English Summary

ETIC 2.0 — Eco-Technological Integrative Care

ETIC 2.0 is a care model proposed by Unknown Lab for designing care in the age of AI. It places meaningful occupation, participation, dignity, and human oversight at the center of AI-inclusive care ecosystems.

Document version: ETIC 2.0, Version 2.1 revised edition.

Short definition: Building on the prior concept of a dynamic care ecosystem, ETIC 2.0 is a model for designing changing relationships among people, environments, devices, data, AI, communities, and institutions, while keeping the person's meaningful occupation and participation at the center.

Why ETIC 2.0 Is Needed

Generative AI, clinical AI, remote support, wearable sensors, smart homes, electronic health records, and daily-life data are changing the conditions of care. The question is no longer simply whether to introduce AI, but how to design care when AI, data, devices, people, and institutions all shape the person's everyday life.

Conceptual Precedent and Scope

Hwang and colleagues proposed a preliminary guiding model for humanistic AI AgeTech in dynamic care ecosystems. Their model describes how care actors, values, relationships, and care arrangements can change over time and how AI may influence those relationships. The ideas of a care ecosystem, temporal change, and AI as an influence on care relationships are therefore not claimed as unique to ETIC 2.0.

ETIC 2.0 proposes to build on that precedent by centering meaningful occupation and participation and by organizing design work through a multilayer architecture, data governance, design patterns, and design review. ETIC 2.0 is currently a design model, not a validated clinical scale, a mathematical model, or proof of clinical effectiveness. Read Hwang et al.

In this context, care cannot be understood only as an intervention delivered to an individual. ETIC 2.0 treats care as an ecosystem: a set of relationships among the person, family members, professionals, environments, technologies, data flows, community resources, and governance structures.

Core Question

The central question of ETIC 2.0 is:

How can AI and technology be designed as part of a care ecosystem that supports a person's meaningful occupation, participation, dignity, and sustainable life?

Three Practical Questions

Which meaningful occupation or participation does this support?
If AI or data is involved, who verifies, who explains, and who can stop the support?
Does this support expand the life of the person, family, professionals, and community?

Key Principles

Principle	Meaning
Occupation and participation first	The goal is not AI adoption itself, but the person's meaningful participation in daily life.
Care ecosystem design	Care is designed across people, environments, tools, data, AI, services, and institutions.
Contextualized AI	AI is treated as one element of the care environment, not as the central actor.
Human responsibility	AI output is a proposal or aid; final judgment and explanation remain human responsibilities.
Visible collaborative occupation	Activities shared with family members and supporters, including their burdens, are made visible.
Data governance	The purpose, storage, sharing, deletion, and risks of data use must be clear.
Equity by design	Digital exclusion, bias, and alternative access must be considered before implementation.
Long-term and distributed care	Support is reviewed and redesigned as life, relationships, and available resources change.

What ETIC 2.0 Is Not

It is not a promotion of AI for its own sake.
It is not a replacement for established occupational therapy models such as MOHO, PEO, ICF, or occupational justice.
It is not a clinical scale or diagnostic tool.
It does not provide individual medical advice.

Relation to Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy has long understood people through the relationship between occupation, participation, environment, health, and social justice. ETIC 2.0 proposes a way to connect this perspective to an age in which AI, sensors, data platforms, digital devices, and institutions are becoming part of the care environment.

Relation to CCE

Computational Care Ecology (CCE) is a separate research program that attempts to formalize selected ETIC relationships and temporal changes mathematically. Its real-world validity, clinical validity, and clinical effectiveness remain unverified. CCE must not be used for diagnosis, prognosis, or automated care decisions.

Suggested Citation

Morimoto D. ETIC 2.0, Version 2.1 Revised Edition: Eco-Technological Integrative Care — Occupational Therapy and Care Ecosystem Design in the Age of AI. Unknown Lab; 2026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21848456

Read the Version 2.1 PDF Contact