grabosky

[grabosky]

My Answers to HW6case, Q3

Q3 (34 pts.). Write up your case on your blog.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-jobs-automation-insight/amazon-scraps-secret-ai-recruiting-tool-that-showed-bias-against-women-idUSKCN1MK08G

Facts

Tool was developed to review job applicants and recommend top choices

Tool was developed in 2014 and shut down in 2018.

Amazon used an artificial intelligence technique called Machine Learning.  Machine learning algorithms analyze data sets (training data) and build relational models used to predict trends.

Amazon realized that the algorithm was developing a bias against female applicants.

Amazon believes the unintentional bias developed because the training data analyzed by the algorithm (resumes submitted to the company over a 10-year period) came mostly from men.

The tech industry workforce is male-dominate (72% https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18.htm)

Amazon attempted to correct the imbalance, but eventually lost confidence and abandoned the project

Amazon officially states that the algorithm "was never used by Amazon recruiters to evaluate candidates", but sources in the article stated that "recruiters looked at the recommendations generated by the tool when searching for new hires, but never relied solely on those rankings"

Analysis

Automation is one of Amazon's strengths. It's used to spot pattern's in consumer behavior and make quick adjustments to their product page, it's used in their Alexa smart speaker product, and it's used effectively in their warehouses to maximize storage capacity, speed fulfilment of orders, and reduce shipping cost.  Well designed Artificial Intelligence tools can increase efficiency, reduce cost, and provide a competitive advantage.  It's no surprise that Amazon and other companies are looking to incorporate these benefits into other important parts of their business like hiring.

Amazon discovered that the applicant review tool they developed was biases against female applicants. This certainly wasn't their intention.  In fact, one of their goals for the AI tool was to remove the subjective nature of human recruiters.  The reason given for the bias was that the training data used, real data about Amazon's past hirers and their level of success, was dominated by male hires - a trend not uncommon in the tech industry.  Amazon attempted to make adjustments, but ultimately shut down the project due to lack of confidence.

Yes this project was canceled and it could be an illustration of a fundamental problem with machine learning, but automation is the hiring business is far from dead.  Based on the quick research I did for this assignment, up to 95% of fortune 500 companies use software to pre-screen job applicants (https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/28/resume-how-yours-can-beat-the-applicant-tracking-system.html). This implies that the practice, despite the flaws displayed in this case, is viewed and valuable.

Future environment

How do we regulate private automation algorithms?  One way would be to require the publication of source for independent review.  This is problematic for two reasons. One, a tech company's source is their IP. Forcing a tech company to publicize their private source base is tantamount to them giving away their IP for free.  Two, even with the source, it would take industry experts a significant amount of time to understand the process well enough to review it.  That kind of resource and the funding to support it just doesn't exists.

Another way to regulate would be to require a certain amount of record keeping of the suggestions made by the hiring algorithm in conjunction with other hiring information.  Review of this data would still be resource intensive, but seems more plausible.  It would take legislation similar to FERPA for education records or Sarbanes–Oxley for corporate accounting to require this kind of record keeping.

Future scenario

A provider of an ATS (applicant tracking software) solution secretly and subtilty alters their algorithm to prefer applications of a particular political bent for public service jobs.  

[grabosky]

My Answers to HW6case, Q2

Q2 (33 pts.). Explain the case and discuss, one at a time, each question you devised about it, plus the 3 standard questions.

Amazon developed a sexist tool to pre-screen job applicants

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-jobs-automation-insight/amazon-scraps-secret-ai-recruiting-tool-that-showed-bias-against-women-idUSKCN1MK08G

Facts

Tool was developed to review job applicants and recommend top choices

Tool was developed in 2014 and shut down in 2018.

Amazon used a Artificial Intelligence technique called Machine Learning.  Machine learning algorithms analyze data sets (training data) and build relational models used to predict trends.

Amazon realized that the algorithm was developing a bias against female applicants.

Amazon believes the unintentional bias developed because the training data analyzed by the algorithm (resumes submitted to the company over a 10-year period) came mostly from men.

