Slides prepared by Cyndi Chie and Sarah Frye1 A Gift of Fire Third edition Sara Baase Chapter 1: Unwrapping the Gift

2 What We Will Cover Rapid Pace of Change New Developments and Dramatic Impacts Issues and Themes Ethics

3 Rapid Pace of Change 1940s: The first computer is built 1956: First hard-disk drive weighed a ton and stored five megabytes 1991: Space shuttle had a one-megahertz computer 2006: Pocket devices hold a terabyte (one trillion bytes) of data 2006: Automobiles can have 100-megahertz computers

4 Rapid Pace of Change: Discussion Question What devices are now computerized that were not originally? Think back 10, 20, 50 years ago.

5 New Developments Blogs is a type of website or part of a website. : Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites Began as outlets (متنفس) for amateurs who want to express ideas or creativity Appealing (جذاب) because present personal views, are funny and creative, and present a quirky perspective on current events

6 New Developments (cont.) Blogs (cont.): A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Now used as alternatives to mainstream news and for business public relations Popular blogs have 100,000 to 500,000 readers per day and can peak at several million views per day

7 New Developments (cont.) Video Sharing: Rise of amateur videos on the web Boom (ازدهار) of websites like Youtube and Myspace Many videos on the web can infringe (ينتهك) copyrights owned by entertainment companies

8 New Developments (cont.) Cell Phones: Can now be used for travel, tasks scheduling, taking pictures and downloading music Talking on cell phones while driving is a problem Cell phones can interfere with solitude (عزلة ), quiet and concentration Cameras in cell phones and privacy issues – Cameras in cell phones threaten privacy

9 New Developments (cont.) Social Networking: First online social networking site was in 1995 Myspace, founded in 2003 had roughly 100 million member profiles by 2006 Facebook was started at Harvard as an online version of student directories

10 New Developments (cont.) Social Networking: Sites like Second Life ( combine many of the features of social networking sites with the 3-D aspects of video games. What new problems/benefits arise when a person can take on a physical persona (an avatar) that may be completely different from who they are in real life? Some people with physical disabilities can interact with others without revealing their handicap.

11 New Developments (cont.) Collaborative (تعاوني) efforts among strangers: Wikipedia: the online, collaborative encyclopedia, thousands of volunteers write the continually edit and update wikipedia Open Directory Project (ODP): the directory of the web organized by topic areas – (ex. Google and Netscape search use the ODP ) Collaboration between scientists in different states or countries Watch-dogs on the Web: A web site where a woman can publish the names and pictures of men who other women should watch out for

12 New Developments (cont.) E-commerce: started in 1994 and 10 years later annual sales reached $8.5 billion TV show episodes are available to view on the Web Free Stuff: Free stuff on the web: , books, newspapers, games, etc.

13 New Developments (cont.) Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, and Motion: AI is a branch of computer science that develops theory and techniques that normally require human intelligence to be done (ex. Complex strategy games, diagnosing disease) Robotic: mechanical devices that performs tasks traditionally done by human, often special- purpose devices, and may require AI to function (ex. Cow Milking machine, Robotic arms) Motion sensing devices are used to give robots the ability to walk, trigger airbags in a crash and cushion (تخفيف الصدمة) laptops when dropped

14 New Developments (cont.) Tools for Disabled People: One of the most heartwarming applications of computer technology is Restoration (استعادة)of abilities(القدرات), productivity and independence to people with physical disabilities. For blind people computers equipped with speech synthesizers read aloud what a sighted (مبصر) person sees on the screen. Speech recognition. Prosthetic( الاصطناعية ) devices such as artificial arms and legs are improver from heavy dumb wood to highly sensitive digitally controlled devices.

15 New Developments (cont.) What’s Next? Medical records on chips attached to medical bracelets Biological and computer sciences will combine new ways to insert micro- processors or controlled devices on human bodies

16 New Developments (cont.) Discussion Question What changes and new developments do you expect in the next 50 years? How will life be different than it is today?

17 Issues( قضايا )and Themes( موضوعات ) Issues: Unemployment (ex. Automation of the most teller functions led to a decline in employment for bank tellers, bank tellers dropped from 480,000 to 301,000 in period from because of ATMs.) Alienation(عزلة) and customer service (interaction with machine instead of interact with human) ex. Automation of teller functions removes the human contact between a customer and alive teller.

18 Issues( قضايا )and Themes( موضوعات ) Issues: (cont.) Crime (ex. People are robbed after withdrawing cash at ATMs using stolen and counterfeit (مزيف) ATM cards. Loss of privacy Errors

19 Issues and Themes (cont.) Themes: Old problems in a new context: crime, copyright infringement (انتهاك), gambling. Adapting to new technology: usually require adaptive changes in laws, social institutions (المؤسسات الاجتماعية ) and personal skills. Varied (متنوع ) sources of solutions to problems: new technology is a source for both problems and solutions.

20 Issues and Themes (cont.) Themes (cont.) : Global reach of net: ease of communication with distant countries has many good and bad effects (ex. The net makes information and opportunities more easily available to people isolated by geography or by political system. It also makes crime fighting and low enforcement more difficult ) Trade-offs and controversy: increasing security means reducing convenience.

21 Ethics What is Ethics: Ethics is a Study of what it means to “do the right thing” Ethical theory Assumes that people are rational and make free choices. Neither of these conditions is always true. Ethical rules are Rules to follow in our interactions with other people and our actions that affect others

22 Ethics (cont.) Ethical Views: there are many different theories for about how to establish a firm justification for ethical rules and how to decide what is ethical in specific case. Deontological(آداب المهنة ) theories: tend to emphasize duty and absolute rules, to be followed whether they lead to good or ill consequences. (ex. “Do not lie.”)

23 Ethics (cont.) Ethical Views: (cont.) Utilitarianism(مذهب المنفعة ): is to increase person utility, an action might increase utility for some people and increase it for others, benefits and damages for people are calculated and an act is right if it tend to increase aggregate utility and it is wrong if it tend to decease aggregate utility.

24 Ethics (cont.) Ethical Views: (cont.) Natural rights(الحقوق الطبيعية ): let people to make there own decisions according to there judgment, without any interference by others. No simple answers: we can’t solve ethical problems by applying an algorithm, real human situations are complex. – Do organizations (businesses) have ethics?

25 Ethics (cont.) Important Distinctions: a number distinctions affect our judgment but not clearly understood like: Right, wrong and okay Negative rights (liberties) – The right to act without interference Positive rights (claim-rights) – An obligation of some people to provide certain things for others

26 Ethics (cont.) Important Distinctions (cont.): Difference between wrong and harm Personal preference and ethics Law and Ethics

27 Ethics Discussion Question Can you think of examples of liberties (negative rights) and claim-rights (positive rights) that are at opposition to each other?