The document discusses computational inforgs, which are defined as informational entities that involve computational information as part of a modern Von Neumann machine. It outlines that computational inforgs can be either open, where the source code is accessible, or closed, where it is not. The document proposes applying a framework called the SLMS scheme within levels of abstraction analysis to compare quantitative and qualitative properties between open and closed computational inforgs. It provides some examples and outlines future directions, such as analyzing different levels of access to a social media account on different devices.

1. What can we know of computational inforgs?
*F. Gobbo & M. Benini
Univ. of L’Aquila & Leeds
C
CC BY: $
WPI5, Univ. of Hertfordshire,
March 27-28, 2013
1 of 17

2. Introduction

3. What is computational information?
‘Information’ may be understood in many ways, e.g. as
signals, natural patterns or nomic regularities, as instructions, as
content, as news, as synonymous with data, as power, or as
economic resource, and so forth [Floridi (2011), 226, our
emphasis].
We will consider only a special class: computational information,
i.e., where information is part of a modern Von Neumann’s machine
(VNM), being by far the most used computing machine model ever.
3 of 17

4. Why computational inforgs matter
The digital revolution, which began with the popularization of
the personal computer around 1980, inaugurated an era in which
people appear in consort on an extended network intermixed
with other, non-human information processors, all “inforgs”
to use Floridi’s term [Beavers (2011), 264, our emphasis].
In our analysis, we address strictly inforgs with computational
information only, i.e., computational inforg (c-inforgs).
4 of 17

5. How computational inforgs are made
Every c-inforg requires to be programmed by an agent (Ag) by
definition.
Ags should be real computer programmers.
In other words, conscious-less artificial Ags (robots) or biological
Ags (zombies) are not possible.
for details, see [Gobbo and Benini (2013b)].
5 of 17

6. The dual nature of computational information
As underlined by the philosophers of Computer Science, programs
appear to have a dual nature ([Turner (2013)]):
1. source code, the textual nature, which is human-readable;
2. object code, the binary nature, which is machine-readable;
We apply the system-level-model-structure (SLMS) scheme within the
method of levels of abstraction (LoAs) in order to analyse c-inforgs.
6 of 17

7. The SLMS scheme and the ontological commitments
By accepting an LoA a theory commits itself to the existence of
certain types of objects. . . constituting the LoA. . . while by
endorsing the ensuing models the theory commits itself to the
corresponding tokens [. . . ]
The assumption is that there is no direct knowledge of the
intrinsic nature of the entities. . . Once a theory has ontologically
committed itself to the structural properties of the system,
one is entitled to infer indirectly that, whatever the system and
its components (i.e. the objects or relata) may in themselves,
they must be such as to allow the theory to model at least
some of their structural/relational properties.
[Floridi (2011), 349, 351, our emphasis]
7 of 17

8. Knowledge within c-inforgs

9. Open vs. closed c-inforgs
A crucial distinction emerge from a property of the VNM-counterpart:
either source code of the c-inforg is open, i.e., it can be inspected
and modified by the Ag;
or conversely it is closed – and hence the Ag can be a (power)
end-user but not a programmer.
Now, we are going to apply the SLMS scheme in both cases.
9 of 17

10. Remind of the SLMS scheme
analysed at
System LoA
attributed to generates
Structure Model
identifies
Figure : The SLMS scheme, adapted from [Floridi (2011), 349]
10 of 17

11. Open c-inforg: a possible LoE of a programmer
information analysed at abstract
technology machine
attributed to generates
design
source code
identifies patterns
Figure : The SLMS scheme applied to a programmer at work
11 of 17

12. Closed c-inforg: an example of LoE for an end-user
analysed at desktop
black box
application
attributed to generates
WYSIWYG
users’ best
menus &
identifies practices
windows
Figure : The SLMS scheme applied to a ‘classic’ desktop application use
12 of 17

