by Constantine
Stephanidis and Margherita Antona
39. CCIS 1225, HCI International 2020 Posters - Part II, edited by Constantine
Stephanidis and Margherita Antona
40. CCIS 1226, HCI International 2020 Posters - Part III, edited by Constantine
Stephanidis and Margherita Antona

http://2020.hci.international/proceedings
First International Conference on Artificial Intelligence
in HCI (AI-HCI 2020)

Program Board Chairs: Helmut Degen, Siemens


Corporation, USA, and Lauren Reinerman-Jones,
University of Central Florida, USA

• Esma Aimeur, Canada • Adina Panchea, Canada


• Iman Avazpour, Australia • Giovanni Pilato, Italy
• Gennaro Costagliola, Italy • Robert Reynolds, USA
• Ahmad Esmaeili, USA • Gustavo Rossi, Argentina
• Mauricio Gomez, USA • Carmen Santoro, Italy
• Jennifer Heier, Germany • Anil Shankar, USA
• Rania Hodhod, USA • Marjorie Skubic, USA
• Sandeep Kuttal, USA • Davide Spano, Italy
• Sushil Louis, USA • Roberto Vezzani, Italy
• Rob Macredie, UK • Giuliana Vitiello, Italy

The full list with the Program Board Chairs and the members of the Program Boards of
all thematic areas and affiliated conferences is available online at:

http://www.hci.international/board-members-2020.php
HCI International 2021
The 23rd International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCI International
2021 (HCII 2021), will be held jointly with the affiliated conferences in
Washington DC, USA, at the Washington Hilton Hotel, July 24–29, 2021. It will
cover a broad spectrum of themes related to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI),
including theoretical issues, methods, tools, processes, and case studies in HCI design,
as well as novel interaction techniques, interfaces, and applications. The proceedings
will be published by Springer. More information will be available on the conference
website: http://2021.hci.international/.

General Chair
Prof. Constantine Stephanidis
University of Crete and ICS-FORTH
Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Email: general_chair@hcii2021.org

http://2021.hci.international/
Contents

Human-Centered AI

Towards Increased Transparency with Value Sensitive Design . . . . . . . . . . . 3


Jacob Dexe, Ulrik Franke, Anneli Avatare Nöu, and Alexander Rad

A Method for Quickly Establishing Personas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16


Wen-jun Hou, Xiang-yuan Yan, and Jia-xin Liu

The Role of Behavioral Anthropomorphism in Human-Automation


Trust Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Theodore Jensen, Mohammad Maifi Hasan Khan, and Yusuf Albayram

Transparency and Trust in Human-AI-Interaction: The Role


of Model-Agnostic Explanations in Computer Vision-Based
Decision Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Christian Meske and Enrico Bunde

Defining a Human-Machine Teaming Model for AI-Powered


Human-Centered Machine Translation Agent by Learning from
Human-Human Group Discussion: Dialog Categories and Dialog Moves . . . . 70
Ming Qian and Davis Qian

Rethinking Personas for Fairness: Algorithmic Transparency


and Accountability in Data-Driven Personas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Joni Salminen, Soon-gyo Jung, Shammur A. Chowdhury,
and Bernard J. Jansen

Enriching Social Media Personas with Personality Traits:


A Deep Learning Approach Using the Big Five Classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Joni Salminen, Rohan Gurunandan Rao, Soon-gyo Jung,
Shammur A. Chowdhury, and Bernard J. Jansen

Color for Characters - Effects of Visual Explanations of AI on Trust


and Observability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Tim Schrills and Thomas Franke

Human-in-the-Loop Design Cycles – A Process Framework that Integrates


Design Sprints, Agile Processes, and Machine Learning with Humans . . . . . . 136
Chaehan So

Beyond the Buzzwords: On the Perspective of AI in UX and Vice Versa. . . . 146


Dieter P. Wallach, Lukas A. Flohr, and Annika Kaltenhauser
xviii Contents

A Paradigm Shift in Design Driven by AI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167


Qiong Wu and Cun Jun Zhang

AI Applications in HCI

Support Vector Machine Algorithm to Classify Instagram Users’ Accounts


Based on Users’ Interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Al-Batool Al-Ghamdi, Ameenah Al-Sulami, Nouf Al-Jadani,
and Maha Aljohani

Customer Self-remediation of Proactive Network Issue Detection


and Notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Donald M. Allen and Dmitry Goloubew

Cross-Scenario Performance Modelling for Big Data Ecosystems . . . . . . . . . 211


Fatimah Alsayoud and Ali Miri

Interaction with the Soundscape: Exploring Emotional Audio Generation


for Improved Individual Wellbeing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Alice Baird, Meishu Song, and Björn Schuller

A Feature Importance Study in Ballet Pose Recognition with OpenPose . . . . 243


Margaux Fourie and Dustin van der Haar

Educators in the Loop: Using Scenario Simulation as a Tool


to Understand and Investigate Predictive Models of Student
Dropout Risk in Distance Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Rômulo Freitas and Luciana Salgado

Is My Home Smart or Just Connected? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273


Susanne Furman and Julie Haney

Design Intelligence - Pitfalls and Challenges When Designing


AI Algorithms in B2B Factory Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Jennifer Heier, Jan Willmann, and Karsten Wendland

Socio-Technical Design of Hybrid Intelligence Systems – The Case


of Predictive Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Thomas Herrmann

EasySketchDesign: Product Sketch Design Assisted with Interactive


Sketch Retrieval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Yukun Hu, Suihuai Yu, Jianjie Chu, Yichen Yang, Chen Chen,
and Fangmin Cheng

Contextual Programming of Collaborative Robots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321


Chien-Ming Huang
Contents xix

AI Mobility Solutions for an Active Ageing Society. Introducing Aesthetic


Affordances in the Design of Smart Wheelchairs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Setsu Ito, Shinobu Ito, and Irina Suteu

Prediction-Based Uncertainty Estimation for Adaptive Crowd Navigation. . . . 353


Kapil D. Katyal, Katie Popek, Gregory D. Hager, I-Jeng Wang,
and Chien-Ming Huang

A Heterogeneous Ensemble Learning-Based Acoustic Fall Detection


Method for Elderly People in Indoor Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
XiaoLing Li, JiaWei Li, JiaRui Lai, ZiMing Zheng, WeiWei Jia,
and Bin Liu

Multi-view Visual Question Answering Dataset for Real


Environment Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
Yue Qiu, Yutaka Satoh, Ryota Suzuki, and Kenji Iwata

Social Dynamics in Human-Robot Groups – Possible Consequences


of Unequal Adaptation to Group Members Through Machine Learning
in Human-Robot Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
Astrid Rosenthal-von der Pütten and Anna M. H. Abrams

What Emotions Make One or Five Stars? Understanding Ratings of Online


Product Reviews by Sentiment Analysis and XAI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
Chaehan So

Joking AI via Visual Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422


Ryota Suzuki, Kota Yoshida, Munetaka Minoguchi, Kazuki Tsubura,
Takumu Ikeya, Akio Nakamura, and Hirokatsu Kataoka

