Patrice Koehl
Department of Computer Science
Genome Center
Room 4319, Genome Center, GBSF
451 East Health Sciences Drive
University of California
Davis, CA 95616
Phone: (530) 754 5121
koehl@cs.ucdavis.edu




Ethics in an Age of Technology: Fall 2022

Lectures


Notes:
  • I will provide a PDF version of the paper to be read and/or a link to a web version of the paper.

  • Do read carefully what is assigned for a given class... you won't be able to act surprised, as if you did not know.

  • If you come to class having done the reading, feeling ready and eager to talk about it, the class works well.

  • There will be three possible types of reports that I will ask for:

    • Analysis: If I ask you to turn in an analysis, I am asking for your own opinion about the text. You may decide to take one point that you either strongly agree with, or strongly disagree with, and discuss it. You may decide to give an opiniated overview of the whole text. It is your choice. However, I want you to be specific: no generalities, no unsupported opinions. Make sure to credit any ideas that is not yours.An analysis should be up to 1 page long.

    • Summary: If I ask you to turn in a summary, I am expected an unbiased account of what the paper says. Do not indicate whether you agree of disagree with what the authors say. Make sure to write in prose: bullet points for example are not OK. A summary should be 0.5 to 1 page long.

    • Quotes: If I ask you to turn in quotes from a reading, I'm asking for you to find two short and insightful quotes from the text. Give the page reference. You may redact for clarity or concision. After each quote, write a small paragraph to discuss what it means, in the context of the reading, to the author. You are allowed to provide an opinion. Come to class prepared to discuss the quotes you selected.


Date What we did What you needed to do Further reading/Comments
1: Th 09/22 Why ethics and why ethics in technology? Nothing due on the first day of class. Lucky you ;-) Read on next entry what you need to do for Friday
Does teaching ethics do any good?
Watch an interesting video on the progression of information technologies. Do compare the Did you know? (2008) version with the Did you know (2016) version!
2: M 09/26 Debate on "Should we allow students to use Smart Drugs?"
  • Students with lastname's first letter in A-H:
    prepare to debate with "Yes, students should be allowed"
  • Students with lastname's first letter in I-Z:
    prepare to debate with "No, students should not be allowed"
Possible reading to support your arguments:
3: T 09/27 Technology and Happiness The ones who walk away from Omelas (or a local version: PDF) by Ursula K. Le Guin
4: Th 9/29 Lecture: Philosophical ethics Read Philosophical ethics (Deborah Johnson, 1985) Cost-benefit analyses:
5: M 10/3 Discussion: The ethics of cost/benefit: are there things money should not buy? Why we should not trust markets with our civic lives TED video with Michael Sandel (2013)
6: T 10/4 The cost/benefit of human life Read Pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine: wicked problems, ragged edges and ethical precipices (Fleck, 2012) Further readings:
7: Th 10/6 Ethics and Information Technology Read Why computer ethics? (D. Johnson, 2001). Introduction to D. Johnson's book on computer ethics.

First report: Quote Find two short and insightful quotes from the text. Give the page reference. You may redact for clarity or concision. After each quote, write a small paragraph to discuss what it means, in the context of the reading, to the author. You are allowed to provide an opinion. Turn in on canvas.
Possible readings:
8: M 10/10 AI and education Read: Ten facts about AI in teaching and learning Possible reading The use of Artificial Intelligence in education, EU report, 2020
9: T 10/11 What is AI? Reading: Artificial intelligence will do what we ask. That's a Problem Nathalie Wolchover, 2020 Possible readings:
10: Th 10/13 Discussion on E.M. Forster's Machine Read E.M. Forster's short story: The machine stops (1909)
Possible reading: Former Google engineer is developing an AI god (PDF file if links from The Gardian is not available)
11: M 10/17 Consent for human experiments We will watch: Henrietta Lacks, the Tuskegee experiment, and ethical data collection, 2018. Interesting readings / links:
12: T 10/18 Privacy and surveillance Read An article by the Guardian on Privacy under attack related to the Snowden case. (direct link to the Guardian)
13: Th 10/20 Privacy and surveillance Watch Ed Snowden (interview by the Guardian)
14: M 10/24 Hidden child labor on Youtube Watch the video kid influencers Possible readings:
15: T 10/25 Fairness in AI: gender classification Read Race and gender

Second report: Quote Find two short and insightful quotes from the text. Give the page reference. You may redact for clarity or concision. After each quote, write a small paragraph to discuss what it means, in the context of the reading, to the author. You are allowed to provide an opinion. Turn in on canvas.
Possible readings:
16: Th 10/27 Fairness in AI Read review article: AI Fairness isn't just an ethical issue (2020)
Check Google's ML diagnostic tool What-If tool : Playing with AI Fairness
17: M 10/31 The Google diversity dilemma Reading: Google's idealogical echo chamber, James Damore, 2017. Interesting readings / links:
18: T 11/1 The internet and the brain Read the paper "Is Google making us stupid?" by Nicholas Carr as well as the article: How Google is making us smarter by Carl Zimmer.

Third report: Quote Find one short and insightful quote from each text. Give the page reference. You may redact for clarity or concision. After each quote, write a small paragraph to discuss what it means, in the context of the reading, to the author. You are allowed to provide an opinion. Turn in on canvas.
19: F 11/3 Discuss Berman's text on the Illusion of Progress Read Chapter 3: The Illusion of progress, Berman (2011). From the book "Why America failed."
20: M 11/7 Discuss Aaron Swartz, copyright, activism, and suicide We will discuss Aaron Swartz, in particular we will watch: a conference keynote. Rest in peace,
Aaaron Swartz
21: T 11/8 Intellectual property Read the preface and Chapter 1: Why intellectual property? of "The public domain, James Boyle
22: Th 11/10 Lecture: Public domain and creative commons Read chapter 8 of James Boyle's book, A creative commons. We will watch exerpts form the movie "The corporation" (Link to corresponding video)
23: M 11/14 Are humans really superior? We will watch / discuss The superior human (2012) Consider reading Sapiens, a brief history of humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, 2015
Afterwords to "Sapiens:
We have mastered our surroundings, increased food production, built cities, established empires and created far-flung trade networks. But did we decrease the amount of suffering in the world? Time and again, massive increases in human power did not necessarily improve the well-being of individual Sapiens, and usually caused immense misery to other animals.
In the last few decades we have at least made some real progress as far as the human condition is concerned, with the reduction of famine, plague and war. Yet the situation of other animals is deteriorating more rapidly than ever before, and the improvement in the lot of humanity is too recent and fragile to be certain of.
24: T 11/15 Are humans really superior? Read chapters 3-5 from Ishmael (bottom of page 27 to page 54)
(link to the full book)
We will watch Bananas in heaven
25: Th 11/17 Theranos We will watch Theranos: Silicon Valley's Greatest Disaster Further readings:





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