CS Field Session

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) have developed codes of ethics for software engineers. The ACM policy is here, and the IEEE policy is here. It is important for all students graduating with a degree in Computer Science to have an understanding of these ethical frameworks.

You will explore ethical issues in CS individually in a directed paraphrase (see below) and as a team in a project quality & ethical practice presentation.

Directed Paraphrase

Computer professionals should be able to identify and succinctly state ethical issues related to computing. For this activity, we will practice that skill within our teams. Specifically, each individual will read an article from the list below and be prepared to describe that article during the team/advisor meeting. The format is a directed paraphrase:

• Using plain language:
  • paraphrase (state in your own words) the main points of the article;
  • identify which ACM/IEEE Ethics Principles were violated that led to the events in the article;
  • discuss how different behavior on the part of the engineers might have changed the outcome.
• This should take approximately five minutes.
• Your goal is for your teammates and advisor to gain a quick understanding of the ethical issue(s) and possible solutions.
• Obviously in five minutes you can't cover everything discussed in the article. What is the primary issue? What is the most compelling example?
• If needed, you may have an index card or half page to remind you what you want to say. But do not just read this verbatim. You should be able to discuss these types of issues informally. Maybe practice with a friend or relative.

It's likely you have never done a directed paraphrase before. During sprint 2 team/advisor meeting, your advisor will do a directed paraphrase of a case study on the Denver International Airport baggage handling system, to give you an idea what we want. For your paraphrase, we recommend that you first read the entire article, possibly taking notes. Then select the issues and examples you want to discuss. You may want to write out what you plan to say. But as mentioned above, you should not just read from the paper. Remember, these are issues we should all be interested in. So just tell us what you learned as clearly as you can.

Students should coordinate within their teams to ensure everyone covers a different article. You may choose any article from the following list:

• The Colonial pipeline ransomware hackers had a secret weapon: self-promoting cybersecurity firms
• Read both "Tesla Claims Failing Touchscreens in NHTSA Recall Were Only Meant to Last 5-6 Years Anyway" and Tesla's letter to the NHTSA.
• Read both "Facial recognition technology: does it violate privacy or protect community?" and "Study finds gender and skin-type bias in commercial artificial-intelligence systems".
• "Amazon scraps secret AI recruiting tool that showed bias against women"
• "Deepfakes Are Going To Wreak Havoc On Society. We Are Not Prepared."
• "Information Technology: Agencies Need to Develop Modernization Plans for Critical Legacy Systems"; read the 2-page summary, and also 3-4 system profiles from Appendix III of the full report (starts on page 39).
• "Alexa, What Should We Do About Privacy?"
• "Postmortem: Multiple Failures Behind the Equifax Breach"
• "How the Boeing 737 Max Disaster Looks to a Software Developer"
• "The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Gauging the Risk of Recidivism"

Don't like any of these? You may do your own research and find an article that you prefer, but please send a link to the article to your adviser for approval.

Rubric

Some Fun Materials

• https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/lesser-known-trolley-problem-variations