Interactive Method to Elicit Local Causal Knowledge for Creating


a Huge Causal Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
Genki Yamashita, Taro Kanno, and Kazuo Furuta

Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447


Human-Centered AI
Towards Increased Transparency
with Value Sensitive Design

Jacob Dexe1,2 , Ulrik Franke1,2(B) , Anneli Avatare Nöu1 ,


and Alexander Rad1
1
RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, 164 29 Kista, Sweden
{jacob.dexe,ulrik.franke,anneli.nou,alexander.rad}@ri.se
2
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract. In the past few years, the ethics and transparency of AI and
other digital systems have received much attention. There is a vivid dis-
cussion on explainable AI, both among practitioners and in academia,
with contributions from diverse fields such as computer science, human-
computer interaction, law, and philosophy. Using the Value Sensitive
Design (VSD) method as a point of departure, this paper explores how
VSD can be used in the context of transparency. More precisely, it is
investigated (i) if the VSD Envisioning Cards facilitate transparency as
a pro-ethical condition, (ii) if they can be improved to realize ethical prin-
ciples through transparency, and (iii) if they can be adapted to facilitate
reflection on ethical principles in large groups. The research questions
are addressed through a two-fold case study, combining one case where
a larger audience participated in a reduced version of VSD with another
case where a smaller audience participated in a more traditional VSD
workshop. It is concluded that while the Envisioning Cards are effective
in promoting ethical reflection in general, the realization of ethical val-
ues through transparency is not always similarly promoted. Therefore,
it is proposed that a transparency card be added to the Envisioning
Card deck. It is also concluded that a lightweight version of VSD seems
useful in engaging larger audiences. The paper is concluded with some
suggestions for future work.

Keywords: Value Sensitive Design · Transparency · Explainability ·


Financial markets · Internet of Things

1 Introduction

With recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), issues pertaining to the


ethics and transparency of AI and other digital systems have received much
attention. Contributions come from many academic fields, including computer
science, human-computer interaction, law, philosophy, and others. Among the
This research was partially supported by Länsförsäkringsgruppens Forsknings- &
Utvecklingsfond, agreement no. P4/18.
c Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
H. Degen and L. Reinerman-Jones (Eds.): HCII 2020, LNCS 12217, pp. 3–15, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50334-5_1
4 J. Dexe et al.

questions explored are how to understand the notions of transparency and


explainability in different contexts, how to make existing systems more trans-
parent, what effects transparency can entail, and how to construct systems for
increased transparency from the very first design phases.
It is the latter problem of designing for transparency that we address in
this paper. More precisely, we present some first steps towards applying Value
Sensitive Design (VSD), and specifically the Envisioning Cards,1 to this end.
VSD was introduced by Batya Friedman in 1996 [9] as a method to systematically
and proactively take account of human values throughout a design process. In
the decades since, it has been influential in the design of information systems in
general [10] as well as AI in particular [6,15].
While VSD is useful for getting participants to adopt more varied ethical
viewpoints, it is also important to make sure that those viewpoints are put into
practice. Turilli & Floridi [13] argue that information transparency serves as a
pro-ethical condition. This means that in order for certain ethical principles to be
realized, we need to consider information transparency. For example, sometimes
ethical principles might require data transparency, whereas sometimes, ethics
might require data to be hidden, but the rules regulating this practice to be
transparent. We are therefore interested in seeing whether Envisioning Cards let
participants discuss how transparency can act as such a pro-ethical condition,
increasing chances that ethical principles are realized.
Thus, in this paper we explore how VSD can be used in new contexts to
engage broader audiences and, perhaps more importantly, how and if Envisioning
Cards could be amended to not only highlight but also realize ethical principles
in design processes. More precisely, the research questions addressed are the
following:
RQ1: Do the VSD Envisioning Cards facilitate transparency as a pro-ethical
condition?
RQ2: How can the Envisioning Card tool be improved in order to realize ethical
principles through transparency?
RQ3: Can the Envisioning Card tool be adapted to facilitate reflection on ethical
principles in large groups?
The remainder of this paper is structured as follows: The next section gives
an overview of related work. Section 3 introduces the research method used,
followed by a presentation of results in Sect. 4. These are discussed in Sect. 5,
before Sect. 6 concludes the paper.

2 Related Work
Transparency in digital systems is a topic well covered in academic literature,
and is naturally much more complex than the simplifications made in this article.
First, transparency is not necessarily beneficial in and of itself. As related
in the introduction above, Turilli & Floridi [13] call transparency a pro-ethical
1
www.envisioningcards.com.
Towards Increased Transparency with Value Sensitive Design 5

condition, meaning that transparency is a condition for several ethical principles.


The condition has two relations—dependence and regulation. For dependence,
their argument is that several ethical principles are dependent on transparency
in order to be realized—accountability and informed consent among them. Here,
information has to be disclosed in some form in order for accountability to “exist
in any meaningful way” (quoting from Mallin [11]). For instance informed con-
sent cannot exist without having information to consent to. As for regulation,
ethical principles—here the examples are privacy, anonymity and freedom of
expression—work by restricting the flow of information, but transparency also
enables ethical principles by providing information about “regulatory constraints
to the public”.
de Laat adopts a somewhat similar instrumental view of transparency, argu-
ing that full transparency most often is not desirable, listing several objections
[3]: loss of privacy, perverse effects of disclosure, loss of competitive edge, and the
limited gains that can be expected from transparency if algorithms are inher-
ently opaque. Instead, he opts for full transparency for oversight bodies only,
rather than the general public.
Royakkers et al. [12] bring up social and ethical issues that proceed as a
result of digitalization by looking at various technologies, such as Internet of
Things, biometrics, robotics, and digital platforms. It turns out that six public
(ethical) values recur throughout their investigation [12]: Privacy, autonomy,
security, human dignity, justice and balance of power. Increased digitalization
in society puts these values under various forms of pressure. Furthermore, it is
emphasized that transparency is an issue involved in for example privacy and
balance of power. To uphold the ethical values, it is important to elucidate issues
involved, such as transparency.
It is also important to relate to the emerging field of AI ethics, as AI systems
have an increasing impact on society. It is commonly held that ethical and social
values must be reflected in AI design. Dignum [5] discusses transparency as an
important ethical construction to understand AI systems. Furthermore, Dignum
argues that accountability, responsibility and transparency (ART) are essential
principles that should form the basis of AI systems.
Zerilli et al. argue that while transparency and explainability are certainly
important, it may be that algorithms are held to an unrealistically high stan-
dard [17]. They review evidence of well-known flaws (including transparency
problems) in human decision-making, and propose that relevant justification of
algorithmic decisions should be similar to human justification. More precisely,
they recommend explanations for algorithmic decisions similar to Daniel Den-
nett’s theory of the “intentional stance” [4], rather than explanations based on
the technical architectures of tools.
The aim of our paper is not to make a contribution to the theoretical lit-
erature on transparency. Our ultimate aim is more empirical, as related in the
RQs, even though this paper only represents some first steps. However, we note
6 J. Dexe et al.

with satisfaction that questions related to transparency in information systems


attract considerable attention, emphasizing the (eventual) importance of empir-
ical research such as ours.