The tech industry workforce is male-dominate (72% https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18.htm)

Amazon attempted to correct the imbalance, but eventually lost confidence and abandoned the project

Amazon officially states that the algorithm "was never used by Amazon recruiters to evaluate candidates", but sources in the article stated that "recruiters looked at the recommendations generated by the tool when searching for new hires, but never relied solely on those rankings"

Questions

Why would Amazon develop such a tool? One, automation is one of Amazon's strengths. Quickly spotting pattern's in consumer behavior and making adjustments might not be that much different than spotting patterns in employee performance.  Main reasons Amazon gave were to expand the pool of potential applicants and reduce the subjective opinions of recruiters.  Yes, ironically, they were developing the algorithm in part to reduce bias in hiring.

If the algorithm showed bias toward one group underrepresented by the training data, is it likely that the algorithm developed bias toward other underrepresented groups?

It's certainly possible.  Underrepresentation in the training data was the reason given for the bias in the algorithm.  Stands to reason that other underrepresented groups would be susceptible to the same problem.

Does this problem expose an inherent problem with machine learning? It does.  Machine 'learning' in the sense we're talking about here is a bit of a misnomer.  It's not so much learning as it is performing a statistical analysis and identifying patterns.  If skewed data is fed into the machine, skewed patterns will be a part of the output.  Using machine learning effectively requires careful setup -- framing the question just so and feeding it proper context (training data representative of the environment).  It's a technique that takes a lot of skill to setup and the right kind of problem to analyze.  It's not a good fit for all problems.

Is it likely that Amazon is the only company looking to automate parts of the hiring process?

Definitely not.  This article states that up to 95% of fortune 500 companies use software to pre-screen job applicants. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/28/resume-how-yours-can-beat-the-applicant-tracking-system.html.  Biased hiring may be a legal liability for a company. Utilizing an algorithm that in theory isn't subjective may be intended to mitigate this legal risk.

How does computer security relate to this case?

Amazon wouldn't want the exact criteria for the algorithm released as then it could be manipulated by applicants.

How can you apply deontological ethics (rule-based) to this case?

Its a good ethical rule, and probably a legal one, that all applicants should be judged under a fair and consistent set of criteria that doesn't discriminate based on age, gender, political affiliation, sexual preference or identity, or any other personal quality not relevant to the job.  One of Amazon's purported reasons for developing the algorithm was to provide non-subjective evaluation thus promoting equitable consideration.  They discontinued the project because they lost faith that it could provide an unbiased result.

How can you apply utilitarian ethics (similar to consequentialist ethics) to this case?

As with most automation projects, the general idea is that software is cheap and people are expensive.  By automating part of the hiring process, there is the potential to more consistently hire the best applicants while avoiding the expense of hiring more recruiters.  Also, as mentioned before, it may provide mitigation to risk of discrimination lawsuits if a demonstrably non-subjective algorithm is part of the hiring process.

How can you apply virtue ethics (character-based) to this case?

The tech industry is under pressure to diversify it's employee base.  Most notably the gender divide but also race and political affiliation.  The effort do develop solutions to this pressure might be a positive in virtue ethics land.

[grabosky]

My Answers to HW6case, Q1

Q1 (33 pts.). Prepare case notes on an ethics case related to robotics. An ethics case is an example, event, experience, legal case, medical case, and so on from real life, a movie, your imagination, and so on, which has some ethics related aspects to consider. Your notes should include.

Amazon developed a sexist tool to pre-screen job applicants

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-jobs-automation-insight/amazon-scraps-secret-ai-recruiting-tool-that-showed-bias-against-women-idUSKCN1MK08G

Facts

Tool was developed to review job applicants and recommend top choices

Tool was developed in 2014 and shut down in 2018.

Amazon used a Artifical Intelligence technique called Machine Learning.  Machine learning algorithms analyze data sets (training data) and build relational models used to predict trends.

Amazon realized that the algorithm was developing a bias against female applicants.

Amazon believes the unintentional bias developed because the traing data analyized by the alogrithm (resumes submitted to the company over a 10-year period) came mostly from men.

