On the Ethical Considerations of Text Simplification
It addresses ethical concerns for researchers and developers in assistive technology, but is incremental as it builds on existing discussions without introducing new methods or data.
The paper examines the ethical implications of text simplification in assistive systems, arguing for a distinction between the technology and its applications, and provides guidelines for independent framing and future research directions.
This paper outlines the ethical implications of text simplification within the framework of assistive systems. We argue that a distinction should be made between the technologies that perform text simplification and the realisation of these in assistive technologies. When using the latter as a motivation for research, it is important that the subsequent ethical implications be carefully considered. We provide guidelines for the framing of text simplification independently of assistive systems, as well as suggesting directions for future research and discussion based on the concerns raised.