13. Reflections on open vs. closed c-inforgs
The possible analyses of open c-inforgs can be more fine-grained than
the one on closed c-inforgs. In particular:
from Software Engineering, direct metrics (i.e., they do not
depend on any other attribute, see IEEE Standard 1016) can be
applied to open c-inforgs straightforwardly, being purely
quantitative;
the analyses on closed c-inforgs cannot be purely quantitative, and
therefore they use indirect metrics, which are more
qualitative-oriented.
See the presentation by Marco Benini (here!) for details.
13 of 17

14. Future directions of work
We aim to apply the SLMS scheme of the method of LoAs to compare
quantitative and qualitative properties of inforgs. Sketched ideas:
1. Let’s take the inforg user-of-Facebook as a closed c-inforg;
The description of the Ag Bob, who is keen to access his Facebook
account with his laptop, is an exercise left to the reader.
14 of 17

15. Future directions of work
We aim to apply the SLMS scheme of the method of LoAs to compare
quantitative and qualitative properties of inforgs. Sketched ideas:
1. Let’s take the inforg user-of-Facebook as a closed c-inforg;
2. Alice (Ag) prefers to access her Facebook account with her
smartphone; then:
The description of the Ag Bob, who is keen to access his Facebook
account with his laptop, is an exercise left to the reader.
14 of 17

16. Future directions of work
We aim to apply the SLMS scheme of the method of LoAs to compare
quantitative and qualitative properties of inforgs. Sketched ideas:
1. Let’s take the inforg user-of-Facebook as a closed c-inforg;
2. Alice (Ag) prefers to access her Facebook account with her
smartphone; then:
LoE: she loves to share photos more than blogging;
The description of the Ag Bob, who is keen to access his Facebook
account with his laptop, is an exercise left to the reader.
14 of 17

17. Future directions of work
We aim to apply the SLMS scheme of the method of LoAs to compare
quantitative and qualitative properties of inforgs. Sketched ideas:
1. Let’s take the inforg user-of-Facebook as a closed c-inforg;
2. Alice (Ag) prefers to access her Facebook account with her
smartphone; then:
LoE: she loves to share photos more than blogging;
LoA: there is a different graphic end-user’s interface;
The description of the Ag Bob, who is keen to access his Facebook
account with his laptop, is an exercise left to the reader.
14 of 17

18. Future directions of work
We aim to apply the SLMS scheme of the method of LoAs to compare
quantitative and qualitative properties of inforgs. Sketched ideas:
1. Let’s take the inforg user-of-Facebook as a closed c-inforg;
2. Alice (Ag) prefers to access her Facebook account with her
smartphone; then:
LoE: she loves to share photos more than blogging;
LoA: there is a different graphic end-user’s interface;
LoO: the combination mobile operating system + app allows her to
perform a definite set of actions and not others;
The description of the Ag Bob, who is keen to access his Facebook
account with his laptop, is an exercise left to the reader.
14 of 17

19. An advice for ourselves...
The working philosopher of information cannot
avoid the continuous interplay between
quantitative and qualitative points of views of
information
15 of 17

20. References
Beavers, Anthony F. (2011), “Historicizing Floridi: The Question of Method, the
State of the Profession, and the Timeliness of Floridi’s Philosophy of Information,”
in Etica & Politica / Ethics & Politics, XIII, 2, 225–275.
Turner, R. (2013), “Programming Languages as Technical Artifacts,” in Philos.
Technol., feb, 1–21.
Floridi, L. (2011), The Philosophy of Information, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gobbo, F. and Benini, M. (2013b), “Why zombies can’t write significant source
code,” Journal of Experimental & Theoretical Artificial Intelligence, forthcoming.
Gobbo, F. and Benini, M. (2013a), “From Ancient to Modern Computing: A History
of Information Hiding,” in IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 4 Feb. IEEE
computer Society Digital Library. IEEE Computer Society. DOI:
10.1109/MAHC.2013.1
16 of 17

21. Thanks for your attention!
Questions?
For proposals, ideas & comments:
federico.gobbo@univaq.it & marco.benini@uninsubria.it
Download & share these slides here:
http://slidesha.re/14rFzQE
C
CC BY: $ Federico Gobbo & Marco Benini 2013
17 of 17