Stories exploring general ethical issues not directly related to technologies
Fundamental Ethics (13)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 5 min
- MIT Technology Review
- 2019
Introduction to how bias is introduced in algorithms during the data preparation stage, which involves selecting which attributes you want the algorithm to consider. Underlines the difficult nature of ameliorating bias in machine learning, given that algorithms are not always perfectly attuned to human social contexts.
- MIT Technology Review
- 2019
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- 5 min
- MIT Technology Review
- 2019
This is how AI bias really happens—and why it’s so hard to fix
Introduction to how bias is introduced in algorithms during the data preparation stage, which involves selecting which attributes you want the algorithm to consider. Underlines the difficult nature of ameliorating bias in machine learning, given that algorithms are not always perfectly attuned to human social contexts.
How can the “portability trap” described in the article be avoided? Who should be involved in making decisions about framing problems that AI are meant to solve?
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- 20 min
- UC Research Repository
- 2018
This 2018 study uses several experiments to demonstrate how human racial bias is imposed upon robots as well, specifically in that racialised black robots are more likely to be perceived as threatening to the group sampled.
- UC Research Repository
- 2018
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- 20 min
- UC Research Repository
- 2018
Robots and Racism
This 2018 study uses several experiments to demonstrate how human racial bias is imposed upon robots as well, specifically in that racialised black robots are more likely to be perceived as threatening to the group sampled.
Does robots having socially-constructed race happen inherently as robots become more humanoid? If so, could there be applications for robots to fight human racial bias? In general, could technology be a component in eradicating human biases?
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- 15 min
- Kinolab
- 1997
Vincent, an “invalid” from the proximate future, was born naturally and is therefore seen as less than humans such as his brother Anton who were conceived in a computational genetic selection process to ensure that the best traits are carried on. Thus, in this eugenic society, biometric technologies such as finger pricks and other scans are used to detect superior and inferior human genomes. Vincent, relinquished to service jobs, steals the identity of a genetically superior man named Eugene to fulfill his goal of going on a space mission, yet is never able to let go of his sibling rivalry. However, Vincent sets himself up to prove that humans edited through this computational genomics project are not automatically superior to those naturally born.
- Kinolab
- 1997
Computational Genomics, Unnatural Selection, and Privilege
Vincent, an “invalid” from the proximate future, was born naturally and is therefore seen as less than humans such as his brother Anton who were conceived in a computational genetic selection process to ensure that the best traits are carried on. Thus, in this eugenic society, biometric technologies such as finger pricks and other scans are used to detect superior and inferior human genomes. Vincent, relinquished to service jobs, steals the identity of a genetically superior man named Eugene to fulfill his goal of going on a space mission, yet is never able to let go of his sibling rivalry. However, Vincent sets himself up to prove that humans edited through this computational genomics project are not automatically superior to those naturally born.
How might Computational Genomics affect the construction of the workforce? Is it ethical to discriminate upon the quality of ones genetic profile? Should the power of computers be used to help families partake in genetic selection for their children? How could bias enter supposedly beneficial uses of computational genomics? Have we gotten past a point where it is possible to fool computers with fake genetic tricks as Vincent does here?
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2013
In this episode, Victoria wakes up with no memory of who she is in a post-apocalyptic scenario. She is chased and hunted by weapon-toting masked people, and gets no help from the bystanders who record her horrific struggle for survival on their smartphones. Eventually, it is revealed that this scenario is an engineered reality. While the digital technologies present here are limited, this narrative stands as an effective metaphor to study the phenomenon of “cancel culture” and other ways in which digital technologies alienate the humanity of others.
- Kinolab
- 2013
Fascination and Desensitization through Digital Technologies
In this episode, Victoria wakes up with no memory of who she is in a post-apocalyptic scenario. She is chased and hunted by weapon-toting masked people, and gets no help from the bystanders who record her horrific struggle for survival on their smartphones. Eventually, it is revealed that this scenario is an engineered reality. While the digital technologies present here are limited, this narrative stands as an effective metaphor to study the phenomenon of “cancel culture” and other ways in which digital technologies alienate the humanity of others.
Do smartphones and their recording capabilities make people less sensitive to events or phenomena which they capture? How do digital news channels or platforms sensationalize bad people, especially criminals or other wrong-doers, and inspire collective hatred? How can digital technologies be designed to be more empathetic? Why is it so easy to criticize others over digital channels?
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- 12 min
- Kiniolab
- 1968
In the opening of the film, the viewpoint jumps from the earliest hominids learning how to use the first tools to survive and thrive in the prehistoric era to the age of space travel in an imagined version of the year 2001. In both cases, the scientific innovation surrounds a mysterious, unmarked monolith.
- Kiniolab
- 1968
The Duality of Tools and Runaway Innovation
In the opening of the film, the viewpoint jumps from the earliest hominids learning how to use the first tools to survive and thrive in the prehistoric era to the age of space travel in an imagined version of the year 2001. In both cases, the scientific innovation surrounds a mysterious, unmarked monolith.
How can the most basic of innovations grow to unexpected heights in the span of many years? Could the inventors of the first computers have imagined the modern internet? How can and should innovation be controlled? Is it worth trying to predict what consequences innovation will have millions of years from now? Should the potential positive and negative impacts of certain tools, including digital ones, be thoroughly considered before being put to use, even if their convenience seems to outweigh negative consequences?
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- 13 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Cassius “Cash” Green, once a telemarketer, has now moved up into the upper echelons of WorryFree, a dangerous and controversial corporation which is revealed to be undertaking genetic experiments on humans with the goal of creating a more productive labor force. Once Cash exposes this monstrosity to the world, he finds that society has a positive reaction, opposite to what he expected, and thus undertakes a protest against the corporation. Although this hypothetical scenario is highly fantastical, the metaphor is nonetheless apt for describing late-stage capitalism in America.
- Kinolab
- 2018
Building a Better Worker
Cassius “Cash” Green, once a telemarketer, has now moved up into the upper echelons of WorryFree, a dangerous and controversial corporation which is revealed to be undertaking genetic experiments on humans with the goal of creating a more productive labor force. Once Cash exposes this monstrosity to the world, he finds that society has a positive reaction, opposite to what he expected, and thus undertakes a protest against the corporation. Although this hypothetical scenario is highly fantastical, the metaphor is nonetheless apt for describing late-stage capitalism in America.
With advances in computational genomics, how can it be ensured that humans are not used in experiments which fundamentally alter their genomes, especially when it comes to protecting workers already exploited by corporations? How has the increase in automation raised the bar for what a productive workforce looks like? How has the digitization of channels such as news media and the stock market altered the landscape of economic perception and expectations?