The tech industry workforce is male-dominate (72% https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18.htm)

Amazon attempted to correct the imbalnace, but eventually lost confidence and abandoned the project

Amazon officially states that the algorithm "was never used by Amazon recruiters to evaluate candidates", but sources in the article stated that "recruiters looked at the recommendations generated by the tool when searching for new hires, but never relied solely on those rankings"

Questions

Why would Amazon develop such a tool?

If the algorithm showed bias toward one group underrepresented by the training data, is it likely that the algorithm developed bias toward other underrepresented groups?

Does this problem expose an inherient problem with machine learning?

Is it likely that Amazon is the only company looking to automate parts of the hiring process?

How does computer security relate to this case?

[grabosky]

On HW6proj

Summary of updates to Ethics Trail app

Added 5th scenario based on Start Trek: The Next Generation S2E9 episode "The Measure of a Man".  This episode deals with an aspect of machine ethics.

Added sound effect to ‘cut scenes’.

Updated project project doc

Can view site at

https://ifsc2200-85a57.firebaseapp.com/

Up Next

Add at least one more scenario.

Polish final 'score' screen

[grabosky]

My Answers to HW5case, Q3

Q3. (34 pts.) Write up your case on your blog. Neatness and format count. Use the following subheadings:

FERPA https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

The facts of the case

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that seeks to protect the confidentiality of student educational records.  FERPA was introduced by James Buckley (C-NY) and signed into law by President Gerald Ford in 1974. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under a program administered by the U.S. Department of Education. All public schools and most private schools are covered because they receive some sort of federal funding. FERPA is part of the first wave of compute crime legislation in the United States in the 60s and 70s. Privacy laws were enacted due to the advancement of computerized information storage and retrieval which gave governments unpresented capacity to analyze information on individuals.  The law has been amended 9 times since it's enactment.

The Act gives students rights to review their education records, request corrections, prevent the release of personally identifiable information (PII), and receive a copy of the educational institutions records policy.  The law also prevents schools from releasing PII without the consent of the student.  These rights are given to parents of student minors and transferred to the student when they turn 18.  There are several exceptions that allow the release of student records.  A school can release student records without consent to certain parties such as school officials with a legitimate educational interest, other schools the students wants to attend, accrediting organizations, parties in connection with financial aid, etc.

Analysis

The law is specific about who has rights under FERPA.  Parents have rights under FERPA for students under 18.  After the student turns 18, the rights transfer to the student.  Parents of adult students and spouses of students have no rights under FERPA.

The law lists specific exceptions to the disclosure requirements such as releasing student records to another school that the student wants to attend.  However, third parties who obtain a student's educational records must agree not to disclose the information to anyone else with out written permission from the student.

The law has been updated many times to classify additional information as subject to protection and to provide additional exceptions to the disclosure requirements.

The law states that schools must maintain a list of all individuals or organizations that have requested a student's educational records.

If your school violates your rights under FERPA, you can file a complaint with the Department of Education's Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO).  Complaints must be filed within 180 days of the violation.  If FPCO investigates and finds that the school has violated FERPA, it will instruct the school what it must do to comply.  If the school does not comply, federal funding will be withheld.

It is notable that FERPA does not specify that a student must be notified in case of a data breach.

My conclusions

Schools collect and store a significant amount of sensitive information about it's students.  Loss of this data to nefarious actors could lead to identity theft, fraud, legal trouble, and other serious consequences.  Setting protection standards for federally funded institutions managing our countries youth is important.

Future environment

As more of a school's business gets intertwined in digital technology, the law will need to be continually updated to reflect new types of data, media, and interactions.  As more data is collected on students and stored electronically and as the frequency and sophistication of cyber intrusions increase, a school must remain ever vigilant.

Future scenario

As more students move to remote learning, I wonder if there is a new problem of student identification.  What steps must a school take to ensure that the person on the other end of a remote network connection is the expected student.

[grabosky]

Notes on Robotics Lecture 11/11/2021

It's Wikipedia, but I think it provides a great high level overview of the various concerns surounding robots, AI, and algorithms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_of_artificial_intelligence

Threat to human dignity

Joseph Weizenbaum argued in 1976 that AI technology should not be used to replace people in positions that require respect and care like a soldier, a nurse, a police officer, or a judge.  An algorithm lacks empathy and may not value human life as a human would.