3 Method
The study reported is two-fold, combining a first case where a larger audience
participated in a reduced version of VSD, with an emphasis on transparency, with
a second case where a smaller audience participated in a more traditional VSD
workshop. Both cases took place in December, 2019. Following an introduction
of the VSD method, the conditions of the two cases studied are described.

3.1 Value Sensitive Design


Value Sensitive Design (VSD) is a theoretically grounded strategy for the design
of technology that attempts to present human values in a fundamental and
comprehensive way throughout the design process. It uses an iterative tripartite
methodology, consisting of (i) conceptual, (ii) empirical, and (iii) technological
investigations around human values [8]. Though the early literature on VSD
did not define values explicitly but rather used examples [2], Friedman et al. in
later work define a human value as “what is important to people in their lives,
with a focus on ethics and morality” [8]. Examples important in technical design
include human welfare, privacy, freedom from bias, trust, autonomy, informed
consent and identity [8].
Conceptual investigations include philosophically informed analysis with the
goal to identify the stakeholders who are influenced by the technical design and
also the central values at stake in the design context [8]. The empirical inves-
tigations are based on the conceptual by identifying values that are important
to the stakeholders (both direct and indirect stakeholders) when they use the
technology. The significance of the empirical investigation is to obtain informa-
tion about how stakeholders perceive the technical artifact with respect to the
values that are important to them in relation to their social context in which
the technology is located [8,10]. The technical investigations focus on the tech-
nical design and performance. An important aspect of VSD is the focus on both
direct and indirect stakeholders, as well as how the technology will promote
the human and moral values identified. Each decision will have an impact on
usability, stakeholder values and stakeholder access.
In [8] a number of VSD methods are presented which provide guidance on
how to conduct a certain type of research or design enquiry. The methods are
based on the theoretical constructs of VSD. For example, an important theoret-
ical commitment (conceptual) is to identify the direct and indirect stakeholders
in a design project. One practical method is the Envisioning cards, which is
like a versatile toolkit that take into account human values during the design
process. The method is based on four envisioning criteria [7]: (i) stakeholders,
(ii) time, (iii) values, and (iv) pervasiveness. The cards can be used by for exam-
ple designers, technologists and end-users as they are self-explanatory and the
Towards Increased Transparency with Value Sensitive Design 7

Fig. 1. Data collection in case 1, along with refreshments.

cards support them in the ethical reflection. The cards are “designed to pro-
vide opportunities for values-oriented reflection, iteration, and course correction
throughout the design, implementation, and evaluation of information tools”
according to Davis & Nathan [2]. Davis & Nathan also claim that as of 2015,
Envisioning Cards had only been applied in classroom settings in academia.

3.2 Case 1
The first case took place at an event titled Financial Markets Transparency,
co-hosted by the authors at the Stockholm School on Economics. Following a
keynote on financial markets and AI by Paolo Sironi from IBM Watson Financial
Services, the VSD Envisioning Cards were used to engage the audience, consist-
ing of 25 people, mostly professionals from the IT and finance sectors. More
precisely, four pairs of cards and adapted questions, one for each of the four
envisioning criteria, were shown to the audience, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Their
answers to the questions were collected using menti.com, and the results were
presented to all as they were entered. Participants were free to submit as many
responses as they pleased during the time the poll was active, i.e., more than one
answer per participant was allowed. Following this data collection, which coin-
cided with some refreshments, three additional experts from academia, industry,
and government joined the keynote speaker in a panel. In the panel discussion,
the moderator (one of the authors) used the questions and the answers collected
as input.

3.3 Case 2
The second case took place within the context of an R&D project conducted
jointly between one research institute, one university college, and five commercial
8 J. Dexe et al.

Fig. 2. An illustration of the model: finding ways for the workers to use IoT technology.

companies working with industrial production. The project aim is to find ways
for workers in manufacturing to quickly put internet-of-things (IoT) technology
to use, without need for additional training or external experts. (To meet this
goal, the project has a particular focus on the technology being accessible and
understandable, thus lowering the threshold for its use by the factory workers).
Two of the authors conducted a 2-h workshop with 5 people (researchers from
the research institute) participating in the project. In this case, the VSD method-
ology was followed more thoroughly, and the Envisioning Cards were again used
to introduce new perspectives to the workshop participants and provoke their
thoughts.
The workshop started by explaining the purpose and method. Then, par-
ticipants drew a model of their project on a large paper (see Fig. 2), both to
give themselves a shared view of what they were working on, and to give the
workshop leaders an insight into what the project was about. Then, in segments
of 20 min per category, Envisioning Cards were introduced. For stakeholders the
cards Direct Stakeholders and Non-targeted Use were used, for time Work of the
Future and Obsolesence, for values Choose Desired Values and Elicit Stakeholder
Views and Values, and for pervasiveness Accounting for Culture and Widespread
Use. The workshop leaders were active in the discussion, suggesting perspectives
and challenging views and arguments of the participants. The results were doc-
umented by saving the physical artifacts created in the session, i.e., hand-drawn
model illustrations, post-its added to the illustration, and lists pertaining to dif-
ferent Envisioning Cards. After the workshop, the participants were invited to
share their impressions and thoughts about the method in order for the workshop
leaders to evaluate what effect the participants thought the method had.
Towards Increased Transparency with Value Sensitive Design 9

(a) Stakeholders: 29 responses from 24 (b) Time: 20 responses from 16 respon-


respondents dents

(c) Values: 19 responses from 16 respon- (d) Pervasiveness: 17 responses from 17


dents respondents

Fig. 3. Case 1 audience responses to the questions, arranged by envisioning criteria.


Each response can contain up to five separate text field inputs.

4 Results

4.1 Case 1

The answers given to the stakeholders question (Fig. 3(a)) show a heavy emphasis
on consumer perspectives (“consumers”, “customers”, “end-customer”, “hope-
fully customers”, “the customers”) and the corporate entities that would adopt
more transparent algorithms (“banks”, “corporations”, “financial institutions”,
“microbanks”). The time question (Fig. 3(b)) offers a less coherent image, but is
centered on trust, sustainability and equality. The answers to the values ques-
tion (Fig. 3(c)) highlight equality and inclusion, as well as democracy, trust,
collaboration, fairness and information symmetry. The pervasiveness question
(Fig. 3(d)), finally, is heavily skewed towards transparency being positive for
European actors. While we did not test for the prior knowledge and views of
participants, the answers give a broader view than the authors had expected—
either indicating that the participants were more well versed in the topic than
expected, or that the questions actually help re-frame the topic and offer broader
perspectives, as VSD aims to.
10 J. Dexe et al.

Fig. 4. The results from the brainstorming with the Envisioning Cards; (i) Stakehold-
ers, (ii) Time, (iii) Values and (iv) Pervasiveness.

