1.5.2 - Moral and Ethical Issues Flashcards
(9 cards)
Computers in the workforce
Candidates need to understand how the use of computers, and the increasing use of computers in the work force has moral, social, ethical and cultural implications and risks to a variety of people such as the employees, employers, society and organisations.
Some ideas to consider:
- Uses of robots building cars and the impact this has on the workforce skill sets.
- Online banking and the effects this has on the banking industry and workforce
- How are jobs being lost or made? Who is impacted more?
- Do people have the digital skills?
Automated Decision Making
Candidates need to understand how the use of computers to make decisions automatically has moral, social, ethical and cultural implications and risks to a variety of people such as those people who make the decisions, the people the decisions affect, and the need for additional collection of information to ensure the decisions are accurate and valid.
Some ideas to consider:
* What is right to review?
* Should driverless cars be able to make fully automated decisions?
* Who is to blame if an automated decision goes wrong?
* Should planes and automated factories be allowed to make automated life and death decisions?
* Could the decisions be bias based on bad data? How can this be combated?
* Should the buying of stocks and shares all be fully automated? What could go wrong?
* How are filter bubbles impacting users views on current news?
* Should a computer be used to direct the police to areas where crimes might appear?
Artificial Intelligence
Candidates need to understand how the development of artificial intelligence has moral, social, ethical and cultural impacts on a variety of people.
Some ideas to consider:
* What is AI?
* What is Machine Learning?
* Can an AI be bias? How do we eliminate AI bias?
* What is the Turing Test? Has it been passed yet?
* Is AI better than a traditional doctor? Do people trust it more or less?
* How is AI used in medical diagnosis?
* What impacts are LLM’s like ChatGPT having on society?
* Should an AI have rights? Who is to blame if it goes rogue?
Environmental Effects
Candidates need to understand how the environmental effects of computers (such as disposal, energy use) have moral, social, ethical and cultural implications.
Some ideas to consider:
* How is technology helping the environment?
* What is e-waste?
* What impacts does mineral extraction have on the environment?
* How does the rise in technology impact global warming?
* What impact is crypto mining and running ChatGPT queries having?
* How is technology helping with environmental monitoring?
* How is AI helping the environment?
* How are smart meters having a positive impact?
Censorship and the Internet
Candidates need to understand how the Internet and censorship on the Internet has moral, social, ethical and cultural implications.
Some ideas to consider:
* What are the pros and cons of internet censorship?
* Can censorship go to far?
* How can the internet be censored? (IP Blocking | DNS Poisoning | Keywords)
* What is Ofcoms responsibility in the UK?
* How can governments use censorship against their citizens?
* What is net neutrality?
* Should fake news be censored? Who decides?
Monitor behavior
Candidates need to understand the moral, social, ethical and cultural implications of using computers to monitor behaviour (such as CCTV, tracking phone calls, GPS, monitoring emails).
Points to consider
* How does the government monitor citizens?
* Is CCTV a good or bad thing?
* Is facial recognition a good or bad thing? How can it have bias?
* What information does your phone give away? Who is monitoring?
* Should police forces have access to a ‘golden key’ for encryption?
* What impact is end-to-end encryption having?
* Should insurance companies be able to monitor your driving?
* Should health insurance companies have access to medical data or your smart watch?
Analyse personal information
Candidates need to understand the moral, social, ethical and cultural implications of using computers to analyse personal information (such as the gathering, storing and analysing of medical records)
Points to consider
* Is it a good or bad idea to have DNA analysis and share the information?
* How is the rise of digital health records increasing the chance of analysis?
* Is personalise medicine worth sharing your DNA?
* Why is AI as good as, or better at spotting medical issues in scans and x-rays?
* What information is your smart watch giving away about you?
* How is loyalty card data used by shops and supermarkets?
Piracy and offensive communications
Candidates need to understand how piracy and offensive communications has moral, social, ethical and cultural impacts on a variety of people.
Points to consider - Piracy
* How is music piracy impacting the music industry?
* How can software piracy be combatted?
* Who decides that a communication is offensive?
* Which pieces of legislation are relevant to piracy?
* How can you get permission to play music in public?
Points to consider - Offensive Communications
* What is the Malicious Communications Act?
* Are social media companies responsible for monitoring?
* What is offensive vs what is freedom of speech?
* What issues could occur when deciding if something is offensive?
Layout, colour paradigms and character sets
Candidates need to understand how different cultures impact on the use of and creation of computers and programs. For example languages make use of different characters, and how this in turn impacts the use of character sets. Some languages read left to right, and others right to left. Candidates should understand how colours have different meanings in different cultures for example red means danger in one culture, and luck in another. Candidates need to consider how these will impact the creation of computer applications
Points to consider
* Why do colours need to be considered when designing apps?
* Why should website layouts adapt to the users screen size?
* How can an app adapt to right-to-left text vs left-to-right text
* How can character sets impact an app?
* What sizing issues occur when translating text between languages?
* Why does image choice have to be considered for different countries?