The counter to this is AI can remove human emotion and bias from decision making possibly making it a good companion, not a replacement, for decision making regarding human care.

Transparency and accountability

AI is playing an increasing role in our lives.  How do we regulate proprietary algorithms to make sure they are fair and safe.

Biases in AI systems

Algorithms can be biased.  There have been a number of recent well publicized examples.

Microsoft's racist chat bot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay_(bot)

Amazon's biased hiring algorithm https://www.datanami.com/2018/10/16/do-amazons-biased-algorithms-spell-the-end-of-ai-in-hiring/#:~:text=Amazon%20last%20year%20cancelled%20an%20AI-based%20hiring%20program,giant%2C%20but%20eventually%20learned%20to%20rate%20women%E2%80%99s%20

Alexa not responding to African Americans https://www.wired.com/story/best-algorithms-struggle-recognize-black-faces-equally/

Other examples https://towardsdatascience.com/bias-in-artificial-intelligence-a3239ce316c9

Bias can be introduced by some unfair assumptions either intentional or unintentional, technical limitations can lead to bias, or skewed data can essentially teach bias.

Workforce displacement through automation

What are the ethical concerns of replacing human workers with robotic ones.  If automated driving algorithms replaced all Uber, FedEx, Amazon, UPS, USPS, and delivery drivers, what effect would that have on the world?

What if there are only jobs for 25% of the population?  

Singularity

As AI becomes ever more complex and capable, it will approach intelligence rivaling or even surpassing humans.  Humans may loose the ability to control the machines.  Think Terminator or I, Robot.  What controls need to be established.  How do we teach human ethics to non-human intelligent machines.

As robots approach human intelligence, do they start having rights?

Star Trek episode that explores this concept https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Measure_Of_A_Man_(episode)

[grabosky]

My Answers to HW5case, Q2

Q2 (33 pts.). Explain the case and discuss, one at a time, each question you devised about it, plus the 3 standard questions. Post this on your blog.

FERPA https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

Facts

FERPA stands for The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99)

A Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.

The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.

Introduced in the House by James L. Buckley (C–NY)

Passed the House on January 3, 1973; Passed the Senate on February 21, 1974; and signed into law by President Gerald Ford on August 21, 1974.

Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record.

FERPA gives parents access to their child's education records, an opportunity to seek to have the records amended, and some control over the disclosure of information from the records.  These rights transfer to the student after that student is 18 years old.

There are many exceptions to FERPA

FERPA is part of the first wave of compute crime legislation in the United States in the 60s and 70s.  Other bills include the Freedom of Information Act of 1966, Privacy Act of 1974, the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978 and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.

Questions:

What are some exceptions to FERPA? FERPA allows schools to disclose a student's education record to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31): FERPA allows schools to disclose a student's education record to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31): * School officials with legitimate educational interest; * Other schools to which a student is transferring; * Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes; * Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student; * Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school; *Accrediting organizations; * To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena; * Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies;  * State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law.

Does a spouse of a student have rights to that student's education records? No.  Spouses of students have no rights under FERPA

Does FERPA permit schools to disclose any and all education records on a student to another school where the student seeks or intends to enroll? Yes.  FERPA allows the disclosure of education records without consent to another school in which a student seeks to enroll.

How long does an educational agency or institution have to comply with a request to view records? FERPA specifies that educational agiences comply with a request by a parent/student for access to education records within a 'reasonable period of time'.  This time period canot be more than 45 days.

Does a school have to notify a student if their personal information is compromised due to cyber attack? Not under FERPA.  FERPA does not have a brech notification requirement.

[grabosky]

My Answers to HW5case, Q1

Q1 (33 pts.). For this unit, find a case concerning a law, or use the law itself as your case, for a law related to security, privacy, etc. Suggestions: HIPAA, FERPA, Computer Security Act, Sarbanes-Oxley, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, COPPA, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), US Patriot Act, Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or some other law. If you just type the name into a search engine you should be able to find plenty of information. This should include

FERPA https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

Facts

FERPA stands for The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99)

A Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.

