CS474: Human Computer Interaction - Ethical Considerations

Activity Goals

The goals of this activity are:

1. To critically evaluate the potential unforseen ethical consequences of HCI systems

Supplemental Reading

Feel free to visit these resources for supplemental background reading material.

• What Ethics Should Guide the Use of Robots in Policing?
• A Code of Ethics for the Human-Robot Interaction Profession
• How Robot Carers could be the Future for Lonely Elderly People
• The US Military Is Working on Tech That Could Turn Soldiers Into Cyborgs
• Reference Man - Everything is designed for this man, even drugs
• About the Paper that Forced Timnit Gerbu out of Google
• Microsoft AI Principles
• A Health Care Algorithm Offered Less Care to Black Patients
• Dissecting racial bias in an algorithm used to manage the health of populations
• Ackerman, E. - My Fight With a Sidewalk Robot
• Gonzales-Cameron, A. - Hello, My Name is Error
• Toward a Sociology of Artificial Intelligence: A Call for Research on Inequalities and Structural Change

The Activity

Directions

Consider the activity models and answer the questions provided. First reflect on these questions on your own briefly, before discussing and comparing your thoughts with your group. Appoint one member of your group to discuss your findings with the class, and the rest of the group should help that member prepare their response. Answer each question individually from the activity, and compare with your group to prepare for our whole-class discussion. After class, think about the questions in the reflective prompt and respond to those individually in your notebook. Report out on areas of disagreement or items for which you and your group identified alternative approaches. Write down and report out questions you encountered along the way for group discussion.

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Model 1: Ethical Considerations and Diversity and Inclusivity

Now might be a good time to remind everyone that the easiest way to discriminate is to make stringent rules, then to decide when and for whom to enforce them.
My submissions were always checked for disclosure of sensitive material, never for the quality of the literature review.

— Nicolas Le Roux (@le_roux_nicolas) December 3, 2020

Questions

1. What are the risks inherent in robotic policing or defense systems?
2. How do we balance dignity and privacy in applications such as aging-in-place with supportive care systems?
3. What is a "Turing Deception" with respect to "Wizard-of-Oz" robotics?
4. Why are people reluctant to raise issues of implicit bias or lack of autonomy in already-deployed systems? When is the correct time to collect this kind of feedback, and how can the participating subjects be protected?
5. Two of these articles discuss a racial bias in health care applications and, in particular, a health care application that recommended less care to black patients. How does this kind of bias wind up in software systems; why doesn't software reduce unconscious bias, given that it lacks consciousness?
6. What constraints would you introduce to validate a name input box to mitigate possible SQL injection attacks? Why is this dangerous for inclusivity, and what can be done about it?

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Submission

I encourage you to submit your answers to the questions (and ask your own questions!) using the Class Activity Questions discussion board. You may also respond to questions or comments made by others, or ask follow-up questions there. Answer any reflective prompt questions in the Reflective Journal section of your OneNote Classroom personal section. You can find the link to the class notebook on the syllabus.