All Narratives (328)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 6 min
- Wired
- 2019
Spreading of harmful content through Youtube’s AI recommendation engine algorithm. AI helps create filter bubbles and echo chambers. Limited user agency to be exposed to certain content.
- Wired
- 2019
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- 6 min
- Wired
- 2019
The Toxic Potential of YouTube’s Feedback Loop
Spreading of harmful content through Youtube’s AI recommendation engine algorithm. AI helps create filter bubbles and echo chambers. Limited user agency to be exposed to certain content.
How much agency do we have over the content we are shown in our digital artifacts? Who decides this? How skeptical should we be of recommender systems?
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- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 1995
In this world, a human consciousness (“ghost”) can inhabit an artificial body (“shell”), thus at once becoming edited humans in a somewhat robotic body. The Puppet Master, a notorious villain in this world, is revealed not to be a human hacker, but a computer program which has gained sentience and gone on to hack the captured shell. It challenges the law enforcement officials of Section 6 and Section 9 saying that it is a life-form and not an AI. It argues that its existence as a self-sustaining program which has achieved singularity is not different from human DNA as a “self-sustaining program.” The Puppet Master specifically references reproduction/offspring, not copying, as a distinguishing feature of living things as opposed to nonliving things. Additionally, it developed emotional connection with Major which led it to select her as a candidate for merging. It references how it can die but live on through the merging and, after Major’s death, in the internet.
- Kinolab
- 1995
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- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 1995
Self-Sustaining Programs
In this world, a human consciousness (“ghost”) can inhabit an artificial body (“shell”), thus at once becoming edited humans in a somewhat robotic body. The Puppet Master, a notorious villain in this world, is revealed not to be a human hacker, but a computer program which has gained sentience and gone on to hack the captured shell. It challenges the law enforcement officials of Section 6 and Section 9 saying that it is a life-form and not an AI. It argues that its existence as a self-sustaining program which has achieved singularity is not different from human DNA as a “self-sustaining program.” The Puppet Master specifically references reproduction/offspring, not copying, as a distinguishing feature of living things as opposed to nonliving things. Additionally, it developed emotional connection with Major which led it to select her as a candidate for merging. It references how it can die but live on through the merging and, after Major’s death, in the internet.
Do you agree with the puppet master’s arguments that self-sustaining programs are conceptually the same as human DNA? Why or why not? Has the externalisation of memory made it far more possible for robots to achieve singularity and exist as human-like figures in the world? Is memory the sole feature that helps humans build their identities? List all the comparisons made in this narrative between self-sustaining programs and human genetics and existence.
Ghost in the Shell: A Life-Form Born in the Sea of Intelligence-
- 5 min
- MIT Tech Review
- 2020
The Semantic Scholar is a new AI program which has been trained to read through scientific papers and provide a unique one sentence summary of the paper’s content. The AI has been trained with a large data set focused on learning how to process natural language and summarise it. The ultimate idea is to use technology to help learning and synthesis happen more quickly, especially for figure such as politicians.
- MIT Tech Review
- 2020
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- 5 min
- MIT Tech Review
- 2020
AI Summarisation
The Semantic Scholar is a new AI program which has been trained to read through scientific papers and provide a unique one sentence summary of the paper’s content. The AI has been trained with a large data set focused on learning how to process natural language and summarise it. The ultimate idea is to use technology to help learning and synthesis happen more quickly, especially for figure such as politicians.
How might this technology cause people to become lazy readers? How does this technology, like many other digital technologies, shorten attention spans? How can it be ensured that algorithms like this do not leave out critical information?
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- 7 min
- Wired
- 2020
After student members of the University of Miami Employee Student Alliance held a protest on campus, the University of Miami Police Department likely used facial recognition technology in conjunction with video surveillance cameras to track down nine students from the protest and summon them to a meeting with the dean. This incident provided a gateway into the discussion of fairness of facial recognition programs, and how students believe that they should not be deployed on college campuses.