4.2 Case 2

The participants initially described their project as focusing on giving produc-


tion line workers an easy way to implement IoT monitoring and then being able
to respond to the input from the IoT system—hopefully giving better overview,
quicker response time for service and letting employees take initiatives in devel-
oping the production line. The results from the brainstorming with the four
categories of envisioning cards are illustrated in Fig. 4 and described in greater
detail in the following.
The stakeholders cards let the participants first identify actors in the process
and their motivations, and then possibilities that the system might be used for
things which the participants did not intend. The participants zeroed in on the
people who are involved in the work they want to affect, a somewhat narrow
definition of stakeholder. The workshop leaders helped the participants expand
the definition, which appeared to be useful in later discussions. The Non-targeted
Use card led the participants to think of the unintended consequences a very
adaptable system might have, and the problem with enabling more monitoring
in the workplace.
The time cards started with a brainstorming session which created a lot
of output, but did not foster discussion in the same way the previous cards
had. The Obsolescence card seemed to not match the project as well as the
workshop leaders had anticipated—the participants seemed fairly confident in
that technological or methodological obsolescence was not a large concern going
forward.
The values cards were to be fairly close to what the participants saw as
the stand out feature of their project. Despite this, the group mentioned that
this was one of the more valuable parts of the workshop, as they had not tried
Towards Increased Transparency with Value Sensitive Design 11

to formulate values—and especially tensions between different stakeholders and


values. The latter question opened up lines of thought that the participants claim
they had not dealt with before, and was one of the reasons why they stated that
they would want to adapt the method themselves when continuing their work in
the project.
The pervasiveness cards were further from the group’s normal line of work.
Regarding cultures, they quickly broke the question down to not only deal with
culture as in different origins, but also culture in the workplace, and between
different roles in a project, e.g., themselves as researchers, and their project
partners as line workers or managers at private companies. The final card proved
harder to get results from.
The participants in Case 2 were already well versed in workshops and meth-
ods for expanding thinking on responsibility and human centered design. How-
ever, they stated after the workshop that they had not reflected on a number
of the perspectives among the Envisioning Cards, specifically when it came to
assigning specific values and reflecting on value tensions, as well as cultural
impacts. As an aside, the group also stated that they intend to adopt the VSD
method in their project.
However, while the group did reflect on ethical principles and the conse-
quences of using technologies in different ways, they did not explicitly discuss
those things in terms of transparency. Inferences could be made from how certain
aspects of the process were described (e.g. being able to discuss what problems
to solve and how among coworkers requires transparency to some degree) but
were not mentioned outright, and aside from wanting to use the method in their
project, the participants did not discuss how to realize ethical principles and
values that they had identified.

5 Discussion
5.1 Reliability and Validity
Having used two different approaches to the Envisioning Cards, one in line with
normal procedures and one where aspects of the Envisioning Cards were used
in a very different setting, the reliability of the study is somewhat mixed. For
case 2, the participants believe that they reflected on values and ethics in a way
that they have not done before, which seems to be in line with the aim and
use of the method. However, repeated attempts with the same group have not
been performed, which weakens the reliability somewhat as only one instance
for applying the method has been realized. In case 1, the Envisioning Cards
were applied in an unorthodox way in a single instance. While the results are
interesting and noteworthy, reliability is admittedly not as high as it would be
with repeated trials on new audiences and new formulations.
In both cases, the validity seems to be good. Case 1 investigates whether
adaptation of the Envisioning Cards is possible on larger audiences, and the
menti.com system was used by the audience for interaction and engagement in
the discussion. Case 2 was, as previously remarked, a fairly standard workshop
12 J. Dexe et al.

using Envisioning Cards. The reflections from the participants give an indication
of how the method influenced the participants’ reasoning.

5.2 Effects of Using Envisioning Cards

Despite Envisioning Cards being a tool that is most often applied to smaller
teams, case 1 showed that even in a setting with larger audiences the types of
questions posed in the Envisioning Cards do allow participants to reflect on eth-
ical principles to a larger extent than the authors initially assumed. A live word
cloud was used to support the participants and gave the ability for them to add
multiple answers. The participants could see the word cloud forming and updat-
ing (see Fig. 3) both on the auditorium screen and in their respective phones
or computers. This allows the audience to react, e.g., ‘agreeing’ by submitting
an identical answer, or ‘conversing’ by submitting an answer inspired by a pre-
vious one. However, this requires instructions to make sure that the audience
makes use of this latent interactivity. Such instructions could also alleviate some
disadvantages of word clouds, such as similar concepts not identically worded
being separately treated (e.g., “customers” and “end-customers” in Fig. 3(a)). As
shown in Fig. 3, all of the word clouds had more answers submitted than individ-
uals who submitted responses (and each submitted response could include five
separate answers). It can thus be concluded that VSD-inspired questions can
indeed be used in larger settings to provide new perspectives.
The Envisioning Cards, unsurprisingly, work best when there is a common
design project for all the participants (case 2). The common design project gives
a common frame of reference that is a clear benefit compared to what is possible
in more loosely assembled audience as in case 1. Symptoms of this in the larger
audience include lack of common understanding of the questions discussed (cf.,
e.g., the “nor (sic!) sure what this means” comment (barely visible) in Fig. 3(b)).
In case 2, the participants managed to make many more values and principles
more explicit than in case 1. This is, of course, partly due to the more standard
use case for the Envisioning Cards, and perhaps partly due to the participants
in case 2 being more versed and in tune with the perspectives that the cards aim
at getting participants to discuss. Having a drawing of the entire process (Fig. 2)
made the team focus not only on the finished product but also on what it takes
to get it there, and where different ethical principles and values come into play.
The group used the drawn image of the project as a reference when discussing
the various cards, and made amendments along the way when they thought of
processes that they had initially forgotten to make explicit.
The participants in case 2 said that the method made them reflect on the
possible adverse effects of their project. Previously, while they had worked on
human-centred perspectives, they had mainly reflected on positive uses and pos-
itive effects, with little or no reflection of possible negative (unintended) impli-
cations. The group claimed that the VSD approach helped them see the project
and their method in a broader perspective.
Towards Increased Transparency with Value Sensitive Design 13

5.3 Transparency

In case 1, transparency was introduced as an explicit part of the questions posed,


in order to make them more in line with the theme of the seminar. In case 2, we
did not explicitly introduce any questions regarding transparency. Therefore case
2 can be used to see if the Envisioning Cards also help participants to connect
the dots between what ethical principles are introduced in the workshop, and
how to actually realize those principles (as per Turilli’s & Floridi’s hypothesis
about transparency as a pro-ethical condition [13]).
However, in the discussions in case 2 transparency was not brought up as an
explicit condition for realizing ethical principles. The participants did, however,
seem to come to a realization that it was necessary to be more explicit and
present with the employees in stage 1–3 (see Fig. 2) in order for the actual
implementation to be of high quality. The participants concluded that while the
product itself might not be clear with information output, the process ought
to be. This realization, by the workshop participants, could be construed as (a
particular kind of) transparency being important to realize the ethical value
“democratize technology” [16] which was highlighted by the participants as a
core value of the product.

