Papers by Athanasios Votsis
Ethics and Information Technology, 2022
This paper approaches the interaction of a health professional with an AI system for diagnostic p... more This paper approaches the interaction of a health professional with an AI system for diagnostic purposes as a hybrid decision making process and conceptualizes epistemo-ethical constraints on this process. We argue for the importance of the understanding of the underlying machine epistemology in order to raise awareness of and facilitate realistic expectations from AI as a decision support system, both among healthcare professionals and the potential benefiters (patients). Understanding the epistemic abilities and limitations of such systems is essential if we are to integrate AI into the decision making processes in a way that takes into account its applicability boundaries. This will help to mitigate potential harm due to misjudgments and, as a result, to raise the trust-understood here as a belief in reliability of-in the AI system. We aim at a minimal requirement for AI meta-explanation which should distinguish machine epistemic processes from similar processes in human epistemology in order to avoid confusion and error in judgment and application. An informed approach to the integration of AI systems into the decision making for diagnostic purposes is crucial given its high impact on health and well-being of patients.
AI and Ethics, 2021
The current state of human-machine interaction has set forth a process of hybridization of human ... more The current state of human-machine interaction has set forth a process of hybridization of human identity. Technology-and most notably AI-is used as an effective cognitive extender, which enables the extension of human personhood to include artificial elements, leading to the emergence of artificial identity. Discussing-and accommodating-anthropomorphization in human-machine interaction should no longer be the primary focus. Rather, the scope and quality of frameworks in which the hybridization of human identity occurs and evolves has significant ethical implications that pose very pragmatic challenges to users, the industry, and regulators. This paper puts forth a few main principles upon which such a discussion should evolve. We illustrate why disruptiveness can easily turn into human harm when the frameworks facilitating it overlook the human vulnerabilities that arise from hybrid identity, notably the asymmetric and asynchronous relationship between the human and artificial counterparts. Finally, we claim that these new types of vulnerabilities, to which a person is exposed due to the intimate degree of pairing with technology, justifies introducing and protecting artificial identity as well.
FMI’s Climate Bulletin: Research Letters, 2021
Votsis A., Ruuhela R., and Gregow H., 2021: The socio-spatial patterns of heat stress exposure in... more Votsis A., Ruuhela R., and Gregow H., 2021: The socio-spatial patterns of heat stress exposure in Helsinki on two hot days of 2018 and 2019, FMI’s Climate Bulletin: Research Letters, 3(1), 22–24, DOI: https://doi.org/10.35614/ISSN-2341-6408-IK-2021-08-RL.
Exposure to heat stress varies due to the large-scale weather pattern and local factors such as the urban heat island effect, type of built environment, and—like in Helsinki—impact of the sea and may vary significantly between heatwave events. Moreover, the vulnerability characteristics of the exposed population play a notable role in the health impacts. We present case studies of the socio-spatial exposure patterns to heat stress in the Helsinki metropolitan area during two hot days of the 2018 and 2019 heatwave events.
A cellular automaton model (SLEUTH-3r) is utilized to explore the impacts of coastal flood risk m... more A cellular automaton model (SLEUTH-3r) is utilized to explore the impacts of coastal flood risk management strategies on the urbanization parameters of Helsinki's metropolitan area, at a 50-m spatial resolution by 2040. The current urbanization trend is characterized by the consolidation of existing built-up land and loss of interspersed green spaces, whereas the most intense growth is forecast inside the coastal flood risk areas. This base-line is compared to strategies that test various responses of the planning system to real estate market forces and the spatial distribution of flood risks. A set of scenarios translates property price effects of flood risk information into various attraction-repulsion areas in and adjacent to the floodplain, while a second set explores varying degrees of restricting new growth in the flood risk zones without reference to the housing market.
