CMSC 100 Computing in the World: Ethical Implications of Computing Professor Marie desJardins Tuesday, November 27, 2012 Thu 11/29/12 1 Future of Computing Some material adapted from instructor slides for Schneider & Gerstung

Ethical Reasoning

3 Ethical Priniples Ethics: The study of decisions regarding right and wrong Consequentialism: Focus on the consequences (good and bad outcomes) Utilitarianism: Focus on overall good for all parties Dialectic : Explore an issue from both sides to lead to greater understanding Analogy: Compare a new situation to a previous one to gain insight about similarities and differences Deontology: The study of duty and obligation Thu 11/29/12Future of Computing

4 Kant’s Categorical Imperative First formulation: “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law without contradiction.” Universal moral proposition Second formulation: “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.” Third formulation: “Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were through his maxim always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends.” Thu 11/29/12Future of Computing

5 Paramedic Ethics Triage the situation... Ask these questions when facing an ethical problem: Who are the stakeholders in this situation? What does each stakeholder have to gain or lose? What duties and responsibilities are important? Can you think of an analogous situation? Does it clarify the situation? Make a decision or repeat in dialectic form Invitation to Computer Science, 6th Edition 5

Ethical Case Study: Napster

7 Napster Users began transmitting and sharing MP3 music in 1998 Napster file-sharing system was developed in 1999 Peer-to-peer file sharing : Software introduces users to each other Sharing happens directly between users (...so it’s not Napster’s fault,... right?) Invitation to Computer Science, 6th Edition 7

8 Thu 11/29/12Future of Computing

9 Legality of Napster Recording companies filed suit against Napster in 1999 Lawsuit claimed Napster was a conspiracy to encourage mass infringement of copyright Facts: Most shared music was copyrighted Many artists opposed sharing: no revenue for them Some artists supported sharing Invitation to Computer Science, 6th Edition 9

10 Napster’s Version of Events Napster claims: Napster was just a “common carrier” Napster reported song locations, but was not involved in actual sharing They were not responsible for users’ behaviors Swapping files in this way should be “fair use” under copyright law Napster lost the case and appeals, and closed in 2001 Invitation to Computer Science, 6th Edition 10

11 Life After Napster Other sharing systems (Kazaa) arose Paying to download music grew (iTunes) Sharing movies, legally or not, is a growing issue Downloading images from the web for personal use is a related ethical and legal question The ethical (not legal) question: Is it ethical to swap copyrighted MP3 music files? Invitation to Computer Science, 6th Edition 11

12 Utilitarianism For Utilitarian argument that MP3 copying is OK: There are many more music users than publishers Music users are happy to get free access Publishers get publicity for their products File sharing is akin to hearing a song on the radio Many users buy a song after listening to it Drop in sales may relate more to purchasing song-by-song rather than by album Invitation to Computer Science, 6th Edition 12

13 Utilitarianism Against Utilitarian argument that MP3 copying is not OK: Early on, MP3 sharing encouraged CD sales, but long-term trend is reduction in sales iTunes and Amazon sell one song at a time to compete with illegal file sharing If publishers cannot profit, then less music will be made Copyright protection is the law, and MP3 sharing is clearly illegal; encouraging illegal behavior is wrong Invitation to Computer Science, 6th Edition 13

14 Dialectic Analysis In fact, music sales have dropped continuously In the long term, the argument that less music would be published is a strong one... but not yet resolved; maybe it’s just music distributors that are making fewer profits, but music artists have more direct access to their audience Lesser-known artists may use file sharing to get better known, depend on income from performances Rethink the music industry from a new viewpoint Invitation to Computer Science, 6th Edition 14

Next Topic

16 What Should We Talk About Now? Split into groups of 3-5 That means you!!! Spend 5 minutes talking about the topics below, and reach a consensus about which of them you’d like to nominate for our class discussion: Personal privacy online The use of information filters at public libraries Censoring information on the Web about making bombs Loss of jobs due to automation Online education and cheating Remixing images/videos from the Web to create art Legal rights for robots Thu 11/29/12Future of Computing