6 Conclusion

The results are related to the three questions presented in the introduction.
RQ 1: Do the VSD Envisioning Cards facilitate transparency as a pro-ethical
condition? It is concluded that while the Envisioning Cards are an effective
tool to promote reflection on values and ethical principles, it is not necessarily
promoting ways to realize those values and principles through transparency.
RQ 2: How can the Envisioning Card tool be improved in order to realize
ethical principles through transparency? Going forward—while our research is
narrow in scope, we propose that (at least) one additional card be introduced to
the Envisioning Card deck, a card in the pervasiveness category to deal with the
problem of realizing ethical principles. In short—a transparency card. As stated
in the literature, with AI technologies becoming more prevalent, transparency
is most likely growing more important for organisations aiming to fulfill ethical
principles.
We also suggest further empirical evaluation of end results from design pro-
cesses, such as actual products or services designed and built, in terms of desir-
able features that were aimed for in the Envisioning Card session, such as
transparency. Though such evaluation may require more time (even consider-
ably more, depending on the context), we believe that this is a very worthwhile
empirical endeavor which would shed considerable additional light on what can
and cannot reasonably be accomplished using VSD and its Envisioning Cards.
RQ 3: Can the Envisioning Card tool be adapted to facilitate reflection on
ethical principles in large groups? We conclude that a lightweight version of the
method seems useful in engaging larger audiences with the relevant questions and
14 J. Dexe et al.

tools that help audiences interact. However, it is also clear that more research
is needed to further corroborate this finding.
As for methodology, in case 1 at least two things need to be adjusted for, or
developed further. First, there is a need for further investigation into the impor-
tance of common understanding of the problem beforehand, e.g., as gained from
an introductory lecture to a larger audience, in order to further mimic the work-
shop setting that the Envisioning Cards are usually applied in. Second, there
is a need for further investigation of the impact of particular wordings when
paraphrasing the Envisioning Cards for specific contexts, which will undoubt-
edly prime and anchor [14] participants into particular ways of thinking. But
these require serious consideration when extrapolating the VSD method to new
settings. We would also suggest further development of VSD for larger audi-
ences, such as case 1, inspired by insights from the literature, e.g., [1]. In an
academic setting, the adapted method could also be used in a class setting dur-
ing a full course, to facilitate the repetition and shared perspectives the method
encourages.
Finally, some reflections and further investigations regarding the use of the
Envisioning Cards in design projects that fit into case 2. We would like to con-
tinue following the process and use the cards over time. Further investigation of
the effectiveness of cards on different participants, taking prior knowledge and
other demographic factors into account would be welcome. We would also like
to further develop what sort of artifacts participants ought to make during the
workshop in order to both improve the discussion and, more importantly, give
the participants something to come back to when continuing the design process.
Using the VSD in one-off settings leaves several discussions unresolved, such
as finding out what participants think about the discussions in between iterations
and how the ideas that are developed in the workshops are implemented over
time. While this first study did not adopt the iterative process that is suggested
in the instructions for the Envisioning Cards, we are confident that it would
increase the value of the method and allow the results to be absorbed by the
participants to a larger degree.

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Another random document with
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The Crane Family.

I am not going to talk of Ichabod Crane, or Jeremiah Crane, or of


their wives or families. I shall leave these respectable people for the
present, and say a few words about certain long-legged birds which
are very interesting, though not very familiarly known to most of us.
The storks and cranes are so nearly alike that they might seem to be
cousins. They have both enormously long legs and bills, and seem
particularly well fitted to wading in the water—a thing they can do
without rolling up their pantaloons. Look at this tall fellow at the head
of this article, and tell me if he need be afraid of wetting his clothes
by taking a ramble in a brook.
The engraving represents a crane. Let me first say a few words of
his cousin stork. This bird, that is spoken of in the Bible as one that
“knoweth her appointed time,” is not found among us, but it is well
known in some parts of Europe. In Holland, it arrives in small bands
or flocks, about the first of April, and universally meets with a kind
and welcome reception from the inhabitants. Returning year after
year to the same town, and the same chimney-top, it reoccupies its
deserted nest; and the gladness these birds manifest in again taking
possession of their dwelling, and the attachment they testify towards
their benevolent hosts, are familiar in the mouths of every one. Nor is
the stork less remarkable for its affection towards its young; and the
story is well known of a female bird, which, during the conflagration
at Delft, chose rather to perish with her young than abandon them to
their fate. Incubation and the rearing of the young being over by
August, the stork, in the early part of that month, prepares for its
departure. The north of Africa, and especially Egypt, are the places
of its winter sojourning, for there the marshes are unfrozen, its food
is in abundance, and the climate is congenial. Previous to setting out
on their airy journey, multitudes assemble from the surrounding
districts, chattering with their bills as if in consultation. On the
appointed night, a period which appears to be universally chosen by
the migratory tribes, they mount into the higher regions of the air,
and sail away southwards to their destined haven.
The nest of the stork is formed of twigs and sticks, and the eggs,
from three to five in number, and nearly as large as those of a goose,
are of a yellowish white. Of the countless multitudes in which the
stork assembles in order to perform its periodical migrations, some
idea may be entertained from Dr. Shaw’s account of the flocks which
he witnessed leaving Egypt and passing over Mount Carmel, each of
which was half a mile in breadth, and occupied a space of three
hours in passing. When reposing, the stork stands upon one leg,
with the neck bent backwards, and the head resting between the
shoulders. Such also is its attitude when watching for its prey. Its
motions are stately, and it stalks along with slow and measured
steps. Its plumage is pure white.
The cranes bear a close resemblance to the white stork, which we
have been describing, but become even more familiar in some of the
countries they inhabit, and, in consequence of their larger size,
render more essential service in the removal of carrion, offal, and
other nuisances. This important office they share with the vultures,
and, like those birds, are universally privileged from all annoyance, in
return for so meritorious an exertion of their natural propensities.
They seem to be constantly attracted by the heaps of offensive
substances collected in the villages and towns, which they devour
without scruple, and in immense quantities.
The adjutant arrives in Bengal, in India, before the rainy season.
Its gape is enormous, and its voracity astonishing; not that it is
ferocious towards man; quite the contrary, for it is peaceable, and
even timid; but small quadrupeds are swallowed without any scruple.
In the stomach of one, as Latham states, were found a land tortoise
ten inches long, and a large black cat entire.
Of the African Marabou Crane, the voracious and omniverous
propensities are attested by Major Denham; carrion, reptiles, and
small quadrupeds are swallowed at a bolt, with indiscriminate
voracity. Smeatham, who resided at Sierra Leone, has given an
interesting account of this bird. He observes that the adult bird will
often measure seven feet; and that the head, covered with white
down thinly dispersed, is not unlike that of a gray-headed man. It
associates in flocks, which, when seen at a distance, near the
mouths of rivers, coming towards an observer, with their wings
extended, as they often do, may readily be mistaken for canoes on a
smooth sea. “One of these, a young bird, about five feet high, was
brought up tame, and presented to the chief of the Bananas, where
Mr. Smeatham lived; and being accustomed to be fed in the great
hall, soon became familiar; duly attending that place at dinner-time,
and placing itself behind its master’s chair, frequently before the
guests entered. The servants were obliged to watch narrowly and to
defend the provisions with switches, but, notwithstanding, it would
frequently snatch something or other, and once purloined a whole
boiled fowl, which it swallowed in an instant. Its courage is not equal
to its voracity; for a child of ten years soon puts it to flight with a
switch, though it seems at first to stand on its defence, by
threatening with its enormous bill widely extended, and roaring with a
loud voice, like a bear or tiger. It is an enemy to small quadrupeds,
as well as birds and reptiles, and slyly destroys fowls and chickens.
Everything is swallowed whole, and so accommodating is its throat,
that not only an animal as big as a cat is gulped down, but a shin of
beef broken asunder serves it but for two morsels. It has been
known to swallow a leg of mutton of five or six pounds, a hare, and
also a small fox.”
Sketches of the Manners, Customs, and History
of the Indians of America.
(Continued from page 144.)