The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.

Introduced in the House by James L. Buckley (C–NY)

Passed the House on January 3, 1973; Passed the Senate on February 21, 1974; and signed into law by President Gerald Ford on August 21, 1974.

Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record.

FERPA gives parents access to their child's education records, an opportunity to seek to have the records amended, and some control over the disclosure of information from the records.  These rights transfer to the student after that student is 18 years old.

There are many exceptions to FERPA

Questions

What are some exceptions to FERPA?

Does a spouse of a student have rights to that student's education records?

Does FERPA permit schools to disclose any and all education records on a student to another school where the student seeks or intends to enroll?

How long does an educational agency or institution have to comply with a request to view records?

Does a school have to notify a student if their personal information is compromised due to cyber attack?

[grabosky]

On HW5proj

Summary of updates to Ethics Trail app

Added 4th scenario

Added ‘cut scenes’ between scenarios

Added project google doc and shared

Can view site at

https://ifsc2200-85a57.firebaseapp.com/

Up Next

Add at least one more scenario.

Add sounds to cut scenes

[grabosky]

Notes on Lecture of 11/02/2020 ”Last Lecture” Discussion Questions.

"Last Lecture" Discussion Questions

Please discuss the video with your group, if you have one, while filling out this form. You can hand it in at the end of class, or copy paste it to your blog – use the title ‘”Last Lecture” Discussion Questions.’ 

1. The video was intended as life advice to whom? The lecture was given at Carnegie Mellon University to over 450 Carnegie Mellon students, staff members, and friends. 

 It was an inspiration presentation that could be relevant to anyone.  Themes about perseverance, hard work, and service to others.  Parts seemed to target current and prospective educators and parts seemed to target students.  At the end of his presentation, Dr. Pausch stated that the lecture was for his kids.

2. List the advice items that you/your group can recall below. (Many, but not all, are related to ethics.) For each, note whether you agree or not.

I agree with all of these with the possible exception of "If you wait long enough, a person will find a way to impress you".  However, Randy was an impressive guy that experienced far more than me, so I might re-evaluate.

Never loose the child-like wonder

Help others

Loyalty is a two way street

Never give up

Have something to bring to the table, it makes you more welcome.

You can't get there alone, you need help.

Tell the truth.

Be earnest

Apologize when you screw up.

Focus on others, not yourself.

Don't bail; the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap

Get a feedback loop and listen to it.  The hard part is listening to it.

Show gratitude

Don't complain, just work harder

Be good at something, it make you valuable

Work hard

Find the best in everybody

Be prepared

Don't give up on people.  If you wait long enough, a person will find a way to impress you

Most of what we learn, we learn indirectly.

Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.

The best thing you can give someone - the chance to show then what it's like to make someone else happy

[grabosky]

My Answers to HW4case, Q3

The facts of the case.

The case concerns the REC Foundation Code of Conduct

The code can be found at https://www.roboticseducation.org/documents/2019/08/recf-code-of-conduct.pdf/

REC stands for The Robotics Education and Competition.  

The organization's stated mission is to "to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, affordable, and sustainable robotics engineering programs".

The REC foundation operates and supports robotics competitions worldwide

Their event code of conduct is heavy on value ethics like 'Act with integrity, honesty, and reliability'.

Promoting good ethical values seems to be important to the organization.  The code of conduct explicitly states that team conduct and ethics is to be considered a factor in the judging of competitions.

Code of conduct states that any associated with the team are expected to follow the code even outside of events.

The code instructs adults to let students take the lead.

One Deontological bullet - "Follow all rules as listed in the current game manual".  A rule that says follow the rules.

The code describes what happens if someone does not follow the code - possible disqualification for current and future events.

Competitions sponsored by the REC foundation are usually run by regional volunteers

Analysis / Conclusions

I understand the reasoning for a general set of basic ethical virtues as opposed to a more well defined set of rules.  These events are sponsored worldwide and, most of the time, are run by local volunteers instead of directly controlled by the REC foundation.  The loose set of rules gives competition organizers a certain amount of interpretive freedom to execute events with respect to regional norms.  I also think the value approach supports character development over raw competition which seems to be another goal of the organization.  

