CS481 : Computer & Society

Introduction

Dr Samia Heshmat
Assistant Professor,
Faculty of Engineering
Aswan University

email samia.heshmat@aswu.edu.eg 20th Sep. 2018

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Course Description

 survey of major computer applications

 The impact on automation with the concurrent risk of
disqualification
 The role of computers in simulation and modeling
Computers in business, management and the decision-
making process
 Social obligations of the computer professional
 Computer networks and the potential information utility
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Course Description
 Current status of artificial intelligence including robotics,
pattern recognition, picture processing and theorem proving
 Use of computers in the medical area
 Computer in the home
 Special topics such as: privacy, electronic funds transfer and
security.
 The role of computers in manufacturing Impact of computers
on requirements of skilled and unskilled workers.
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Grading Scheme
 Week 7
 Quizzes 5%
 Assignments 5%
 Midterm 1 20%

 Week 12
 Quizzes 10%
 Assignments 10%
 Project 10%

 Final Exam 40%

 “A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and
Ethical Issues for Computing
Technology”, 4th Edition, Sara
Baase

“Ethics for the Information Age”,

6th Edition, Michael J. Quinn

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 Outline of this Lecture
1.1 Introduction
1.2 The Pace of Change
1.3 Changes and Unexpected Developments
1.4 Adapting New Technology
1.5 Ethics
1.6 IT Issues

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1.1 Introduction  Information Age
 Last 2 decades have given unprecedented access to
information

 Catalysts/Reasons?
 Low-cost, smaller yet powerful computers
 High-speed communication networks

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Reasons for Improved Information Access

 Embedded computers (digital electronics)

 Cell phones
 Digital photography
 Email
 World Wide Web
 Social Networking
 Cloud Computing
 Internet of Things
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 Issues related to Technology
 Technology’s Influence
 People adopt technology and technology changes society
 Using technology can change people
 Physical changes (Laptop usage can cause back, neck, shoulder pain)
 Mental changes (Dopamine increases desire for more information)
 Psychological changes (Having a cell phone makes feel safer)

 Technologies solve problems, but may create new problems

 Automobile (Traffic Jams)
 Refrigerator (Leakage of Freon gas cause damage to Ozone layer)
 Low-cost international communication (Outsourcing of jobs)

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 Issues related to Technology
 Control over New Technologies
 Examples of control over adoption
 Nuclear power moratorium in United States for 25 years
 Nuclear power advances in rest of world
 Examples of control over rate at which technologies
are developed
 Intellectual property laws
 Tax structure
 This may give rise to an issue:
 Is it ethical that a life saving drug is patented and hence
expensive while it can be made less expensive and
readily available ?
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Technology is continuously changing and so the issues
arising with technology change quickly as well.

Brief overview of how fast technology is changing is

presented on the next few slides

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 1.2 The Pace of Change
 1940s: First computer was built.

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 1.2 The Pace of Change
 1940s: First computer was built.
 1956: First hard-drive disk weighed a ton and
stored five megabytes.

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 1.2 The Pace of Change
 1940s: First computer was built.
 1956: First hard-drive disk weighed a ton and stored five
megabytes.

 1991: Space shuttle had a 1MHz computer. Now some

automobiles have gigahertz computers. Hubble Space
Station has a 80486 processor.

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 1.2 The Pace of Change
 Discussion Question

 What devices are now computerized that were

not originally? Think back 10, 20, 50 years ago.

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Technology has brought good and bad changes in our
daily lives!

These technological advancements are presented in the

next few slides.

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1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
1.3.1 Cell Phones - Advantages
 Relatively few in 1990s. Approximately five billion in 2011.
 Used for conversations and messaging, but also for:
 taking and sharing pictures
 downloading music and watching videos
 checking email and playing games
 banking and managing investments
 finding maps
 act as electronic wallets and identification cards
 Smartphone apps for many tasks, including:
 monitoring diabetes
 locating water in remote areas
 location tracking, life-saving medical apps, surveillance
video
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1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
Cell Phones – Dis-advantages
 Location tracking raises privacy concerns.
 Cameras in cell phones affect privacy in public and
non-public places.
 Talking on cell phones while driving is dangerous.
 Other unanticipated negative applications: rioters
organizing looting parties.

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1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
Do you know what a Kill switch is ?
 Allow a remote entity to delete personal files if phone
is stolen.
 In operating systems for smartphones, tablets and
some computers.
 Used mainly for security, but raise concerns about
user autonomy.
 Kills switches could remove content that infringes
copyrights.
 Could also be used to remove content that a company or
government deems offensive.
 What if malicious hackers found a way to operate the skill
switches on our devices?

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1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
1.3.2 Social Networking (Sn):
 First online Sn site was www.classmates.com in 1995
 Founded in 2003, Myspace had roughly 100 million
member profiles by 2006
 Facebook was started at Harvard as an online version of
student directories
 Advantages
 Staying in touch with friends.
 Businesses connect with customers.
 Groups organize volunteers.
 Organizations seek donations.
 Individuals pool resources through “crowd funding”.
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1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments

Social Networking – Dis-advantages

 Stalkers and bullies stalk and bully.
 Your information is available to the service
provider. (Privacy issue)
 Sharing of secret or non-public information.
Jurors tweet about court cases during trials.
 Socialbots simulate humans. They can trick you in
revealing personal information that may be used by
companies.