CHAPTER III.
The West Indies continued.—​Columbus discovers the Antilles.—​
Cannibalism reported.—​Appearance of the people.—​Their
origin.—​Arts.—​Customs.—​Character.—​Their extermination.

Columbus discovered the islands of the Caribs during his second


voyage to America, in 1493. The first island he saw he named
Dominico, because he discovered it on Sunday. As the ships gently
moved onward, other islands rose to sight, one after another,
covered with forests, and enlivened with flights of parrots and other
tropical birds, while the whole air was sweetened by the fragrance of
the breezes which passed over them.
This beautiful cluster of islands is called the Antilles. They extend
from the eastern end of Porto Rico to the coast of Paria on the
southern continent, forming a kind of barrier between the main ocean
and the Caribbean sea;—here was the country of the Caribs.
Columbus had heard of the Caribs during his stay at Hayti and Cuba,
at the time of his first voyage. The timid and indolent race of Indians
in those pleasant islands were mortally afraid of the Caribs, and had
repeatedly besought Columbus to assist them in overcoming these
their ferocious enemies. The Caribs were represented as terrible
warriors, and cruel cannibals, who roasted and eat their captives.
This the gentle Haytians thought, truly enough, was a good pretext
for warning the Christians against such foes. Columbus did not at
first imagine the beautiful paradise he saw, as he sailed onward
among these green and spicy islands, could be the residence of
cruel men; but on landing at Guadaloupe he soon became convinced
he was truly in a Golgotha, a place of skulls. He there saw human
limbs hanging in the houses as if curing for provisions, and some
even roasting at the fire for food. He knew then that he was in the
country of the Caribs.
On touching at the island of Montserrat, Columbus was informed
that the Caribs had eaten up all the inhabitants. If that had been true,
it seems strange how he obtained his information.
It is probable many of these stories were exaggerations. The
Caribs were a warlike people, in many respects essentially differing
in character from the natives of the other West India Islands. They
were enterprising as well as ferocious, and frequently made roving
expeditions in their canoes to the distance of one hundred and fifty
leagues, invading the islands, ravaging the villages, making slaves of
the youngest and handsomest females, and carrying off the men to
be killed and eaten.
These things were bad enough, and it is not strange report should
make them more terrible than the reality. The Caribs also gave the
Spaniards more trouble than did the effeminate natives of the other
islands. They fought their invaders desperately. In some cases the
women showed as much bravery as the men. At Santa Cruz the
females plied their bows with such vigor, that one of them sent an
arrow through a Spanish buckler, and wounded the soldier who bore
it.
There have been many speculations respecting the origin of the
Caribs. That they were a different race from the inhabitants of the
other islands, is generally acknowledged. They also differed from the
Indians of Mexico and Peru; though some writers think they were
culprits banished either from the continent or the large islands, and
thus a difference of situation might have produced a difference of
manners. Others think they were descended from some civilized
people of Europe or Africa. There is no difficulty attending the belief
that a Carthaginian or Ph[oe]nician vessel might have been
overtaken by a storm, and blown about by the gales, till it entered the
current of the trade-winds, when it would have been easily carried to
the West Indies. If they had no women with them, they might have
discovered the large islands or the continent, and procured wives
from them. In process of time, their numbers might have increased
so as to form the scanty population of St. Vincent, Martinico,
Guadaloupe, Dominica, and other small islands where the Caribs
were settled.
The Caribs had as many of the arts as were necessary to live at
ease in that luxurious climate. They knew how to build their carbets
or houses; how to make their boats, baskets, arms, hammocks, and
to prepare their provisions.
The hammocks of the Caribs strengthens the supposition that
they were descended from some maritime adventurers. They were
made of coarse cotton cloth, six or seven feet long, and twelve or
fourteen wide; each end was ornamented with cords, which they
called ribands; these were more than two feet long, twisted, and well
made. All the cords at each end were joined together, and formed
loops, through which a long rope was inserted, in order to fasten the
hammocks to the posts at the side of the house, and to support the
persons within them. These hammocks were woven by the women,
entirely by hand labor, as they had no looms, and was a very tedious
process. But when completed, and painted red, as was the usual
fashion, they were very strong, and quite ornamental in their carbets.

Carib Carbet.
The carbet is thus described by a French missionary: “The Carib
dwelling I entered was about sixty feet long and twenty-four wide.
The posts on which it was erected were rough and forked, and the
shortest of them about nine feet above the ground; the others were
proportioned to the height of the roof. The windward end was
enclosed with a kind of wicker-work of split flags; the roof was
covered with the leaves of the wild plantain, which here grows very
large; the laths were made of reeds. The end of the carbet which
was covered had a doorway for a passage to the kitchen; the other
end was nearly all open. Ten paces from the great carbet was
another building, about half the size of the large one, which was
divided by a reed partition. The first room was the kitchen; here six
or eight females were employed in making cassada. The second
room was for a sleeping apartment for such of the women and
children as were not accommodated in the great carbet.
“All the rooms were furnished with hammocks and baskets. The
men had their weapons in the great carbet. Some of the men were
making baskets—two women were making a hammock. There were
many bows, arrows, and clubs attached to the rafters. The floor was
smooth and clean; it was made of well-beaten earth, and sloped
towards the side. There was a good fire, about one third the length of
the carbet, round which a number of Caribs were squatted on their
haunches. They were smoking and waiting till some fish were
roasted, and made their salutations to me without rising.”
The Caribs were hunters and fishermen. Their food was much
better cooked than that of the Indians of the northern continent, who
lived by the chase and fishing, though to us it would not appear very
refined. Their meat and small birds they stuck on a kind of wooden
spit, which was fixed in the ground before the fire, and they turned it,
till all the slices of meat or the birds were roasted.
This was quite a civilized method of management compared with
their treatment of the large birds, such as parrots, pigeons, &c.
These they threw on the fire, without picking or dressing them, and
when the feathers were burnt, they raked the bird up in the cinders
till it was done. On taking it from the ashes, the crust formed by the
burnt feathers peeled off, and the bird was perfectly clean and
delicate. It is said this manner of roasting was much approved by the
Europeans who had an opportunity of trying it.
The Caribs usually spread two tables at their meals; on one was
placed their bread, (cassada,) on the other the fish, fowls, crabs and
pimentado. This pimentado was made of the juice of manioc, boiled,
a quantity of pimento, and the juice of lemon or some other acid. It
was their favorite sauce; they used it with all their meats, but they
made it so hot that nobody but themselves could eat it. A favorite
dish with them was stewed crabs. None of their food was eaten raw;
in general their taste seemed inclined to overdone and high-
seasoned dishes.
The manioc, from which the cassada is made, was a great article
of food among the Caribs. The ordinary size of the roots is equal to
that of the beet; they are of the consistency of parsnips, and
commonly ripen in about eight months.
The manioc was planted in trenches, about two feet and a half
apart, and six inches deep. It was necessary to keep the plant free
from weeds. When ripe, the shrub and roots were all dug up
together, like potatoes. When the roots were taken up, the bark or
skin was scraped off, just as parsnips are scraped; then they were
washed clean and grated fine, something like horseradish. Then the
grated mass was put into a strainer of split flags, or the bark of a
tree.
The strainer was six or seven feet long, and four or five inches in
diameter. It was woven something like a cotton stocking, in order that
it might be expanded to receive the manioc, and contract for the
purpose of expressing the juice. When filled, it was hung on the limb
of a tree, with a basket of stones fastened to the bottom, which
gradually forced out the juice of the manioc, which is of a poisonous
quality unless it is boiled.
Caribs preparing Manioc.
When the manioc was sufficiently dry, they took daily what they
wanted, and having passed the flour through a sieve made of reeds,
they then made it into paste, and baked it upon flat stones. It is a
very nourishing kind of bread, and is to this day used in many parts
of tropical America.
The Caribs had discovered the art of making intoxicating
beverages, so that they really needed a temperance society,—not
quite so much, perhaps, as their civilized invaders. In this respect the
Caribs had far outstripped the inventions of the northern barbarians.