- Wired
- 2020
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- 7 min
- Wired
- 2020
Facial Recognition Applications on College Campuses
After student members of the University of Miami Employee Student Alliance held a protest on campus, the University of Miami Police Department likely used facial recognition technology in conjunction with video surveillance cameras to track down nine students from the protest and summon them to a meeting with the dean. This incident provided a gateway into the discussion of fairness of facial recognition programs, and how students believe that they should not be deployed on college campuses.
How can facial recognition algorithms interfere with the right of people to protest? When it comes to facial recognition databases, are larger photo repositories better or worse? Does facial recognition and video surveillance have a place on college campuses? How does facial recognition and video surveillance embolden people in power in general?
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- 5 min
- Vice
- 2020
Robot researches in Japan have recently begun to use robotic “monster wolves” to help control wildlife populations by keeping them out of human civilizations or agricultural areas. These robots are of interest to robot engineers who work in environmentalism because although the process of engineering a robot does not help the environment, the ultimate good accomplished by robots which help control wildlife populations may outweigh this cost.
- Vice
- 2020
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- 5 min
- Vice
- 2020
Robotic Beasts, Wildlife Control, and Environmental Impact
Robot researches in Japan have recently begun to use robotic “monster wolves” to help control wildlife populations by keeping them out of human civilizations or agricultural areas. These robots are of interest to robot engineers who work in environmentalism because although the process of engineering a robot does not help the environment, the ultimate good accomplished by robots which help control wildlife populations may outweigh this cost.
What are all the ways, aside from those mentioned in the article, in which robots and robotics could be utilised in environmentalist and conservationist causes? How could robots meant to tell wildlife where not to travel be misused?
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2021
This narrative describes the recent AI Incident Database launched at the end of 2020, where companies report case studies in which applied machine learning algorithms did not function as intended or caused real-world harm. The goal is to operate in a sense similar to air travel safety report programs; with this database, technological developers can get a sense of how to make algorithms which are more safe and fair while having the incentive to take precautions to stay off the list.
- Wired
- 2021
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2021
Don’t End Up on This Artificial Intelligence Hall of Shame
This narrative describes the recent AI Incident Database launched at the end of 2020, where companies report case studies in which applied machine learning algorithms did not function as intended or caused real-world harm. The goal is to operate in a sense similar to air travel safety report programs; with this database, technological developers can get a sense of how to make algorithms which are more safe and fair while having the incentive to take precautions to stay off the list.
What is your opinion on this method of accountability? Is there anything it does not take into account? Is it possible that some machine learning algorithms make mistakes that cannot even be detected by humans? How can this be avoided? How can the inner workings of machine learning algorithms be made more understandable and digestible by the general public?
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- 19 min
- Kinolab
- 1954
War Technologies and Global Impacts
Once ships start mysteriously disappearing off the coast of Odo Island in post-WWII Japan, both scientists and villagers are confounded. Eventually, the culprit of these attacks is revealed to be Godzilla, a massive kaiju thought to be from the Jurassic era who has returned from the deep sea in order to wreak havoc and destruction on humanity. Scientists explain to government officials their theory that Hydrogen-bomb testing in the deep sea disrupted Godzilla’s natural habitat and provoked the attacks on Odo island. After debates over whether Godzilla should be killed or studied for contributions to science, the monster attacks Tokyo with flame breath. Emiko and Ogata implore Serizawa to deploy his new Oxygen Destroyer technology against this monster. This lethal device suffocates any living things before splitting oxygen molecules and liquefying anything organic in the range. While the technologies on display here are not necessarily digital in nature, this narrative nonetheless provides a non-American voice on the dangers of technology and innovation, especially as they are deployed in wars.
How should dangerous technology be regulated, as to not purposefully or inadvertently harm innocent citizens if deployed in wars? What modern warfare technologies are currently being used which could have unforeseen consequences? Should dangerous technology or specimens be kept around for scientific study, or should they just not be allowed to exist at all? How can it be insured that innovations and innovators are not abused by evil powers? What appears to be the metaphorical meaning of Godzilla in this narrative? How can technology exacerbate global divides and xenophobia?