The simulations indicate that growth under all scenarios is distributed in a more fragmented manner relative to the baseline, which can be interpreted favorably regarding house prices and increased access to ecosystem services , although the indirect effects should also be considered. Demand for coastal flood-safe properties does not appear to automatically translate to refocusing of development toward those areas, unless planning interventions encourage this redistribution. The character of the planning system with respect to market drivers and the spatial distribution of risks and amenities is thus important. A mixture of market-based measures and moderate zoning interventions may be preferable for flood risk management and provide the necessary precision for adaptation strategies.
Fractal geometry and co-integration are combined for exploring spatial morphological aspects of q... more Fractal geometry and co-integration are combined for exploring spatial morphological aspects of quarterly dwelling prices in Helsinki’s region from 1977 to 2011. Curves of fractal scaling behavior are first employed to measure the fractal dimensions of high- and low-price/m2 spatial clusters at multiple scales. Subsequently, the fractal dimensions at indicative neighborhood and citywide scales are modeled with vector error correction specifications. The results identify long-run joint equilibria between the fractal geometries of high- and low-price/m2 clusters at both spatial scales. High-price/m2 clusters exhibit consistently higher fractal dimensions than their low-value counterparts at the neighborhood scale, while this long-run relation is reversed at the citywide scale. Short-run disequilibria and subsequent adjustments are also scale sensitive. The fractal geometry of high-price/m2 clusters leads the dynamics at the neighborhood scale, while low-price/m2 clusters lead at the citywide scale. The system’s responses to exogenous shocks take longer time to stabilize at the neighborhood scale compared to the citywide scale, but in both scales the non-stationary nature of fractal behavior is evident. These elements indicate that a closer look on spatial economic behavior at more than one spatial and temporal scale at a time can reveal non-trivial information in the context of urban research and policy analysis.
Road traffic safety is the result of a complex interaction of factors, and causes behind road veh... more Road traffic safety is the result of a complex interaction of factors, and causes behind road vehicle crashes require different measures to reduce their impacts. This study assesses how strongly the variation in daily winter crash rates associates with weather conditions in Finland. This is done by illustrating trends and spatiotemporal variation in the crash rates, by showing how a GIS application can evidence the association between temporary rises in regional crash rates and the occurrence of bad weather, and with a regression model on crash rate sensitivity to adverse weather conditions. The analysis indicates that a base rate of crashes depending on non-weather factors exists, and some combinations of extreme weather conditions are able to substantially push up crash rates on days with bad weather. Some spatial causation factors, such as variation of geophysical characteristics causing systematic differences in the distributions of weather variables, exist. Yet, even in winter, non-spatial factors are normally more significant. GIS data can support optimal deployment of rescue services and enhance in-depth quantitative analysis by helping to identify the most appropriate spatial and temporal resolutions. However, the supportive role of GIS should not be inferred as existence of highly significant spatial causation.
Information gaps and asymmetries are common in the housing market and this is frequently the case... more Information gaps and asymmetries are common in the housing market and this is frequently the case with the risks of natural processes, especially in coastal areas where the amenity dimension may dominate the risk aspect. Flood risk disclosure through maps is a policy instrument aimed at addressing this situation. We assess its effectiveness by identifying whether such maps induce a price differential for single family coastal dwellings in three Finnish cities, and by estimating the discount per square meter for various flooding probabilities (return times). The estimations indicate a significant price drop after the information disclosure for properties located in flood-prone areas as indicated by the maps. In the case of sea flooding information in Helsinki, the price effect is sensitive to the communicated probability of flooding. Overall, the discussed policy instrument appears to have functioned as intended, correcting information gaps and asymmetries related to flood risk. The identified effect is spatially selective; it caused a short-term localized shock in market prices in conjunction with some reorientation of demand from risky coastal properties towards ones that represent a similar level of coastal amenity, but are less risky in terms of flooding. This hints at the potential for incorporating the shocks associated with flood events or risk information into broader-scoped urban modelling and simulation. Similarly, the reasonable accuracy with which the housing market processes the additional information shows a potential for wider use of the disclosure of non-obvious risks in real estate markets. In the case of adapting to climate change risks, additional uncertainties may make the disclosure instrument less effective, if used as a single tool.