Carib Vessels.
No people in the world were more expert than the Caribs in the
management of a boat. They had two sorts of vessels—becassas,
with three masts and square sails, and piroques, with only two
masts. The last were about thirty feet long by four and a half feet
wide in the middle. The becassa was about forty-two feet long and
seven feet wide in the middle. They had sometimes figures of
monkeys painted red at the stern of their vessels. These vessels
were built of the West India cedar tree, which there grows to a
prodigious size. One tree made the keel of the vessel. It was felled
with immense labor, hewed to a proper degree of thickness, made
very smooth, and if any addition to the height was necessary, planks
were added to the sides. This work was all performed with sharp
hatchets made of flint.
Some of these vessels had topmasts, and the Caribs could rig out
fleets of thirty sail at a time. After the French had been some years
settled at Martinico, they were surprised one foggy morning by the
appearance of a fleet on their coast. The whole island was instantly
in alarm and commotion; every man seized his arms, thinking a large
squadron from Europe was come to attack the island. But the fog
cleared away, and there, close-hauled in shore, were twenty sail of
becassas and piroques, filled with Caribs, who had come for a
friendly trading visit.
The Caribs were usually rather above the middle stature, well
proportioned, and their countenances were rather agreeable. Their
foreheads had an extraordinary appearance, as they were flattened
by having a board bound tight on the forehead when they were
infants, and kept there till the head had taken the fashionable form.
The forehead then continued flat, so that they could see
perpendicularly when standing erect, and over their heads when
lying down. These were the objects aimed at, and so they, at least,
had a reason for their ridiculous custom; which is more than can be
said of all the customs of modern refined society.
They had small black eyes, beautiful teeth, white and even, and
long, glossy, black hair. The hair was always kept well anointed with
oil of palmachristi. It was difficult to judge of the color of their skin,
because they were always painted with rouco, which gave them the
appearance of boiled lobsters. The coat of paint preserved their
skins from the hot rays of the sun, and from the stings of the
musquito and gnat. It was thus far a useful invention, but they also
considered it highly ornamental. When they wished to appear
exceedingly grand, they added black mustaches, and other black
strokes on their red-painted faces, with the juice of the geripa apple.
The men wore ornaments, called caracolis, in their ears, noses,
and the under lip. The metal of which these ornaments were formed
came from the South American continent, but no one but an Indian
could ever find it. It is exceedingly brilliant, and does not tarnish. A
full-dressed Carib wore a caracolis in each ear. The ornament was in
the form of a crescent, suspended by chains about two and a half
inches long, which were fastened in the ear by a hook. Another
caracoli of the same size was attached to the gristle which separates
the nostrils, and hung over the mouth. The under part of the lower lip
was pierced, and thence hung another caracoli, which reached to the
neck; and in the last place, they had one six or seven inches long,
enchased in a small board of black wood, and suspended from the
neck by a small cord.
When they did not wear the caracolis, they inserted little pieces of
wood in their ears, &c., that the holes might not grow up; sometimes
they stuck the feathers of parrots in these holes, and thus looked
very queerly. They had a habit of sticking the hair of their children full
of feathers of different colors, which was done very prettily, and
looked quite appropriate with their round, red faces, and bright,
laughing eyes.
The women were smaller than the men, but equally well-formed.
They had black hair and eyes, round faces, their mouths were small,
and teeth beautiful. They had a gay and lively air, and their
countenances were smiling and very agreeable; but they were in
their behaviour perfectly modest.
Their hair was tied at the back of their heads, with a cotton fillet.
They wore belts and a little apron called a camisa. It was made of
cotton cloth, embroidered with beads, and had a bead fringe. They
wore scarfs of cotton cloth, about half a yard wide, called a pagn. It
was wrapped twice round the body under the armpits, and then was
tied, and the ends hung down to the knee. They wore necklaces,
composed of several strings of beads, and bracelets of the same.
They had buskins also, which were ornaments for the legs, very
tasteful, and in high fashion. The females performed most of the
cooking, and made the hammocks; and they had likewise to carry all
the burdens which were borne in baskets. A man would have been
dishonored forever if he had spun or woven cotton, or painted a
hammock, or carried a market-basket. But all the hard labor was
performed by the men, and they were very kind to their wives and
children.
They had some singular customs respecting deceased persons.
When a Carib died, he was immediately painted all over with the red
paint, and had his mustaches, and the black streaks on his face,
made very deep and shining. He was next put into a hole surrounded
with mats, and kept till all his relations could see and examine the
body. No matter how distant they lived, if on another island, they
must be summoned and appear, before the dead body could be
buried. But the thick coat of paint preserved it from decay for a long
time.
In their wars, I have told you, the Caribs were murderous and
cruel. They often poisoned their arrows, and probably often eat their
captives. They fought with bows and arrows, and clubs. But when
their angry passions became cool, they treated their prisoners with
humanity, and never tortured them like the northern savages.
In some instances these islanders were faithless and treacherous.
In 1708 the English entered into an agreement with the Caribs in St.
Vincents, to attack the French colonies in Martinico. The French
governor heard of the treaty, and sent Major Coullet, who was a
great favorite with the savages, to persuade them to break the treaty.
Coullet took with him a number of officers and servants, and a good
store of provisions and liquors. He reached St. Vincents, gave a
grand entertainment to the principal Caribs, and after circulating the
brandy freely, he got himself painted red, and made them a flaming
speech. He urged them to break their connection with the English.
How could they refuse a man who gave them brandy, and who was
red as themselves? They abandoned their English friends, and burnt
all the timber the English had cut on the island, and butchered the
first Englishman who arrived. But their crimes were no worse than
those of their christian advisers, who, on either side, were inciting
these savages to war.
But the Caribs are all gone, perished from the earth. Their race is
no more, and their name is only a remembrance. The English and
the French, chiefly the latter, have destroyed them.
There is, however, one pleasant reflection attending their fate.
Though destroyed, they were never enslaved. None of their
conquerers could compel them to labor. Even those who have
attempted to hire Caribs for servants, have found it impossible to
derive any benefit or profit from them; they would not be commanded
or reprimanded.
This independence was called pride, indolence, and stubbornness
by their conquerors;—if the Caribs had had historians to record their
wrongs, and their resistance to an overwhelming tyranny, they would
have set the matter in a very different light. They would have
expressed the sentiment which the conduct of their countrymen so
steadily exemplified—that it was better to die free than to live slaves.
So determined was their resistance to all kinds of authority, that it
became a proverb among the Europeans, that to show displeasure
to a Carib was the same as beating him, and to beat him was the
same as to kill him. If they did anything it was only what they chose,
how they chose, and when they chose; and when they were most
wanted, it often happened that they would not do what was required,
nor anything else.
The French missionaries made many attempts to convert the
Caribs to Christianity, but without success. It is true that some were
apparently converted; they learned the catechism, and prayers, and
were baptized; but they always returned to their old habits.
A man of family and fortune, named Chateau Dubois, settled in
Guadaloupe, and devoted great part of his life to the conversion of
the Caribs, particularly those of Dominica. He constantly entertained
a number of them, and taught them himself. He died in the exercise
of these pious and charitable offices, without the consolation of
having made one single convert.
As we have said, several had been baptized, and, as he hoped,
they were well instructed, and apparently well grounded in the
christian religion; but after they returned to their own people, they
soon resumed all the Indian customs, and their natural indifference
to all religion.
Some years after the death of Dubois, one of these Carib
apostates was at Martinico. He spoke French correctly, could read
and write; he had been baptized, and was then upwards of fifty years
old. When reminded of the truths he had been taught, and
reproached for his apostasy, he replied, “that if he had been born of
christian parents, or if he had continued to live among the French, he
would still have professed Christianity—but that, having returned to
his own country and his own people, he could not resolve to live in a
manner differing from their way of life, and by so doing expose
himself to the hatred and contempt of his relations.” Alas, it is small
matter of wonder that the Carib thought the christian religion was
only a profession. Had those who bore that name always been
Christians in reality, and treated the poor ignorant savages with the
justice, truth and mercy which the Gospel enjoins, what a different
tale the settlement of the New World would have furnished!