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1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
1.3.3 Artificial intelligence
 A branch of computer science that makes
computers perform tasks normally requiring
human intelligence.
 Researchers realized that narrow, specialized
skills were easier for computers than what a
five-year-old does: recognize people, carry on a
conversation, respond intelligently to the
environment.

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 1.3 Change and Unexpected
Developments
Artificial intelligence (cont.)
 What does it mean for a computer system to be intelligent
and who has devised the test for this differentiation?
 Alan Turing, who developed fundamental concepts
underlying computer science before there were computers,
proposed a test, now called the Turing Test, for human-level
intelligence.
 Let a person converse (over a network) with the system on
any topics the person chooses. If the computer convinces
the human subject that the computer is human, the
computer is said to “pass”.

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1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
Artificial intelligence (cont.)
 Many AI applications involve pattern recognition.
 Speech recognition is now a common tool.
 Image Classification: to help visually impaired people (blind)
 CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Turing Test to Tell Computers
and Humans Apart) are used to defend against Denial of Service
Attacks

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1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
1.3.4 Communication and the Web
 Blogs (“Web log”) began as outlets for amateurs
wanting to express ideas, but they have become
significant source of news and entertainment.
 Information in blogs may be biased and incorrect.
 Inexpensive video cameras and video-manipulation
tools have resulted in a burst of amateur videos.
 Many videos on the Web can infringe copyrights owned
by entertainment companies.
1.3.5 Telemedicine
 Remote performance of medical exams and
procedures, including surgery.

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1.3 Change & Unexpected Developments
Discussion Questions
How will we react when we can go into a hospital for
surgery performed entirely by a machine? Will it be scarier
than riding in the first automatic elevators or airplanes?

How will we react when we can have a conversation and

not know if we are conversing with a human or a machine?

How will we react when chips implanted in our brains

enhance our memory with gigabytes of data and a search
engine? Will we still be human?
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1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments

1.3.6 Collaboration and Technology

 Wikipedia: The online, collaborative encyclopedia
written by volunteers. (Increases knowledge and
access to information)
 Informal communities of programmers create and
maintain free software. (Easy Access to useful
tools like Open Office instead of Microsoft Office)
 Watch-dogs on the Web: Informal, decentralized
groups of people help investigate crimes. (Crime
Fighting/Stopping)

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1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments
1.3.7 E-commerce
 Amazon.com started in 1994 selling books on the Web. It has grown to
be one of the most popular, reliable, and user-friendly commercial sites.
 eBay.com facilitates online auctions.
 Traditional brick-and-mortar business have established Web sites.
 Online sales in the United States now total hundreds of billions of
dollars a year.
 Sellers can sell directly to buyers, resulting in a peer-to-peer economy.
 Customers can save time and money which researching. Ease of
comparison.
 Small businesses and artists can sell directly to buyers, avoiding fees to
middlemen and distributors.

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1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments
E-commerce and trust concerns
 People were reluctant to provide credit card
information to make online purchases, so
PayPal.com grew out of need for trusted
intermediary to handle payments.
Solutions
 Encryption and secure servers made payments
safer (SSL – Secure Socket Layer).
 The Better Business Bureau established a Web
site to help consumers see if others have
complained about a business.
 Sites have implemented rating systems.

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1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments
1.3.8 Free stuff available because of Technology
 Email programs and email accounts, browsers,
filters, firewalls, encryption software, word
processors, spreadsheets, software for viewing
documents, software to manipulate photos and
video, and much more
 Phone services using VOIP such as Skype
 Craigslist classified ad site
 University lectures

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1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments
How is technology use made Free?
 Advertising pays for many free sites and services, but not all.
 Wikipedia funded through donations.
 Businesses provide some services for good public relations
and as a marketing tool.
 Generosity and public service flourish on the Web. Many
people share their expertise just because they want to.
Free stuff related Danger
 In order for companies to earn ad revenue to fund
multimillion-dollar services, many free sites collect
information about our online activities and sell it to
advertisers.
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1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments
1.3.9 Smart sensors, motion, and control
 Motion sensing devices are used to give
machines/robots the ability to walk, trigger airbags in a
car accident
 Sensors can detect leaks, acceleration, position,
temperature, and moisture.
 Examples of Areas of Use
 Sensors in agricultural fields report on moisture, acidity,
and so on, helping farmers to avoid waste and to use no
more fertilizer than needed.

 Sensors in food products monitor temperature, humidity,

and other factors to detect potential health problems
while the food is in transit to stores

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1.3 Change and Unexpected Developments
Tools for special people
 Assistive technology devices help restore independence to
people with disabilities (whom are challenged).
 Researchers are experimenting with micro-chips that convert
brain signals to control leg and arm muscles.
 A blind person can use handheld devices that combine optical-
character-recognition with a speech synthesizer to read menus
and receipts.
 Flexible, responsive prosthetic devices can now be digitally
controlled, enabling amputees to walk, climb stairs, even
participate in sports and fly airplanes.
 People can dictate documents to a word processor and give
commands to a computer to control household appliances.

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be continues . . .

See you next Lecture