Transcript Lecture Slides I

CPIS428 Professional Computing Issues
Introduction
Edited by: Dr Muhammad Murtaza Khan
Assistant Professor,
Faculty of Computing & Information Technology,
University of Jeddah
Slides prepared by: Cyndi Chi & Sarah Frye for A Gift of Fire by Sara Baase
“A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and
Ethical Issues for Computing
Technology”, 4th Edition, Sara
Baase
“Ethical and Social Issues in the
Information Age”, 4th Edition,
Joseph Migga Kizza
What is the Course About
 Are fee email services a good tool / facility ?
 YES
 It provides quick and free communication to users
 NO
 Email service providers can access the content of user emails
 Spam email flood user email accounts and may cause a user
to miss important email
 Sending spam is not illegal
 Small companies (startups) may use email for sharing their
products with user by spamming
Marks Distribution
 Quizzes (Best 4 out of 6)
15%
 Assignments
 First Exam
10%
15%
 Second Exam
 Final Exam
15%
45%
Course Learning Objectives
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Introduction to Ethics
Intellectual property rights
The Internet and content regulation
Privacy
Equal access and computer technologies
Computers in the workplace
AI and expert systems
Success or Failure of IT projects
Outline of this Lecture
1.1
Introduction
1.2
The Pace of Change
1.3
Changes and Unexpected Developments
1.4
Adapting New Technology
1.5
Ethics
1.6
IT Issues
1.1 Introduction  Information Age
 Last 2 decades have given unprecedented access to
information
 Catalysts/Reasons?
 Low-cost, smaller yet powerful computers
 High-speed communication networks
Reasons for Improved Information Access
 Embedded computers (digital electronics)
 Cell phones
 Digital photography
 Email
 World Wide Web
 Social Networking
 Cloud Computing
 Internet of Things
Issues related to Technology
 Technology’s Influence
 People adopt technology and technology changes society
 Using technology can change people
 Physical changes (Laptop usage can cause back, neck, shoulder pain)
 Mental changes (Dopamine increases desire for more information)
 Psychological changes (Having a cell phone makes feel safer)
 Technologies solve problems, but may create new problems
 Automobile (Traffic Jams)
 Refrigerator (Leakage of Freon gas cause damage to Ozone layer)
 Low-cost international communication (Outsourcing of jobs)
Technology is continuously changing and so the issues
arising with technology change quickly as well.
Brief overview of how fast technology is changing is
presented on the next few slides
1.2 The Pace of Change
 1940s: First computer was built.
1.2 The Pace of Change
 1940s: First computer was built.
 1956: First hard-drive disk weighed a ton and
stored five megabytes.
1.2 The Pace of Change
 1940s: First computer was built.
 1956: First hard-drive disk weighed a ton and stored five
megabytes.
 1991: Space shuttle had a 1MHz computer. Now some
automobiles have gigahertz computers. Hubble Space
Station has a 80486 processor.
1.2 The Pace of Change
 Discussion Question
 What devices are now computerized that were
not originally? Think back 10, 20, 50 years ago.
Technology has brought good and bad changes in our
daily lives!
These technological advancements are presented in the
next few slides.
1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
1.3.1 Cell Phones - Advantages
 Relatively few in 1990s. Approximately five billion in 2011.
 Used for conversations and messaging, but also for:
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taking and sharing pictures
downloading music and watching videos
checking email and playing games
banking and managing investments
finding maps
act as electronic wallets and identification cards
 Smartphone apps for many tasks, including:
 monitoring diabetes
 locating water in remote areas
 location tracking, life-saving medical apps, surveillance
video
1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
Cell Phones – Dis-advantages
 Location tracking raises privacy concerns.
 Cameras in cell phones affect privacy in public and
non-public places.
 Talking on cell phones while driving is dangerous.
 Other unanticipated negative applications: rioters
organizing looting parties.
1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
Do you know what a Kill switch is ?
 Allow a remote entity to delete personal files if phone
is stolen.
 In operating systems for smartphones, tablets and
some computers.
 Used mainly for security, but raise concerns about
user autonomy.
 Kills switches could remove content that infringes
copyrights.
 Could also be used to remove content that a company or
government deems offensive.
 What if malicious hackers found a way to operate the skill
switches on our devices?