17 Let’s Vote... We’ll pick one topic......and identify a specific decision or action to be made Thu 11/29/12Future of Computing

18 Now Discuss Discuss in your groups for 10 minutes; then I’ll ask the groups to share their thoughts. Think of an analogous situation that does not involve computing Identify the significant stakeholders, and what they most value Identify potential costs and benefits for each of the stakeholders Identify duties and responsibilities of each stakeholder to each of the other stakeholder groups Given the evidence above, what do you think is the right decision? Thu 11/29/12Future of Computing

Giving Effective Presentations

20 Outline Rules for presentations General guidelines for preparing talks Paper presentation guidelines for this class 4/11/1220

21 Rule Rule Know what on earth you’re doing up there! Rule #2: Know what you want to say Rule #3: Know your audience Rule #4: Know how long you have 4/11/12 21

22 Rule #2: Know What You Want to Say 4/11/12 Just giving a summary/recap of the research paper you wrote is not interesting to most people You should give enough detail to get your interesting ideas and observations across, but not enough to lose your audience They want to hear what you learned that was cool and why they should care Whatever you do, don’t just read your slides! 22

23 Rule #3: Know Your Audience 4/11/12 You’re talking to the other students (not me) You need to be sure you’re explaining each new concept clearly The most important thing is to emphasize what you’ve discovered and why they should care! 23

24 Rule #4: Know How Long You Have 4/11/12 How long is the talk? Are questions included? A good heuristic is 1-2 minutes per slide...but it depends a lot on the content of those slides! If you have too many slides, you’ll skip some or—worse—rush desperately to finish. Avoid this temptation!! Almost by definition, you never have time to say everything about your topic, so don’t worry about skipping some things! Unless you’re very experienced giving talks, you should practice your timing 24

25 Slideology 101 Don’t just read your slides! Use the minimum amount of text necessary Use examples Use a readable, simple, yet elegant format Use color to emphasize important points, but avoid the excessive use of color “Hiding” bullets like this is annoying (but sometimes effective), but… Don’t fidget, and… Don’t just read your slides! 4/11/1225 Abuseofanimationisacardinalsin!

26 How to Give a Bad Talk Advice from Dave Patterson, summarized by Mark Hill 1. Thou shalt not be neat 2. Thou shalt not waste space 3. Thou shalt not covet brevity 4. Thou shalt cover thy naked slides 5. Thou shalt not write large 6. Thou shalt not use color 7. Thou shalt not illustrate 8. Thou shalt not make eye contact 9. Thou shalt not skip slides in a long talk 10. Thou shalt not practice 4/11/1226

27 Paper Presentations Content: You should provide a well organized presentation of the topic you studied: What is your application domain? What are the three main applications of computing you’ve identified? What are some of the social/ethical issues in this area? Timing: You should aim for a 3-minute presentation. This works out to (roughly) two to three slides (but you could have more if you have mostly pictures that you’re going to talk about) I will cut you off if you go too long! There will be about 30 seconds after each talk for questions 4/11/1227

28 Paper Presentations Audience: Your audience consists of your fellow students. (I don’t count.) Some are in your field, some are not Most will not know much about your particular domain You can’t assume a lot of existing knowledge On the other hand, you only have three minutes! Be selective! 4/11/1228

29 Giving the Presentation You must prepare your presentation in PowerPoint or as a PDF and it to me and the TAs no later than midnight the night before your presentation to (that’s an “L”, not the number “1”), and Draft slides can optionally be sent to me for review, if you want feedback beforehand I will only promise to review and comment on draft slides if they are sent at least 24 hours before they are due! (i.e., by midnight two nights before your talk) Practice your presentation, even if it’s just to yourself, to make sure your timing is correct 4/11/1229

30 Grading and Feedback Students are required to fill out a short feedback form for each presentation You will receive these forms I will also give you written feedback Your grade will be based on: Your level of preparation The clarity of your presentation The timing of your presentation Other students’ evaluation of your presentation 4/11/1230