As the importance of urban green spaces is increasingly recognised, so does the need for their sy... more As the importance of urban green spaces is increasingly recognised, so does the need for their systematic placement in a broader array of socioeconomic objectives. From an urban planning and economics perspective, this represents a spatial task: if more land is allocated to various types of green, how do the economic effects propagate throughout urban space? This paper focuses on the spatial marginal effects of forests, parks, and fields and estimates spatial hedonic models on a sample of apartment transactions in Helsinki, Finland. The results indicate that the capitalization of urban green in apartment prices depends on the type of green, but also interacts with distance to the city centre. Additionally, the effects contain variable pure and spatial spillover impacts, also conditional on type and location, the separation of which highlights aspects not commonly accounted for. The planning of green infrastructure will therefore benefit from parameterizing interventions according to location, green type, and character of spatial impacts.
Road traffic safety is the result of a complex interaction of factors, and causes behind road veh... more Road traffic safety is the result of a complex interaction of factors, and causes behind road vehicle crashes require different measures to reduce their impacts. This study assesses how strongly the variation in daily winter crash rates associates with weather conditions in Finland. This is done by illustrating trends and spatiotemporal variation in the crash rates, by showing how a GIS application can evidence the association between temporary rises in regional crash rates and the occurrence of bad weather, and with a regression model on crash rate sensitivity to adverse weather conditions. The analysis indicates that a base rate of crashes depending on non-weather factors exists, and some combinations of extreme weather conditions are able to substantially push up crash rates on days with bad weather. Some spatial causation factors, such as variation of geophysical characteristics causing systematic differences in the distributions of weather variables, exist. Yet, even in winter, non-spatial factors are normally more significant. GIS data can support optimal deployment of rescue services and enhance in-depth quantitative analysis by helping to identify the most appropriate spatial and temporal resolutions. However, the supportive role of GIS should not be inferred as existence of highly significant spatial causation.
Information gaps and asymmetries are common in the housing market and
this is frequently the case... more Information gaps and asymmetries are common in the housing market and
this is frequently the case with the risks of natural processes, especially in coastal areas
where the amenity dimension may dominate the risk aspect. Flood risk disclosure
through maps is a policy instrument aimed at addressing this situation. We assess its
effectiveness by identifying whether such maps induce a price differential for single
family coastal dwellings in three Finnish cities, and by estimating the discount per
square meter for various flooding probabilities (return times). The estimations indicate
a significant price drop after the information disclosure for properties located in floodprone
areas as indicated by the maps. In the case of sea flooding information in
Helsinki, the price effect is sensitive to the communicated probability of flooding.
Overall, the discussed policy instrument appears to have functioned as intended,
correcting information gaps and asymmetries related to flood risk. The identified effect
is spatially selective; it caused a short-term localized shock in market prices in
conjunction with some reorientation of demand from risky coastal properties towards
ones that represent a similar level of coastal amenity, but are less risky in terms of
flooding. This hints at the potential for incorporating the shocks associated with flood
events or risk information into broader-scoped urban modelling and simulation.
Similarly, the reasonable accuracy with which the housing market processes the
additional information shows a potential for wider use of the disclosure of nonobvious
risks in real estate markets. In the case of adapting to climate change risks,
additional uncertainties may make the disclosure instrument less effective, if used as a
single tool.
This report presents a green roof cost-benefit analysis. Green roofs are roofs that are partially... more This report presents a green roof cost-benefit analysis. Green roofs are roofs that are partially (or almost completely) covered with vegetation; between the roofing membrane and the vegetation there may be several technical layers. In this report we discuss the benefits and costs of lightweight self-sustaining vegetated roofs that do not require structural modifications from the building. The costs and benefits have been analyzed in Helsinki, Finland.
The cost-benefit calculations hint that with a higher rate of implementation and realization of public benefits, the green roofs would be a good investment. However, because the private benefits are not high enough to justify a green-roof installation for a private decision-maker at the current cost level, the rate of implementation can be expected to stay low without corrective policy instruments. Policy instruments could include supportive policies that add incentives for private decision-makers to install green roofs and/or administrative orders.