1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
1.3.2 Social Networking (Sn):
 First online Sn site was www.classmates.com in 1995
 Founded in 2003, Myspace had roughly 100 million
member profiles by 2006
 Facebook was started at Harvard as an online version of
student directories
 Advantages
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Staying in touch with friends.
Businesses connect with customers.
Groups organize volunteers.
Organizations seek donations.
Individuals pool resources through “crowd funding”.
1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
Social Networking – Dis-advantages
 Stalkers and bullies stalk and bully.
 Your information is available to the service
provider. (Privacy issue)
 Sharing of secret or non-public information.
Jurors tweet about court cases during trials.
 Socialbots simulate humans. They can trick you in
revealing personal information that may be used by
companies.
1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
1.3.3 Artificial intelligence
 A branch of computer science that makes
computers perform tasks normally requiring
human intelligence.
 Researchers realized that narrow, specialized
skills were easier for computers than what a
five-year-old does: recognize people, carry on a
conversation, respond intelligently to the
environment.
1.3 Change and Unexpected
Developments
Artificial intelligence (cont.)
 What does it mean for a computer system to be intelligent
and who has devised the test for this differentiation?
 Alan
Turing, who developed fundamental concepts
underlying computer science before there were computers,
proposed a test, now called the Turing Test, for human-level
intelligence.
 Let a person converse (over a network) with the system on
any topics the person chooses. If the computer convinces
the human subject that the computer is human, the
computer is said to “pass”.
1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
Artificial intelligence (cont.)
 Many AI applications involve pattern recognition.
 Speech recognition is now a common tool.
 Image Classification: to help visually impaired people (blind)
 CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Turing Test to Tell Computers
and Humans Apart) are used to defend against Denial of Service
Attacks
1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
1.3.4 Communication and the Web
 Blogs (“Web log”) began as outlets for amateurs wanting
to express ideas, but they have become significant source
of news and entertainment.
 Information in blogs may be biased and incorrect.
 Inexpensive video cameras and video-manipulation tools
have
resulted
in
a
burst
of amateur videos.
 Many videos on the Web can infringe copyrights owned by
entertainment companies.
1.3.5 Telemedicine
 Remote performance of medical exams and procedures,
including surgery.
1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
Discussion Questions
How will we react when we can go into a hospital for
surgery performed entirely by a machine? Will it be scarier
than riding in the first automatic elevators or airplanes?
How will we react when we can have a conversation and
not know if we are conversing with a human or a machine?
How will we react when chips implanted in our brains
enhance our memory with gigabytes of data and a search
engine? Will we still be human?
1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments
1.3.6 Collaboration and Technology
 Wikipedia: The online, collaborative encyclopedia
written by volunteers. (Increases knowledge and
access to information)
 Informal communities of programmers create and
maintain free software. (Easy Access to useful
tools like Open Office instead of Microsoft Office)
 Watch-dogs on the Web: Informal, decentralized
groups of people help investigate crimes. (Crime
Fighting/Stopping)
1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments
1.3.7 E-commerce
 Amazon.com started in 1994 selling books on the Web. It has grown to
be one of the most popular, reliable, and user-friendly commercial sites.
 eBay.com facilitates online auctions.
 Traditional brick-and-mortar business have established Web sites.
 Online sales in the United States now total hundreds of billions of
dollars a year.
 Sellers can sell directly to buyers, resulting in a peer-to-peer economy.
 Customers can save time and money which researching. Ease of
comparison.
 Small businesses and artists can sell directly to buyers, avoiding fees to
middlemen and distributors.
1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments
E-commerce and trust concerns
 People were reluctant to provide credit card
information to make online purchases, so
PayPal.com grew out of need for trusted
intermediary to handle payments.
Solutions
 Encryption and secure servers made payments
safer (SSL – Secure Socket Layer).
 The Better Business Bureau established a Web
site to help consumers see if others have
complained about a business.
 Sites have implemented rating systems.
1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments
1.3.8 Free stuff available because of Technology
 Email programs and email accounts, browsers,
filters, firewalls, encryption software, word
processors, spreadsheets, software for viewing
documents, software to manipulate photos and
video, and much more
 Phone services using VOIP such as Skype
 Craigslist classified ad site
 University lectures
1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments
How is technology use made Free?
