1.5.2 Moral and Ethical Issues Flashcards
What do computers allow people to do?
- Access modern productivity tools and specialised software
- Carry out their daily activities efficiently
- Easily communicate and collaborate with one another
Why are machines used for?
- Can work faster for longer, as well as being more accurate and reliable
- Don’t need holidays or sleep
What has been the affect of machines on factories?
- Have shifted the skill sets required
- Originally hired many lower-skilled it now needs a smaller set of highly skilled technicians to run, support and maintain systems
Examples of some automated jobs we see today?
- Supermarket checkouts, airport/ hotel check-in, online banking
What are some Stakeholders of banks?
- Customers
- Staff
- Banks
- Communities
What is some impacts of automation on customers?
- No need to travel, 24/7 service, instant decisions, access via mobile devices, open to hacking
What is some impacts of automation on bank staff?
- Job losses, creation of new job roles, new working practices, changes in required skill sets
What is some impacts of automation on Banks?
- Less overheads (staff, utility, bills), targeted marketing, data protection responsibilities
What is some impacts of automation on Communities?
- Local businesses may see less footfall and revenue, small businesses rely on local services
How do computers make automated decisions?
- Take actions based on predefined rules and parameters without any human involvement
- Follow algorithms : e.g stock market
What are some ethical issues in healthcare?
- They use automated care protocols and intelligent systems that can recommend a course of treatment for a patient
- Should only support the decision making not replace or bypass
What is profiling?
- Gathering info about an individual or group and analysing their characteristics or behaviour patterns and place them in a certain category or group and to make predictions or assessments about their:
- Work performance, health reliability, behaviour interests, economic situation
Exam Question: Describe 1 legal implication that dance group need to consider when adding soundtracks to their videos (2)
- Copyright of the soundtrack belongs to the original artist
- Permission must be sought to use it
- Otherwise copyright law is broken
What is AI?
- Artificial Intelligence
- To describe any machine programmed to think, work and react like a human
What are the main categories AI is broken down into?
- Applied/Narrow AI - Designed to manage a specific task
- Generalised AI - Can evolve and improve to handle other tasks emerging and developing area of AI
What is machine learning?
- The ability to learn without being explicitly programmed
- It is a subset of AI - 1 way to achieve AI
- The science of training a device or application to perform a task and improve its capabilities
- Achieved by feeding it data, information and scenarios so it can learn over time
What is a robot?
- A robot is a machine that carries out work by itself by following a set of programmed rules
What are the ethical, moral and cultural implications of using AI?
- Accountability
- Legal Liability
- Algorithmic Bias
- Safety
What is accountability in AI?
- The choices of the AI will have consequences.
- Who should be held responsible for the actions carried out by the smart AI algorithm
What is Legal Liability in AI?
- In the case of a loss of a life, who should be held legally responsible - the purchaser, programmer, manufacturer, government
What is Algorithmic Bias in AI?
- Designing an algorithm to prioritise certain outputs over others or favour 1 group over others
What is Safety in AI?
- How can we ensure safety with the implementation of an algorithm that can choose, learn and adapt?
- What rules should be programmed to make sure it does no harm?
- What should it do when harm is unavoidable?
What are some of the toxic components found in technology?
- Cadmium is commonly found in chip resistors and semi-conductors
- Mercury and chromium can be found in circuit boards, switches and relays
List 2 advantages that technology has on the environment?
- Work from home
- Encouraging a paperless approach
- Digital storage has reduced the need for physical storage to be produced
What are 2 disadvantages of technology on the environment?
- Toxic materials
- Pollution
- Electricity is needed - fossil fuels burned
What is Censorship?
- Refers to the deliberate suppression of materials in terms of what can be published or accessed
Name examples of using censorship?
- Schools and businesses use filtering software
- As part of its duty of care, schools have a moral and legal obligation to safeguard its students
What do Governments use to block and what do they block?
- Often require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block access to certain websites
- Government requires ISPs to block sites relating to:
- Extremist Politics
- Extreme Pornography
- Copyright infringement and File Sharing
Why might a country censor the internet?