A good Reply.—A countryman drove up his cart to a grocer’s


door, and asked him what he gave for eggs. “Only seventeen cents,”
he replied, “for the grocers have had a meeting and voted not to give
any more.” Again the countryman came to market, and asked the
grocer what he gave for eggs. “Only twelve cents,” said the grocer,
“for the grocers have had another meeting and voted not to give any
more.” A third time the countryman came and made the same
inquiry, and the grocer replied, that “the grocers had held a meeting
and voted to give only ten cents. Have you any for sale?” continued
the grocer. “No,” says the countryman; “the hens have had a meeting
too, and voted not to trouble themselves to lay eggs for ten cents a
dozen.”
Pet Oyster.—There is a gentleman at Christ Church, Salisbury,
England, who keeps a pet oyster of the largest and finest breed. It is
fed on oatmeal, for which it regularly opens its shell, and is
occasionally treated with a dip in its native element; but the most
extraordinary trait in the history of this amphibious pet is, that it has
proved itself an excellent mouser, having already killed five mice, by
crushing the heads of such as, tempted by odoriferous meal, had the
temerity to intrude their noses within its bivalvular clutches. Twice
have two of these little intruders suffered together.—Eng. Journal,
1840.
The Shetland Pony.

This diminutive breed of horses, many of which are not larger


than a Newfoundland dog, is common in Shetland, and all the
islands on the north and west of Scotland; also in the mountainous
districts of the mainland along the coast. They are beautifully formed,
and possess prodigious strength in proportion to their size. The
heads are small, with a flowing mane and long tail, reaching to the
ground.
They are high-spirited and courageous little animals, but
extremely tractable in their nature. Some of them run wild about the
mountains, and there are various methods of catching them,
according to the local situation of the district which they inhabit.
The shelties, as they are called, are generally so small, that a
middling-sized man must ride with his knees raised to the animal’s
shoulders, to prevent his toes from touching the ground. It is
surprising to see with what speed they will carry a heavy man over
broken and zigzag roads in their native mountains.
When grazing, they will clamber up steep ascents, and to the
extreme edge of precipices which overhang the most frightful
abysses, and there they will gaze round with as much complacency
as if on a plain.
These horses, small as they may be, are not to be considered a
degenerate breed, for they are possessed of much greater physical
strength in proportion to their size than larger horses. They are
called garrons in the highlands of Scotland.
Many years ago, when turnpikes were first established in
Scotland, a countryman was employed by the laird of Coll to go to
Glasgow and Edinburgh on certain business, and furnished with a
small shelty to ride upon. Being stopped at the gate near Dunbarton,
the messenger good-humoredly asked the keeper if he would be
required to pay toll, should he pass through carrying a burthen; and
upon the man answering “Certainly not,” he took up the horse in his
arms, and carried him through the toll-bar, to the great amusement of
the gate-keeper.
A gentleman, some time ago, was presented with one of these
handsome little animals, which was no less docile than elegant, and
measured only seven hands or twenty-eight inches in height. He was
anxious to convey his present home as speedily as possible, but,
being at a considerable distance, was at a loss how to do so most
easily. The friend said, “Can you not carry him in your chaise?” He
made the experiment, and the shelty was lifted into it, covered up
with the apron, and some bits of bread given him to keep him quiet.
He lay quite peaceable till he reached his destination; thus exhibiting
the novel spectacle of a horse riding in a gig.
A little girl, the daughter of a gentleman in Warwickshire, England,
playing on the banks of a canal which runs through his grounds, had
the misfortune to fall in, and would in all probability have been
drowned, had not a little pony, which had long been kept in the
family, plunged into the stream and brought the child safely ashore,
without the slightest injury. The engraving at the head of this article
exhibits this interesting scene.
A gentleman had a white pony, which became extremely attached
to a little dog that lived with him in the stable, and whenever the
horse was rode out, the dog always ran by his side. One day, when
the groom took out the pony for exercise, and accompanied as usual
by his canine friend, they met a large dog, who attacked the
diminutive cur, upon which the horse reared, and, to the
astonishment of the bystanders, so effectually fought his friend’s
battle with his fore feet, that the aggressor found it his interest to
scamper off at full speed, and never again ventured to assail the
small dog.
Shelties sometimes attain a great age. There was in the small
village of Haddington, Eng., a very small black pony, not exceeding
eleven hands high, of the Shetland breed, which in the year 1745, at

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