Transcript Case of the Killer Robot - Human Computer Interaction

CS 321 Human-Computer Interaction
 Today
• Professional Ethics
• Case of the Killer Robot, pp. 13 – 40
 Tuesday
• Project Milestone #2 Due
• More Case of the Killer Robot, pp. 41 – 72
©2001 Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville All rights reserved.
WUD Extra Credit: 10 points toward final exam
 Attend WUD on November 14th
• Do all five activities and write a description of each one
and an opinion of how effective you thought it was
 Volunteer a three hour time slot to help with one of the
activities (event runs from 9:30 – 4:30)
 Run a Usability Test
• Video tape a usability test with MS Word using the
tasks that were used in a previous research study
• Count the number of errors for each task
• Write an evaluation of how the user did on each task,
why he/she had problems, and suggest a re-design
©2001 Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville All rights reserved.
Are you an ethical person?
 Ethics: The study of moral standards and how they
affect conduct
 What are moral standards?
• A system of principles governing the appropriate
conduct of an individual
 What are professional ethics?
©2001 Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville All rights reserved.
Why Study Professional Ethics?
 Avoid prejudice decisions
• What is prejudice?
 Avoid dogmatic decisions
• What is dogmatic?
 Avoid authority decisions
• What is authority?
 Ethics asks us to live “mindfully”
• What is living “mindfully”?
• The decisions you make have consequences
on your life and the lives of others
©2001 Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville All rights reserved.
Moral Behavior
 Have you made any ethical decisions as a student?
 What ethical decisions might you make as a computer
science professional?
©2001 Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville All rights reserved.
What determines how you act?
Culture /
Law
Religious Beliefs
Immediate
Personal
Needs
Long Term
Goals
Immediate
Job
Pressures
Peer
Pressure
Responsibilities
Actions
©2001 Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville All rights reserved.
Ground Rules for Ethics Discussion
 Welcome contrary points of view
• Even if you are only acting as “devil’s advocate”
 Every instructor would teach this differently
• My own world views and biases affect this
• You’ll be responsible for material as it is taught here
 Gracious and respectful differences of view point
between ourselves will make for a better discussion
• No personal attacks!
©2001 Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville All rights reserved.
Case of the Killer Robot
Article: Silicon Valley Programmer Indicted for Manslaughter
 FACT: Bart Mathews was killed while operating
Robbie CX30
 FACT: Randy Samuels wrote the code that caused the
robot arm to move in an erratic manner
 FACT: Randy Samuels misinterpreted a hand-written
formula
©2001 Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville All rights reserved.
Case of the Killer Robot
Article: Silicon Valley Programmer Indicted for Manslaughter
 Did Randy Samuels commit malpractice or negligence?
• Malpractice: An act or continuing conduct of a professional which
does not meet the standard of professional competence and results
in provable damages to his/her client or patient.
• Negligence: The doing of something which a reasonably prudent
person would not do, or the failure to do something which a
reasonably prudent person would do under like circumstances.
• “ A careless programmer should be held accountable for his or her
errors just as someone who accidentally shoots someone else with
a fire arm.”
 Should there be mandatory certification or licensure for computer
professionals?
©2001 Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville All rights reserved.