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Browsing by Author "Ryan, Mark"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
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    Artificial intelligence in farming: Challenges and opportunities for building trust
    Gardezi, Maaz; Joshi, Bhavna; Rizzo, Donna M.; Ryan, Mark; Prutzer, Edward; Brugler, Skye; Dadkhah, Ali (Wiley, 2023-05)
    Artificial intelligence (AI) represents technologies with human-like cognitive abilities to learn, perform, and make decisions. AI in precision agriculture (PA) enables farmers and farm managers to deploy highly targeted and precise farming practices based on site-specific agroclimatic field measurements. The foundational and applied development of AI has matured considerably over the last 30 years. The time is now right to engage seriously with the ethics and responsible practice of AI for the well-being of farmers and farm managers. In this paper, we identify and discuss both challenges and opportunities for improving farmers' trust in those providing AI solutions for PA. We highlight that farmers' trust can be moderated by how the benefits and risks of AI are perceived, shared, and distributed. We propose four recommendations for improving farmers' trust. First, AI developers should improve model transparency and explainability. Second, clear responsibility and accountability should be assigned to AI decisions. Third, concerns about the fairness of AI need to be overcome to improve human-machine partnerships in agriculture. Finally, regulation and voluntary compliance of data ownership, privacy, and security are needed, if AI systems are to become accepted and used by farmers.
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    Conocimientos de la hipertension: Health beliefs about hypertension in an under-resourced community in the Dominican Republic
    Abrams, Jasmine A.; Castro, Bryan; Gordhandas, Sushmita; Grzegorczyk, Anna; Maxwell, Morgan; Brawner, Bridgette; Conserve, Donaldson F.; Ryan, Mark (2020-06-23)
    Understanding health beliefs is important to facilitate health promotion and disease prevention as they influence health behaviors, outcomes, and disease management. Given the rise of hypertension-related diseases in the Dominican Republic, the purpose of our study was to identify hypertension-related health beliefs of Dominicans in order to inform the development of culturally appropriate interventions for hypertension prevention, care, and treatment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 Dominicans, 15 of whom were receiving treatment for hypertension. Operating within the interpretative paradigmatic framework, we conducted thematic analyses of interview data to identify hypertension-related health beliefs and practices. Iterative data analysis revealed the following themes: 1) Negative emotions are a primary cause of hypertension, 2) Medication is the best treatment but adherence is challenging, 3) Systemic barriers impede treatment access, 4) Hypertension negatively impacts mental and physical well-being, and 5) Lifestyle changes, relaxation, and social support help manage hypertension. Data gathered from member checking validated these findings. This study enhances understanding of the beliefs and experiences of Dominicans and emphasize the importance of implementing culturally competent health programming and care.