 Advertising pays for many free sites and services, but not all.
 Wikipedia funded through donations.
 Businesses provide some services for good public relations
and as a marketing tool.
 Generosity and public service flourish on the Web. Many
people share their expertise just because they want to.
Free stuff related Danger
 In order for companies to earn ad revenue to fund
multimillion-dollar services, many free sites collect
information about our online activities and sell it to
advertisers.
1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments
1.3.9 Smart sensors, motion, and control
 Motion
sensing devices are used to give
machines/robots the ability to walk, trigger airbags in a
car accident
 Sensors can detect leaks, acceleration, position,
temperature, and moisture.
 Examples of Areas of Use
 Sensors in agricultural fields report on moisture, acidity,
and so on, helping farmers to avoid waste and to use no
more fertilizer than needed.
 Sensors in food products monitor temperature, humidity,
and other factors to detect potential health problems
while the food is in transit to stores
1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments
Tools for special people
 Assistive technology devices help restore independence to
people with disabilities (whom are challenged).
 Researchers are experimenting with micro-chips that convert
brain signals to control leg and arm muscles.
 A blind person can use handheld devices that combine opticalcharacter-recognition with a speech synthesizer to read menus
and receipts.
 Flexible, responsive prosthetic devices can now be digitally
controlled, enabling amputees to walk, climb stairs, even
participate in sports and fly airplanes.
 People can dictate documents to a word processor and give
commands to a computer to control household appliances.
1.4 Adapting New Technology
 Changes in technology require adaptive changes in
laws, social institutions, business policies, personal
skills, attitudes, and behaviour.
 There are compromises and trade-offs
 Trade-offs Example:
 If we decrease privacy and increase security it would
results in reduced convenience to users.
 Protecting privacy makes law enforcement more difficult.
 How to filter information on internet: Unpleasant, offensive,
or inaccurate information is available along with useful
information
1.4 Adapting New Technology
• US federal regulation requiring medical x-rays on film, rather than
digital formats, was still in effect in 2011.
• During Japanese election campaigns in 2005, candidates were
afraid to use email and blogs and to update their websites to
communicate with voters, because a 1955 law that specifies the
legal means of communicating with voters does not, of course,
include these methods. It allows postcards and pamphlets.
• The cycle of problems and solutions, more problems and more
solutions, is a natural part of change and of life in general.
• Improved lighting near ATMs to reduce robberies.
• Authentication technology helps reduce identity theft.
• Market mechanisms, such as competition and consumer demand,
generate many improvements.
Problem with Policy Making for New Technology
 The criteria for making policies for individuals, businesses,
organizations and for writing laws are fundamentally
different.
 Personal choice: We make according to our individual
values and situations e.g. which social networks to join,
what apps to put on our phones, or what eBooks to buy?
 Business bases its policies on many factors
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the manager’s perception of consumer preferences
what competitors are doing
responsibilities to stockholders
the ethics of the business owners or managers, and relevant
laws.
Problem with Policy Making for New Technology
 The criteria for making policies for individuals, businesses,
organizations and for writing laws are fundamentally
different.
 Laws are fundamentally different from personal choices and
organizational policies because they impose decisions by
force on people who did not make them.
 Arguments for passing a law should be qualitatively different
from reasons for adopting a personal or organizational
policy
Thus the issues should be
addressed Ethically !
1.5 Ethics
What is Ethics?
 Study of what it means to “do the right thing”.
 Ethical theories assumes people are rational (they reason) and make
free choices.
 Ethical rules are rules to follow in our interactions and our actions that
affect others.
 Goal of Ethical Theories: Enhance Human dignity, peace, happiness
and well-being.
 Example:
 Should you download movies from unauthorized websites?
 Should you warn potential customers that the smartphone app you
have made will copy their contact list?
 Should you fire an employee who is criticizing your business in
social media?
 What information should you allow advertisers and other trackers to
collect from visitors to the website you run?
1.5 Ethics
 Although there is agreement about general
ethical rules, there are many different theories
about how to establish a firm justification for the
rules and how to decide what is ethical in
specific cases.