MPRA Working Paper Series No. 53742, University Library of Munich, Germany, Feb 2014
Michel Foucault's theory of moral subjectivity, as a trained relation of the subject to itself, c... more Michel Foucault's theory of moral subjectivity, as a trained relation of the subject to itself, contains a latent semiotic theory of self-knowledge. The formation of the moral subject is seen by Foucault as a sign system, given the name of technology, and placed in a broader context of semiotic and non-semiotic paths to knowledge. In such a framework, signification as a technology, the self as a binary opposition, and the in-between space of binaries emerge as important methodological elements in self-knowledge. Furthermore, a semiotic argument comes forth about the epistemological role of culture in the modeling of knowledge at large.
Urban Remote Sensing Event ( …
Differential SAR Interferometry (DInSAR) techniques can substantially contribute to overcoming th... more Differential SAR Interferometry (DInSAR) techniques can substantially contribute to overcoming the difficulties of detecting and diachronically monitoring active faults in urban environments. The correlation of spatially distributed ground deformation, measured by DInSAR, with active tectonics can considerably assist in assessing seismic hazard and risk. Belonging to a region with the highest seismicity in the North of Greece and with several active faults in and around its perimeter, the city of Thessaloniki provides an excellent case study. Using accumulated results of previous, new, as well as on-going research with DInSAR, we correlate the measured deformation with active tectonics in Thessaloniki's built environment and suggest possible interpretations. As InSAR has the unique advantage of improving its applicability and performance with areas becoming more urbanized, it holds even greater potential for the future. Thus, we propose that monitoring of active faults with DInSAR be established as continuous task in urban areas of high seismic risk.
Conference Papers by Athanasios Votsis
Note: This is an exploratory paper. It tests whether certain methods of urban spatial analysis (d... more Note: This is an exploratory paper. It tests whether certain methods of urban spatial analysis (developed for contemporary cities) are applicable to the study of Bronze Age settlements. The idea is to identify long-term continuities in the urbanization practices of a place, including the establishment of urban development precedents that persist for thousands of years.
Amendments and extensions are obviously needed - feel free to get in touch with me for discussing it further. (The title should have been different as well.)
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Papers by Athanasios Votsis
Exposure to heat stress varies due to the large-scale weather pattern and local factors such as the urban heat island effect, type of built environment, and—like in Helsinki—impact of the sea and may vary significantly between heatwave events. Moreover, the vulnerability characteristics of the exposed population play a notable role in the health impacts. We present case studies of the socio-spatial exposure patterns to heat stress in the Helsinki metropolitan area during two hot days of the 2018 and 2019 heatwave events.
The simulations indicate that growth under all scenarios is distributed in a more fragmented manner relative to the baseline, which can be interpreted favorably regarding house prices and increased access to ecosystem services , although the indirect effects should also be considered. Demand for coastal flood-safe properties does not appear to automatically translate to refocusing of development toward those areas, unless planning interventions encourage this redistribution. The character of the planning system with respect to market drivers and the spatial distribution of risks and amenities is thus important. A mixture of market-based measures and moderate zoning interventions may be preferable for flood risk management and provide the necessary precision for adaptation strategies.
this is frequently the case with the risks of natural processes, especially in coastal areas
where the amenity dimension may dominate the risk aspect. Flood risk disclosure
through maps is a policy instrument aimed at addressing this situation. We assess its
effectiveness by identifying whether such maps induce a price differential for single
family coastal dwellings in three Finnish cities, and by estimating the discount per
square meter for various flooding probabilities (return times). The estimations indicate
a significant price drop after the information disclosure for properties located in floodprone
areas as indicated by the maps. In the case of sea flooding information in
Helsinki, the price effect is sensitive to the communicated probability of flooding.
