EAS 203 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Bbc Radio 4, Satya Nadella, The Briefing
7 Jun 2018
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UNIT 4 READINGS
March 13 Readings
Fleddermann, Chapter 7.3: Computer Ethics, pp. 127-134
- Computers as a tool for unethical behavior (hacking, copyright infringement)
- Computers as an engineering tool
o Tracking responsibility
o Using software in a field it’s not well designed for
o Design flaws
o Autonomy in computers- instability, bugs/errors, malfunctions
- Therac-25 radiation treatment- depended too much on software
- Avanti/cadence- stolen code from employees that changed companies
“With Big Data Comes Big Responsibility: An Interview with MIT Media Lab’s Alex ‘Sandy’
Pentland,” Harvard Business Review, NovemSaber 2014, pp. 100-104 [Canvas]
- What is Sandy Pentland's concept, the "New Deal on Data?"
o “a set of principles and practices to define the ownership of data and control its
flow” pg 101
o “laid out the power of this data, and the disaster scenarios, and the idea of a
total reset” pg 102
o “a rebalancing of the ownership of data in favor of the individual whose data is
collected. People would have the same rights they now have over their physical
bodies and their money.” Pg 102
o “give people the ability to see what’s being collected and opt out or opt in” pg 102
o gives individuals (whose data is being collected) more control, rebalances
ownership of data
- What important concerns is he highlighting?
o Privacy concerns, that they’re being spied on, anyone can see their personal
information. Using personal information without consent, personal data being
sold
o Wants to prevent a disaster- if the wrong people got their hands on the data to
cause a distaster, people would want to shut down the data system immediately,
lots of companies would suffer.
o “People will be more willing to share data if they’re confident that it’s safe to do
so… If this was a regulated industry, you might feel comfortable sharing personal
data” pg 104
Andrej Zwitter, “Big Data Ethics,” Big Data & Society, pp. 1-6 [Canvas]
- What are some of the qualities of big data that make it unique? What are some of the
ethical concerns that arise from these unique qualities of big data?
o “There is more data than ever in the history of data”
o “Big Data is organic”
o “Big Data is potentially global” - contributes to power imbalance
o “Correlations versus causation”- more correlations seen, more misleading
- privacy concerns, bots/manipulation
- research ethics- using the data to do research- consent from subjects
March 15 Readings
Document Summary
Computers as a tool for unethical behavior (hacking, copyright infringement) Computers as an engineering tool: tracking responsibility, using software in a field it"s not well designed for, design flaws, autonomy in computers- instability, bugs/errors, malfunctions. Therac-25 radiation treatment- depended too much on software. Avanti/cadence- stolen code from employees that changed companies. With big data comes big responsibility: an interview with mit media lab"s alex sandy". What important concerns is he highlighting: privacy concerns, that they"re being spied on, anyone can see their personal information. Andrej zwitter, big data ethics, big data & society, pp. Privacy concerns, bots/manipulation research ethics- using the data to do research- consent from subjects. The ai revolution, the briefing room, bbc radio 4, august 24, 2017 [canvas] Ex: the ai personality test algorithm- no one understands the algorithm, and they can be inaccurate, preventing some from getting a job, a credit card, etc ai uses historic data, machine learning will keep past biases- race, gender (9:09)