 A variety of ethical views:
 Deontological theories
 Utilitarianism
 Natural rights
1.5 Ethics
Deontological theories: Deontologists emphasize duty and
absolute rules
Rules should be followed whether they lead to good or
bad results in particular cases.
 One example is: Do not lie. An act is ethical if it complies with
ethical rules and you chose it for that reason.
 Important
ideas of deontological theory (Kant philosopher):
 We should follow rules of behaviour that we can universally
apply to everyone
 Logic or reason determines rules of ethical behaviour, i.e.
actions are intrinsically good because they follow from logic.
Rational = Good, Irrational = Evil.
 One must never treat people as merely means to ends, but
rather as ends in themselves
1.5 Ethics
Deontological theories: Example:
Rule: One should never tell a lie. Now consider this scenario:
A person is looking for someone he intends to hurt, and he
asks you where the intended victim is, it is wrong for you to lie
to protect the victim.
Problem: Most people would agree that there are cases in
which even very good, universal rules should be broken—
because of the consequences.
1.5 Ethics
 Utilitarianism theory wants us to maximizes utility, i.e.
maximizing happiness and reducing suffering
 A person’s utility is what satisfies the person’s needs and
values.
 An action might decrease utility for some people and
increase it for others.
 We should consider the consequences - the benefits and
damages to all affected people—and “calculate” the change
in aggregate utility.
 An act is right if it tends to increase aggregate utility and
wrong if it tends to decrease it.
 A more fundamental (and ethical) objection to act
utilitarianism is that it does not recognize or respect
individual rights
1.5 Ethics
 Utilitarianism theory will agree that generally telling the truth
(not telling a lie) helps people (increases utility) and hence
should be done.
 Problem:
 How to determine if our decision will make others happy? (The
person who will get hurt will not be happy, whom else will be
unhappy and who will be happy?)
 Should some peoples happiness carry more weight?
 How to measure the utility of freedom?
 What if taking away a persons money and property and
distributing it to people maximizes utility? Utilitarianism would
support it and would not consider the amount of hard work and
effort that the person has done to obtain the money and
property.
1.5 Ethics
 Natural rights: views ethical behavior as acting in such a way that
respects a set of fundamental rights of others, including the rights
to life, liberty, and property.
 Negative rights (liberties) - The right to act without interference
 E.g.: The right to life, the right to be free from assault, the right to use
your property, the right to use your labour, skills, and mind to create
goods and services and to trade with other people
 Positive rights (claim-rights) - An obligation of some people to
provide certain things for others
 A positive right to a job means that someone must hire you
regardless of whether they voluntarily choose to, or that it is right, or
obligatory, for the government to set up job programs for people who
are out of work. A positive right to life means that some people are
obligated to pay for food or medical care for others who cannot pay
for them.
1.5 Ethics
 Golden rules
 Treat others as you would want them to treat you.
 Contributing to society
 Doing one’s work honestly, responsibly, ethically,
creatively, and well is virtuous.
 Social contracts and a theory of political justice
 People willingly submit to a common law in order to
live in a civil society.
1.5 Ethics
Some important distinctions:
 Right, wrong, and okay
 Distinguishing wrong and harm
 Separating goals from ethical constraints
 Personal preference and ethics
 Law and ethics
Discussion Question
Can you think of examples of liberties (negative rights)
and claim-rights (positive rights) that are at opposition to
each other?
1.6 Information Technology
Issues
 Definition:
Devices used in creation, storage,
manipulation, dissemination of data, sound, and/or
images
 Examples: Computers, telephones, video cameras,
MP3 players
 People making greater use of IT
 Costs keep falling
 Capabilities keep rising
1.6 Information Technology
Issues
 Email
 Easy way to keep in touch
 Spam has become a real problem
 Web
 Free access to huge amounts of information
 Harmful consequences of some sites
 CDs, MP3s
 Free or cheap copies readily available
 May be unfair to musicians
1.6 Information Technology
Issues
 Credit cards
 Convenience over cash and checks
 Increases possibility of identity theft
 Who owns information about transactions?
 Telecommuting
 Saves time, allows more flexible work hours
 Can lead to longer work hours
 May result in fewer chances for promotion
 Improved global communication network
 Allow companies to sell to entire world
 Allow companies to move jobs out of U.S.