Overall, the discussed policy instrument appears to have functioned as intended,
correcting information gaps and asymmetries related to flood risk. The identified effect
is spatially selective; it caused a short-term localized shock in market prices in
conjunction with some reorientation of demand from risky coastal properties towards
ones that represent a similar level of coastal amenity, but are less risky in terms of
flooding. This hints at the potential for incorporating the shocks associated with flood
events or risk information into broader-scoped urban modelling and simulation.
Similarly, the reasonable accuracy with which the housing market processes the
additional information shows a potential for wider use of the disclosure of nonobvious
risks in real estate markets. In the case of adapting to climate change risks,
additional uncertainties may make the disclosure instrument less effective, if used as a
single tool.
The cost-benefit calculations hint that with a higher rate of implementation and realization of public benefits, the green roofs would be a good investment. However, because the private benefits are not high enough to justify a green-roof installation for a private decision-maker at the current cost level, the rate of implementation can be expected to stay low without corrective policy instruments. Policy instruments could include supportive policies that add incentives for private decision-makers to install green roofs and/or administrative orders.
Conference Papers by Athanasios Votsis
Amendments and extensions are obviously needed - feel free to get in touch with me for discussing it further. (The title should have been different as well.)
Exposure to heat stress varies due to the large-scale weather pattern and local factors such as the urban heat island effect, type of built environment, and—like in Helsinki—impact of the sea and may vary significantly between heatwave events. Moreover, the vulnerability characteristics of the exposed population play a notable role in the health impacts. We present case studies of the socio-spatial exposure patterns to heat stress in the Helsinki metropolitan area during two hot days of the 2018 and 2019 heatwave events.
The simulations indicate that growth under all scenarios is distributed in a more fragmented manner relative to the baseline, which can be interpreted favorably regarding house prices and increased access to ecosystem services , although the indirect effects should also be considered. Demand for coastal flood-safe properties does not appear to automatically translate to refocusing of development toward those areas, unless planning interventions encourage this redistribution. The character of the planning system with respect to market drivers and the spatial distribution of risks and amenities is thus important. A mixture of market-based measures and moderate zoning interventions may be preferable for flood risk management and provide the necessary precision for adaptation strategies.
this is frequently the case with the risks of natural processes, especially in coastal areas
where the amenity dimension may dominate the risk aspect. Flood risk disclosure
through maps is a policy instrument aimed at addressing this situation. We assess its
effectiveness by identifying whether such maps induce a price differential for single
family coastal dwellings in three Finnish cities, and by estimating the discount per
square meter for various flooding probabilities (return times). The estimations indicate
a significant price drop after the information disclosure for properties located in floodprone
areas as indicated by the maps. In the case of sea flooding information in
Helsinki, the price effect is sensitive to the communicated probability of flooding.
Overall, the discussed policy instrument appears to have functioned as intended,
correcting information gaps and asymmetries related to flood risk. The identified effect
is spatially selective; it caused a short-term localized shock in market prices in
conjunction with some reorientation of demand from risky coastal properties towards
ones that represent a similar level of coastal amenity, but are less risky in terms of
flooding. This hints at the potential for incorporating the shocks associated with flood
events or risk information into broader-scoped urban modelling and simulation.
Similarly, the reasonable accuracy with which the housing market processes the
additional information shows a potential for wider use of the disclosure of nonobvious
risks in real estate markets. In the case of adapting to climate change risks,
additional uncertainties may make the disclosure instrument less effective, if used as a
single tool.
The cost-benefit calculations hint that with a higher rate of implementation and realization of public benefits, the green roofs would be a good investment. However, because the private benefits are not high enough to justify a green-roof installation for a private decision-maker at the current cost level, the rate of implementation can be expected to stay low without corrective policy instruments. Policy instruments could include supportive policies that add incentives for private decision-makers to install green roofs and/or administrative orders.
Amendments and extensions are obviously needed - feel free to get in touch with me for discussing it further. (The title should have been different as well.)
-Spatial weights
-Spatial (auto)correlation tests
-Spatial regression models
-Geographically weighted regression
Targeted at students of geography, regional science & spatial economics, and environmental science.