The interpretive freedom inherent in virtue ethics can have a downside.  Different people can interpret the rules differently possibly leading to confusion and may make enforcement of the code harder.  An all volunteer staff makes it harder to enforce the rules because the volunteers my not feel like they have any implicit authority.  If the event was sponsored by the REC foundation and staffed with paid judges, they would most likely feel more confident in enforcing their organization's rules.

I would hope rules such as 'act with integrity, honesty, and reliability' and 'Exhibit maturity and class' are applicable world-wide.  It does say to 'respect individual differences' which might be a nod to the global reach of the rule.

These events are a great opportunity to introduce future young professionals to the most basic of computer security precautions.  

Don't leave your computer unlocked and unattended.  

Be aware of anyone that may be looking over your shoulder in a public place.  

Don't pickup removable unknown removable media and plug it into your computer no matter how curious you are about it.  

Be careful with open Wi-Fi access.

Personal data could be stolen.

Competition code could be stolen or erased in a particularly cut-throat move by a middle-schooler.

Future Scenario

I don't see much in the code of conduct that is particularly sensitive to the passage of time.  These virtues could have been written 100 years ago for a competition of any kind.

[grabosky]

My Answers to HW4case, Q2

Q2 (33 pts). Explain the case and discuss, one at a time, each question you devised about it, plus the 3 standard questions.

REC Foundation Code of Conduct https://www.roboticseducation.org/documents/2019/08/recf-code-of-conduct.pdf/

REC stands for The Robotics Education and Competition.  The organization's stated mission is to "increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics".

The REC foundation operates and supports robotics competitions across the world.

Their event code of conduct is heavy on value ethics like 'Act with integrity, honesty, and reliability'.

Promoting good ethical values seems to be important to the organization.  The code of conduct explicitly states that team conduct and ethics is to be considered a factor in the judging of competitions.

Code of conduct states that any associated with the team are expected to follow the code even outside of events.

Instructs adults to let students take the lead.

One Deontological bullet - "Follow all rules as listed in the current game manual".  A rule that says follow the rules.

The code describes what happens if someone does not follow the code - possible disqualification for current and future events.

Questions:

Is the loose, general virtue ethics approach to the code more effective in this case than a more concrete set of rules? I understand the reasoning for a general set of basic ethical virtues as opposed to a more well defined set of rules.  These events are sponsored worldwide and, most of the time, are run by local volunteers instead of directly controlled by the REC foundation.  Writing a more formal set of rules would be very hard.  I also think the value approach supports character development over raw competition.

The REC Foundation focuses on the young.  How different would the code of conduct be if it was focused on adults? I think it would focus less on ethical values.  There would be far more detail on criteria for judging the competition.

The REC Foundation supports robotics competitions world-wide.  Is this set of rules appropriate for all countries?  Is there any country in which the REC Foundation post a different Code of Conduct? I would hope rules such as 'act with integrity, honesty, and reliability' and 'Exhibit maturity and class' are applicable world-wide.  It does say to 'respect individual differences' which might be a nod to the global reach of the rule.

Most local and regional robotics competitions are staffed by volunteers. Would this make it more difficult to enforce the code of conduct? An all volunteer staff makes it harder to enforce any rules because the volunteers my not feel like they have any implicit authority.  If the event was sponsored by the REC foundation and staffed with paid judges, they would most likely feel more confident in enforcing their organization's rules.

What computer security issues might arise at a robotics competition? These events are a great opportunity to introduce future young professionals to the most basic of computer security precautions.   - Don't leave your computer unlocked and unattended.   - Be aware of anyone that may be looking over your shoulder in a public place.   - Don't pickup removable unknown removable media and plug it into your computer no matter how curious you are about it.   - Be careful with open Wi-Fi access. - Personal data could be stolen. - Competition code could be stolen or erased in a particularly cut-throat move by a middle-schooler.

How can you apply deontological ethics (rule-based) to this case? As stated above, this particular code of ethics is mostly value based.  It does reference the game manual, which is a formal set of scoring criteria for the portions of the event.  I guess this is more deontological.

