Accountability (34)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 4 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Luv, a corporate enforcer who is following the android police officer K, tracks his location after he crashes in a landfill and is attacked by a large mob of humans. She then uses drone technology to deploy explosive weapons to save K’s life.
- Kinolab
- 2017
Drone Warfare
Luv, a corporate enforcer who is following the android police officer K, tracks his location after he crashes in a landfill and is attacked by a large mob of humans. She then uses drone technology to deploy explosive weapons to save K’s life.
How can drone technology be used for distant interventions, both for military and personal protection purposes? Is it ethical to use drone tech to kill or injure other people, even if they are criminals or causing harm? Moreover, how can drone tech be used to spy on and follow people without their consent? How does using drone to fight desensitize drivers to the damage which they cause? What broader metaphor is being set up in this narrative, considering the position of Luv, the drone’s controller?
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- 5 min
- Kinolab
- 2008
Memo lives in a small Mexican rural village with his father. This narrative reveals that access to water in the area surrounding their village is limited; one company oversees a watering hole where people pay to replenish their supply. This business, Del Rio Water Company, builds dams and other means of controlling the water supply, and uses drones to protect these against suspected aqua-terrorists who might seek to take back control of it.
- Kinolab
- 2008
Drones and Gatekeeping Natural Resources
Memo lives in a small Mexican rural village with his father. This narrative reveals that access to water in the area surrounding their village is limited; one company oversees a watering hole where people pay to replenish their supply. This business, Del Rio Water Company, builds dams and other means of controlling the water supply, and uses drones to protect these against suspected aqua-terrorists who might seek to take back control of it.
How might the centralization of technological power and capital lead to gatekeeping of natural and vital resources like water? How might drones and other technologies de-sensitize profiteers to those whom they are hurting? What happens when technology is used and abused by those who don’t have the best interests of all people at heart? How does technology cause and reinforce changes to our environment? Could surveillance technology such as this potentially be used for positive conservation purposes?
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- 7 min
- Kinolab
- 2008
Under threat of eviction, Luz must find a quick way to make some money to pay rent. Thankfully, through the company TruNode, she can digitize her memories and sell them on the internet for anyone who may wish to access and stream them. While this seems convenient, the downsides are shown when the repository of her memories are used to help ruthless drone pilot Rudy Ramirez hunt down an innocent laborer who is a supposedly dangerous criminal. After Luz reveals this means of making money to Memo, the aforementioned innocent laborer, he is less than enthused with the system.
- Kinolab
- 2008
Selling Digitized Memories
Under threat of eviction, Luz must find a quick way to make some money to pay rent. Thankfully, through the company TruNode, she can digitize her memories and sell them on the internet for anyone who may wish to access and stream them. While this seems convenient, the downsides are shown when the repository of her memories are used to help ruthless drone pilot Rudy Ramirez hunt down an innocent laborer who is a supposedly dangerous criminal. After Luz reveals this means of making money to Memo, the aforementioned innocent laborer, he is less than enthused with the system.
How can the high cost of very personal data and digital memories be both empowering in the right circumstances and disempowering in the wrong ones? What if people were able to sell all of their personal data, as is shown here? Is the complete digitization of memory a positive concept or a negative one? How can data or memory be purchased for nefarious purposes? How can people be unintentionally harmed by this system? Can the emotions of memories ever be paired well with a digital interface?
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- 30 min
- CNET, New York Times, Gizmodo
- 2023
On May 16, 2023, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified in front of Congress on the potential harms of AI and how it ought to be regulated in the future, especially concerning new tools such as ChatGPT and voice imitators.
After watching the CNET video of the top moments from the hearing, read the Gizmodo overview of the hearing and read the associated New York Times article last. All resources highlight the need for governmental intervention to hold companies who generate AI products accountable, especially in the wake of a lack of totally effective congressional action on social media companies. While misinformation and deepfake has been a concern among politicians since the advent of social media, additional new concerns such as a new wave of job loss and crediting artists are raised in the hearing.
- CNET, New York Times, Gizmodo
- 2023
The ChatGPT Congressional Hearing
On May 16, 2023, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified in front of Congress on the potential harms of AI and how it ought to be regulated in the future, especially concerning new tools such as ChatGPT and voice imitators.
After watching the CNET video of the top moments from the hearing, read the Gizmodo overview of the hearing and read the associated New York Times article last. All resources highlight the need for governmental intervention to hold companies who generate AI products accountable, especially in the wake of a lack of totally effective congressional action on social media companies. While misinformation and deepfake has been a concern among politicians since the advent of social media, additional new concerns such as a new wave of job loss and crediting artists are raised in the hearing.
If you were in the position of the congresspeople in the hearing, what questions would you ask Sam Altman? Does Sam Altman put too much of the onus of ethical regulation on the government? How would the “license” approach apply to AI companies that already exist/have released popular products? Do you believe Congress might still be able to “meet the moment” on AI?