- Decreases intellectual property theft
- Limits freedom of speech
- Allow government to control people
- Reduce criminal activity including terrorism
- Content may be contrary to the major religion
- Content may be against the ethos of the ruling government
- Security concerns
- Protection of existing economic interests and copyright
What are the ways computer technology can monitor behaviour?
- Deliberately chosen by the user
- Passive Monitoring
- Forced Tracking
What is the least controversial tracking method?
- Deliberately chosen by the user: Smartwatches/fitness trackers.
- Exchanges for lifestyle improvements
Which is the most controversial tracking method?
- Forced Tracking
- GPS tagging criminals to track movement and internal monitoring systems that log employees’ online activities
What is Passive Monitoring?
- CCTV cameras and speed cameras
- Added security by CCTV is worth it, if it reduces crime
- Others believe it is an invasion of privacy
Exam Question: Give 1 advantage and 1 disadvantage of using self-driving cars rather than drivers?
- Advantage: Safer than human driver (1), cheaper as no wage to cover (1), less likely to make mistakes with route (1)
- Disadvantage: May not understand natural speech (1) may be limited in terms of roads on which it can operate (1), vulnerable to hacking (1)
What are some examples of personal data collected by computer technology?
- Social Media interactions
- Online chats
- Gaming Patterns
- Travel Plans
- Internet search history
- Website journeys
- Shopping habits
What is big data?
- Extremely large data sets that may be analysed computationally to reveal patterns, trends and associations in human behaviour and interactions
What is data mining?
- Process of analysing large data sets of data to find anomalies, patterns, correlations and predict outcomes.
What are the advantages of data mining?
- The ability to quickly and automatically dig through vast stores of data
- Discover hidden connections
- Predict future trends
What are some issues associated with collection and use of personal data?
- Privacy: Who has access?
- Ownership: Who owns data about you?
- Consent: How can data be collected on you?, Positive consent/opt-in
- Misuse : Hashing/ phishing scams
- Data Protection: How is your data protected? Your rights? DPA law?
What is piracy?
- It is the illegal copying of software or data without regard to copyright.
- The internet has made the distribution of pirated materials much easier to achieve, and harder for law enforcement agencies to detect.
How has the issue of software piracy increased?
- With high speed broadband and 5G, an increasing amount of commercial material is available to download or stream in digital form
- E.g Music, TV shows, movies, video games
Why is freedom of access to everything may not be a good idea?
- Digital industry employs millions of people and there is a cost of creating digital content - without our money these industries won’t exist.
What are the names of the 2 legislations that help against software piracy?
- The UK Copyright Designs and Patents Act
- Computer Misuse Act
What are the ways to protect digital content?
- Copyright
- Trademarks
- Patents
- Licensing
How is the online world a source of offensive communication?
- Online world is a platform for self expression, can remain anonymous and voice opinions that they would never say in the real world?
What is an internet troll?
- Refers to a person who actively sparks/ fuels arguments online, often by posting abusive content or comments.
What does the Humans Rights Act say?
- It states that we have a right to hold our own opinions and express them freely without government interface
- Right to express views - protest
- Although, it states that we need to respect others rights
Why should the authority restrict your freedom of speech if you encourage racial or religious hatred?
- Protect national security or public safety
- Prevent disorder or crime
- Protect health or morals
- Protect the rights and reputation of others
What is culture?
- Refers to the viewpoints and attitudes that reflect a country’s identity and social message
What are the typical culture values of the UK?
- Act fairly and justly
- Respect for the right of free expression
- Respect for the rule of law
- Respect for the democratic process
Which western principles does social media enshrine?
- Freedom of speech
- Freedom of expression
- The right to protest in an orderly manner
Why can the layout be a cultural issue?
- Most western websites are laid out top to bottom, left - right - not appropriate for all audiences
- Position of key items may need to be repositioned to make viewing experience more natural
What can “blue” mean in different cultures?
- Typically considered very safe- water, sky, cold
- Someone could interpret blue as heat
What can “red” mean in different cultures?
- Red can be associated with feelings of love, care and health
- On the other hand it can have negative feelings of censorship, prohibition and danger
What can “green” mean in different cultures?
- In the west, green represents luck and nature
- In Indonesia, green is a forbidden colour, while in China, green means infidelity