How can you apply utilitarian ethics (similar to consequentialist ethics) to this case? The REC Foundation’s stated mission is “ to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)”.  This mission is to benefit society which seems very utilitarian.

How can you apply virtue ethics (character-based) to this case? This code of conduct is mostly virtue based.  Instilling good ethical virtues in the young competitors seems to be a major goal of the REC foundation.  Not an uncommon goal for a youth oriented organization.

[grabosky]

Notes on Lecture of 10/28/2020 from a recording part 1

Lecture given by Randy Pausch in 2007

Professor of computer science and human-computer interaction at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2007

Given 3 to 6 months of good health left

Gave a lecture titled "The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" after his diagnosis

Stated he is not going to talk about

Cancer

Family

Religion

He will talk about

Achieving your childhood dreams

Enabling the dreams of others

Lessons learned

He had a good childhood Grew up in 1960s when optimism about the future was high

His Dreams

experience zero gravity

play in the NFL

write an article for the WorldBook Encyclopedia

become Captain Kirk

win stuffed animals

become a Disney Imagineer

Experience Zero Gravity

He and his students entered a competition and won with a Virtual Reality project

Got to ride the Vomit Comet and experience zero gravity with his students

lesson learned: have something to bring to the table

P{lay in the NFL

never played in the NFL but learned a lot of good life lessons from playing football in his youth

get the fundamentals right because without that, the fancy stuff doesn't matter

a bad place to be in is where you screw up and noone bothers to tell you about it

experience is what you get when you don't get what you want

Write an article for the WorldBook encyclopedia

Got a chance to write an article about VR

Become Captain Kirk

Kirk wasn't the smartest guy on the enterprise, but he had leadership

Got to meet William Shatner

Built the bridge of the Enterprise in VR

Winning Stuffed Animals

did some of that

Become a Disney Imagineer

Applied after graduation with PhD and was turned down

Brick walls are there to give you an opportunity to prove how badly you want it

Disney wanted to build a VR Alladin attraction.  He talked to the project lead and asked to work on the project with him

He agreed

Wait long enough and a person will find a way to impress you

Dean didn't want him to go, but he convinced another administrator

Disney Imagineering was a great place to be inspired.  Compared it to Willy Wonky and the Chocolate Factory

His experience here forever changed him

Offered a permanent position, but said no

How can I enable the childhood dreams of others

He started a course 'Building Virtual Worlds'

50 students from all departments (art, science, engineering, etc.)

random 4 person teams

changed teams every 2 weeks

5 projects a semester

worked out well

two rules: no shooting violence, no pornography

the student projects blew him away

[grabosky]

Ethical code for class session 10/19/2020

Office breakroom code of ethics

Clean up after yourself

Label your food

Cover food in microwave and clean any spills or splatters when done.

Maintain professional behavior.

No stinky food in fridge or microwave.

You kill the Joe, you make some mo’

No work talk in the break room

Do not take someone else’s food

Be considerate

[grabosky]

My Answers to HW4case, Q1

Q1 (33 pts). Prepare notes on a code of ethics (which will be your case study for this HW).

REC Foundation Code of Conduct

https://www.roboticseducation.org/documents/2019/08/recf-code-of-conduct.pdf/

REC stands for The Robotics Education and Competition.  The organization's stated mission is to "increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics".

The REC foundation operates and supports robotics competitions accross the world.

Their event code of conduct is heavy on value ethics like 'Act with integrity, honesty, and reliability'.

Promoting good ethical values seems to be important to the organization.  The code of conduct explicitly states that team conduct and ethics is to be considered a factor in the judging of competitions.

Code of conduct states that any associated with the team are expected to follow the code even outside of events.

Instructs adults to let students take the lead.

One Deontological bullet - "Follow all rules as listed in the current game manual".  A rule that says follow the rules.

The code describes what happens if someone does not follow the code - possible disqualification for current and future events.

Questions:

Is the loose, general value ethics approach to the code more effective in this case than a more concrete set of rules?

The REC Foundation focuses on the young.  How different would the code of conduct be if it was focused on adults?

