Technology Ethics Chatbot Research Project

This project implements a web-based chatbot platform designed to study how people's opinions about technological ethical dilemmas are influenced by interactions with AI. The system presents philosophical perspectives on technology-related ethical issues through a guided chat experience, collecting data about users' views before and after the interaction.

Project Overview

The application facilitates a structured conversation flow:

1. Users complete a pre-chat survey about their views on technology
2. Users engage in a philosophical discussion about technological ethical dilemmas
3. Users complete a post-chat survey to measure potential changes in their perspectives

The chatbot can discuss topics like autonomous vehicles and algorithmic bias from different philosophical viewpoints including Mill's Liberalism, Luddism, and Futurism.

Technical Architecture

Frontend (React)

• Built with React and React Router for navigation
• Uses Tailwind CSS for styling
• Implements a session-based context system
• Features three main components:
  • Pre-chat survey form
  • Chat interface
  • Post-chat survey form

Backend (Node.js/Express)

• RESTful API built with Express
• SQLite database for data persistence
• Endpoints for:
  • Session management
  • Survey response collection
  • Chat message handling
  • Conversation state management

Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• npm (v6 or higher)

Database Setup

# The database will be automatically initialized when you start the server
# Database file will be created at: src/db/chatbot.db

Backend Setup

# Install dependencies
cd server
npm install

# Start the server
npm start

Frontend Setup

# Install dependencies
cd client
npm install

# Start the development server
npm start

The application will be available at http://localhost:3000

Project Structure

project-root/
├── client/                 # Frontend React application
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/    # React components
│   │   ├── context/       # Context providers
│   │   └── App.js         # Main application component
│   └── package.json
└── server/
    ├── config/            # Configuration files
    ├── routes/            # API route handlers
    ├── db/               # Database files
    └── index.js          # Server entry point

Key Features

Pre-Chat Survey

• Collects initial opinions on technology ethics
• Gathers self-assessment of openness to new ideas
• Links responses to unique user sessions

Chat Interface

• Topic selection (Autonomous Vehicles, Algorithmic Bias)
• Philosophical perspective selection (Mill/Liberalism, Luddism, Futurism)
• Real-time message exchange
• Session persistence

Post-Chat Survey

• Measures changes in opinions
• Collects qualitative feedback
• Links responses to pre-chat survey and chat session

Data Collection

The system collects:

• Pre and post-chat survey responses
• Chat messages and interactions
• Session metadata
• User topic and perspective selections

All data is stored in SQLite with the following schema:

• users: Tracks unique user sessions
• conversations: Records chat sessions and their parameters
• messages: Stores chat interactions
• form_responses: Captures survey responses

Development Notes

API Endpoints

• POST /api/sessions: Create new user session
• POST /api/pre-chat-responses: Save pre-chat survey
• POST /api/conversations: Initialize chat session
• POST /api/messages: Save chat messages
• POST /api/post-chat-responses: Save post-chat survey

Security Considerations

• Sessions are managed using unique identifiers
• No personal information is collected
• Data is stored locally in SQLite
• Form submissions are validated server-side

Future Improvements

Potential enhancements:

• Deploy website for broader accessibility
• Add more philosophical perspectives
• Expand topic coverage
• Implement advanced data visualization
• Add real-time chat features
• Enhance error handling and validation

Contributing

This is a research project with a specific focus on studying how AI interactions influence opinions about technology ethics. While it's not currently open for contributions, the code can be used as a reference for similar research projects.