Computer Science Archives - Viterbi Conversations in Ethics

Fall 2024 Weekly News Profile

How ChatGPT Can Combat Conspiracy Theories

Rachel Pak September 15, 2024 AI Computer Science Conspiracy Theories

Convincing a conspiracy theorist that they are wrong is usually a futile effort, but ChatGPT might have better luck. New research suggests that debating with a sympathetic chatbot may help pluck people who believe in conspiracy theories out of the rabbit hole. The study “Durably Reducing Conspiracy Beliefs Through Dialogues With AI,” published on September 13 in the journal Science, shows that conversing with a chatbot can weaken people’s beliefs in a given conspiracy theory. This study demonstrates that, although there exists the potential for generative AI to supercharge disinformation, it can also be part of the solution.

Spring 2024 Weekly News Profile

AI’s Impact on Tomorrow’s Jobs

Mary Karapetyan April 2, 2024 AI Computer Science Engineering

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the workforce, with thousands of companies developing advanced systems to streamline productivity. Despite its promise to enhance efficiency, there is a growing concern over its potential to displace millions of jobs across various industries over the next five years. As AI models become more sophisticated, there is a need for a deeper understanding of their capabilities and implications for the future of work and society.

Spring 2023 Weekly News Profile

New AI, New Problems: ChatGPT in the Classroom

Kaylee Tseng January 17, 2023 Artificial Intelligence Computer Science Education

The introduction of OpenAI’s AI text generator ChatGPT late last year has amplified the conversation surrounding AI use in classrooms. Aside from issues of dataset bias, OpenAI must also contend with critics who question whether ChatGPT is being used for academic assignments. Plagiarism software must now accelerate development in order to identify ChatGPT’s human-like responses.

Fall 2022 Weekly News Profile

The Rise and Conflict of AI-Generated Images

Kaylee Tseng September 18, 2022 Art Artificial Intelligence Computer Science Machine Learning

From art competitions to online horror stories, AI art has seen a massive spread online. These internet-based machine-learning models raise questions about misinformation, originality, and bias. While most results from AI-generated images have been developed as jokes, the internet may soon need to contend with these models as they become more realistic.

Volume 5 Issue 3 Winter 2022

Pitfalls of Predictive Policing: An Ethical Analysis

Jonathan Li February 17, 2022 Algorithms Computer Science Policing Predictive Policing Racial Inequality

Predictive policing is a police tactic that uses computer algorithms to predict where crime is likely to occur. This tactic, which has been used in cities like Los Angeles, allows the police to deploy more officers to “high-risk locations.” However, predictive policing violates the ethics of consequentialism and the ethical frameworks of justice and fairness by disproportionately targeting low-income neighborhoods and high-minority areas with increased police activity. Although boosting police patrols can deter crime in some cases, they also make people feel wary and frightened. Predictive policing is an unethical police tactic and should be further regulated or used in other manners. Crime should not be prevented by police-generated fear.

Volume 5 Issue 3 Winter 2022

Now That We Have Your Attention

Noah Samuels February 17, 2022 Computer Science Data Privacy Privacy Surveillance

In a traditional business model, companies provide a product or service to their customers. However, in today’s digital marketplace, users of a company’s app, website, or game are not the true customers. While users are able to access these apps for free, companies can then sell those users data and attention to advertisers and other interested parties. But in a world now dominated by surveillance capitalism, is the use of user data exploitation, or just good business? Tech companies must increase transparency of how they plan to collect and use data, and developers should refuse to use manipulative or addictive methods in order to capitalize on users.

Fall 2021 Weekly News Profile

Your Right to Repair

Teagan Ampe September 6, 2021 Computer Science Mechanical Engineering Planned Obsolescence

The Right to Repair movement wants to give you the power to repair your own devices without having to rely on their manufacturers — but do those companies’ concerns mean that the movement isn’t ethically sound?