The REC Foundation supports robotics competitions world-wide.  Is this set of rules appropriate for all countries?  Is there any country in which the REC Foundation post a different Code of Conduct?

Most local and regional robotics competitions are staffed by volunteers. Would this make it more difficult to enforce the code of conduct?

What computer security issues might arise at a robotics competition?

[grabosky]

On HW4proj

Summary of updates to Ethics Trail app

Added new scenario based on HW3Case

Added a conclusion screen to display the player's ethical score

Added dynamic scenario selection to open up the possibility of varying the order of scenarios

Performance tweaks and bug fixes

Can view site at

http://www.tituscampbell.com/

github source repository

https://github.com/tpcampb/final-proj/ note: you can track updates by looking at the commit notes

Up Next

Add 'cut scenes' between scenarios.

Add at least one more scenario.

Add a project google doc that explains more of the process

[grabosky]

Notes on Lecture of 10/14/2020 from a recording

Analyzing codes of ethics

A code of ethics is Rule(s) for ethical conduct

Terms:

- Code of ethics = Ethical code

Codes of ethics are all around us

The ACM has one of its own https://www.acm.org/code-of-ethics

Example of Utilitarian focused items 1.1 Contribute to society and to human well-being, acknowledging that all people are stakeholders in computing. 2.7 Foster public awareness and understanding of computing, related technologies, and their consequences. 3.1 Ensure that the public good is the central concern during all professional computing work. Untitled

Example of Deontological focused items 2.3 Know and respect existing rules pertaining to professional work. 2.4 Accept and provide appropriate professional review.

Example of Virtue focused items 1.3 Be honest and trustworthy. 1.4 Be fair and take action not to discriminate.

The Computer Ethics Institute has The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics http://computerethicsinstitute.org/publications/tencommandments.html 1. Thou Shalt Not Use A Computer To Harm Other People. 2. Thou Shalt Not Interfere With Other People’s Computer Work. 3. Thou Shalt Not Snoop Around In Other People’s Computer Files. 4. Thou Shalt Not Use A Computer To Steal. 5. Thou Shalt Not Use A Computer To Bear False Witness. 6. Thou Shalt Not Copy Or Use Proprietary Software For Which You have Not Paid. 7. Thou Shalt Not Use Other People’s Computer Resources Without Authorization Or Proper Compensation. 8. Thou Shalt Not Appropriate Other People’s Intellectual Output. 9. Thou Shalt Think About The Social Consequences Of The Program You Are Writing Or The System You Are Designing. 10. Thou Shalt Always Use A Computer In Ways That Insure Consideration And Respect For Your Fellow Humans.

These items are stated in a deontological form. Displays a general problem with purely dentological views - too absolutist, lacks balance. #9 is the most utilitiarian rule #10 is a good example of virtue ethics

Almost any profession, hobby, or organization has a code of conduct The United States Court Tennis Association has one https://uscourttennis.org/code-of-conduct/

Russian Organized Crime (at least at one point) has what is called a 'Vorovskoy Zakon' or The Thieves' Code https://fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/rusorg3.htm

My workplace certainly has one.

The Code of Medical Ethics of the American Medical Association https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3399321/

Here is a very short ethical code: Posted on a trail at Pinnacle Mountain State Park "This is your park.  Removing, defacing, or destroying plants, fossils, animals, or rocks is harmful to everyone and illegal"

This simple sentence contains elements of the 3 types of ethical theories. 'This is your park' - Virtue 'Removing, defacing, or destroying plants, fossils, animals, or rocks is ... illegal' - deontological 'Removing, defacing, or destroying plants, fossils, animals, or rocks is harmful to everyone' - Utilitarian

Two major theories of law as it relates to ethics

Ref: A. Marmor,

“The Nature of Law”,

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/lawphil-nature/

Laws can be legitimate or not (obviously?)

Why is a law legitimate (or not)?

Two theories about how a law can be legitimate:

1. Legal Positivism theory

Legitimate laws reflect socially defined rules

2. Natural Law theory

Social beliefs are not enough

Laws should meet ethical standards

St. Augustine:

“lex iniusta non est lex”