Spring 2021 Volume 5 Issue 1

The Ethics of Digital Voice Assistants

Beatriz Suarez April 27, 2021 Artificial Intelligence Computer Science Digital Voice Assistant

In 2019, there were a staggering 3.25 billion digital voice assistants in use across the globe, a figure that is predicted to rise to 8 billion by 2023. These assistants, which include Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and more, are not just computers; they have voices and personalities, and we develop social relationships with them just like we do with real people. However, the way they are currently designed, voice assistants enable and even encourage certain stereotypes and social behaviors in their users. This paper explores the ethicality of digital voice assistants and their effects on those who use them and suggests ways designers can approach their development to make sure such socially detrimental effects are mitigated.

Spring 2021 Volume 5 Issue 1

Pay to Play: The Ethics of Video Game Economics

Tyler Amano-Smerling April 27, 2021 Computer Science Gaming Addiction Loot Boxes Microtransactions Video Games

Video games provide endless hours of fun for people of all ages, races, and genders. Gamers may not realize, however, that certain elements of their favorite form of entertainment may pose a serious threat to their wallets—and even their mental health. Game developers employ various techniques to manipulate users into purchasing items in the in-game store, including lockouts, reward removal, and loot boxes; considering virtue ethics and computer scientists’ ethical code emphasizes the need to remedy this exploitation.

Fall 2020 Weekly News Profile

The Unnerving Implications of Brain-Computer Interfaces

Teagan Ampe September 28, 2020 Autonomy Brain-Computer Interfaces Computer Science Privacy

9/28/2020 Elon Musk has always been one for lofty technological goals, but he’s not always concerned with their societal or ethical implications. During a recent…

Podcast

Grand Challenges Special Issue

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

Redefining Societal Progress for Engineers

Natasha Singh March 29, 2023

Dr. Erin Cech’s critique of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges focuses heavily on the pitfalls of technological determinism. This paper supports Cech’s argument through a discussion of current examples of the consequences of technological determinism, such as the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements, medication accessibility, and facial recognition technology. Though the consequences of a zealous engineering mentality are commonplace in our society, there are also current examples of tech companies neglecting to develop technology due to its possible negative consequences.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

How the Technical Sciences and the Social Sciences Should Go Hand-in-Hand

Charles Liu March 29, 2023

The fourteen Grand Challenges presented by the National Academy of Engineers (NAE) fail to involve ethics as a part of the solution to these issues. Traditionally, engineers have kept their work separate from its societal implications. Engineers and their non-technical counterparts have an obligation to view all technical solutions under the moral lens of ethicists and futurists. Going forward, engineers must be aware of their limits and work with experts outside of their fields to develop solutions that will be cognizant of society as a whole.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

The Lies We Tell to Inspire: Responding to the Engineering Double Standard

Shub Gaur March 29, 2023

The National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges are critiqued by Dr. Erin Cech for what she describes as a double standard in engineering. Though Cech rightly discusses a lack of accountability and acknowledgement within the profession, her argument lacks nuance. The Grand Challenges were ultimately a promotional tool meant to inspire the next generation of engineers, yet Cech holds them to a standard of being professional rules and guidelines. This paper will discuss the distinctions that Cech’s argument lacks, including placing an unreasonable amount of responsibility on engineers and overstating their influence.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

The Grand Challenges: Authorial Particularism and a Lost Opportunity for an Equitable Society

Huzaifa Aslam March 29, 2023

The fourteen Grand Challenges were developed by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in an effort to expose future generations to the wide range of innovation and technology that they could one day take part in. As detailed by the Challenges’ creators, the list includes challenges that are most significant to our current world. Dr. Erin Cech’s critique of the Grand Challenges is that a lack of diversity in the panel of engineering experts led to a lack of oversight into issues that are actually pertinent to developing nations. Cech’s argument that the Grand Challenges are a missed opportunity for social justice holds validity, but her mischaracterization of the lack of diversity requires further consideration.

Weekly News Profile

Fall 2024 Featured Weekly News Profile

Digital Doppelgangers: The Ethical Minefield of AI-Powered Digital Twins

Mo Jiang December 10, 2024

Microsoft’s Azure recently introduced AI-powered digital twins that can independently make medical decisions. The technology raises serious concerns over AI’s role in healthcare due to challenges in model confidence and real-time data integration. In healthcare, studies have shown that digital twins can improve cardiac surgery decisions, despite the risk of undermining clinicians’ judgment. Security challenges are significant and current counter-measures have flaws. The future of digital twins hinges on balancing innovation with regulation, ensuring they augment rather than replace medical expertise.

Fall 2024 Weekly News Profile

Uranus Isn’t Actually That Weird: New Research Suggests Potential for Life on the Distant Planet

Rachel Pak November 23, 2024

When Voyager 2 became the first and only mission to fly by Uranus in 1986, the data collected by the probe defined the way astronomers understood the ice giant for the next 40 years. However, a new study published suggests Voyager 2 just happened to zoom by the distant planet on a particularly weird day. These findings mean it might be easier for future missions to search for oceans beneath the surface of Uranus’ moons. This study reminds us that not only are we constantly making new discoveries, but that discoveries we considered facts are ever changing.

Fall 2024 Weekly News Profile

Plan B turned Plan A: Geoengineering To Resolve Climate Change?

Mary Karapetyan November 9, 2024

Geoengineering is considered a potential solution to mitigate the increasingly severe impacts of climate change. However, due to scientific and ethical concerns, it is critical to approach geoengineering techniques with caution. As a result, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) has unveiled a new ethical framework to help promote responsible and sustainable scientific research.

Fall 2024 Weekly News Profile

The Stars We Can No Longer See: The Impediment of Satellite Mega Constellations on Astronomical Research

Mo Jiang November 1, 2024

The launch of thousands of new private satellites for global internet coverage has led to unprecedented levels of light pollution and radio interference levels. Astronomers worldwide report increasing difficulty researching while satellite companies expand their networks. Space debris also makes launching scientific satellites and space operations for research purposes more challenging. This situation highlights the growing tension between expanding global internet access to underserved communities and preserving humanity’s ability to conduct astronomical research, prompting calls for reformed international space policies.

Fall 2024 Weekly News Profile

Fighting Hurricane Misinformation: Meteorologists Make the Climate Connection Amidst Storm of Lies

Rachel Pak October 21, 2024

The warnings preceding Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Martin were more accurate than ever before due to advances in forecasting methodology and technology. However, meteorologists have never faced such intense skepticism, hatred, and conspiracy-minded pushback. Many have been accused of steering the hurricanes, and others have faced threats of violence online. These false claims have been viewed more than 160 million times in the days following the hurricanes, and have even been pushed by government officials. However, in an effort to fight these false narratives, government authorities, civil society organizations, and meteorologists are now pushing back on disaster-related misinformation.

Viterbi Conversations in Ethics

Tag: Computer Science

How ChatGPT Can Combat Conspiracy Theories

AI’s Impact on Tomorrow’s Jobs

New AI, New Problems: ChatGPT in the Classroom

The Rise and Conflict of AI-Generated Images

Pitfalls of Predictive Policing: An Ethical Analysis

Now That We Have Your Attention

Your Right to Repair

The Ethics of Digital Voice Assistants

Pay to Play: The Ethics of Video Game Economics

The Unnerving Implications of Brain-Computer Interfaces

Ethical Challenges in AI: From Mobile Apps to Self-Driving Cars

Bridging the Gap: Addressing Access Inequities in Emerging Healthcare Technologies

Redefining Societal Progress for Engineers

How the Technical Sciences and the Social Sciences Should Go Hand-in-Hand

The Lies We Tell to Inspire: Responding to the Engineering Double Standard

The Grand Challenges: Authorial Particularism and a Lost Opportunity for an Equitable Society

Digital Doppelgangers: The Ethical Minefield of AI-Powered Digital Twins

Uranus Isn’t Actually That Weird: New Research Suggests Potential for Life on the Distant Planet

Plan B turned Plan A: Geoengineering To Resolve Climate Change?

The Stars We Can No Longer See: The Impediment of Satellite Mega Constellations on Astronomical Research

Fighting Hurricane Misinformation: Meteorologists Make the Climate Connection Amidst Storm of Lies