CS 301 Computer Ethics

Term paper

Final paper due Friday, 12 April 2024. (Last day of our class is April 9, ideally, bring it then)
I want a topic choice, a tentative abstract, an outline and some references, handed in by Tuesday, 19 March 2024 (That is after spring break, and 4 weeks before the paper is due.)
You are entitled to present outlines and drafts for review or comment at any time, and I encourage you to do so. I also advise consulting the Writing Centre for more expert advice.

Guidelines

Some appropriate guidelines for a research paper, authored by Prof. Keith Baxter [Bax 02], are to be found on Essay instructions.doc by clicking here.
In particular they call for a title page with 100 word abstract, text with 1.5 line spacing, 12 pt. type, and a page of references, in alphabetical order by author. The form for both print and Internet references is spelled out. Examples below. Refer to them in the text by (author, year, page) in line with the text (rather than with footnotes at the bottom of the page.) I expect you to have several references and to actually refer to them in your text. Avoid the heartache of plagiarism, Be sure to put the words of others in "quotation marks" and give the reference.

There are also style sheets available at the library.

For one of the topics below, please research the topic, reading any books, journal articles, or on-line resources that seem relevant, and write an essay of 2000-2500 words (about 5-7 pages of text) exploring the ethical implications of the topic. You should identify issues and present reasoned arguments supporting more than one point of view, then you may favor one side, or conclude that individuals must choose between competing alternatives.

A good way to structure the argument is to build the strongest case you can manage for the opposing point of view, and then argue from your favorite ethical theory (Maximize happiness, universal rules, social contract, information ethics) in favor of your solution.

Research paper suggestions

In the textbook there are many suggestions for research topics. Any one of these would be acceptable.

Or one of these topics

In all topics, Please base your opinions on some ethical theory. For each topic area, narrow down to a more specific problem.

Big Data is Watching You! What data storage and "mining" capabilities exist, what can they do, with your digital footprint? Who profits from analyzing your digital footprint, and should you care?
Big Brother too!: Government surveillance now exceeds anything that George Orwell imagined. How ethical is that?
Right to Childhood Children get exposed to technology very young. How does this affect their lives and imagination? How safe are they? Is there time to play? How should parents deal with this?
Tracking people: Any cell phone that is turned on broadcasts its identity to nearby towers. This reveals where your phone, and presumably you, are. Likewise, a small computer that attempts to connect to wireless internet also reveals your location, a fact exploited by airports in Canada to track people. A car equipped with GPS and Interned can give you traffic updates. But it can also be tracked, and hacked. What about this? Advantages, privacy concerns?
Controlling the Internet: It was built as a distributed system, with very little centralized control (fundamentally only the assignment of unique "IP addresses"). Is it out of hand? Can problems be solved with some sort of control, either central or distributed, cooperatively or individualistically? (Now, if you don't think spam, viruses, pornography, fraud or anything else is a problem, you shouldn't pick this topic.)
Self-driving cars: They are supposed to be safer than the average drunk, distracted or texting driver. But if they get into an accident, who is responsible? The owner? the car company? The programmers?
Suppose a bug in code your wrote is blamed for an accident.
A Charter of Robot Rights and Responsibilities: Once computer systems are able to pass the Turing test, "be indistinguishable for human beings in conversation," what rights need to be accorded to them, and particularly to autonomous robots of which a computer is the intelligence? The author Isaac Asimov had a love-hate relationship with the idea of robots, and long ago proposed "Three laws of robotics." What about rights for the robots? Controls on robots? Roots as slaves? Votes for Robots?
Human-machine symbiosis: What does it mean to be human in a bionic age? What does (or should) the future hold for our tool-making species and the electronics we may become bonded with? Do you want your body and brain enhanced with calculating and communication capabilities? Who is in charge then?
Uses of new knowledge: For what we create, are we ethically entitled to recognition, money, or control? Should there be laws "protecting" our intellectual output, or are we be ethically obliged to share new knowledge and creative work? (Possible focus on Free vs. Proprietary Software, or on-line sharing of journal articles.) Does "Copyright" still make sense in the electronic age? Perhaps we need different rules for different types of creative activity.
The "dark" Internet: I have heard that there are many more "sites" on the web than can be found by Google, because they are engaged in some kind of illicit activity. Umm, probably I don't want to know about them. But is this a problem?
Super-intelligence and A.I. : It can be noted that computer systems and software evolve in a similar way as biological systems. (Wordperfect is being out-competed, PC-Write is extinct, while TCP/IPv4 is a dominant force, like the dinosaurs, preventing anything more rational from taking hold...)
Meanwhile the power of computer hardware is increasing exponentially (Moore's law.) Thus it seems likely (Ray Kurzweil, "The Singularity is Near") that a super-intelligence could evolve beyond humanity's power to control or even comprehend. Where does this leave us?
On-line voting: Can we achieve greater democracy by allowing people to vote from the comfort of their homes? Can the requirements of secret ballot, and one person, one vote be both met? How can an honest vote be ensured?
Bitcoin and the Environment: Bitcoin mining - finding new "hashes" - is energy intensive. At one point Hydro Quebec declared a moratorium after receiving requests for power allocations exceeding 1/4 of its generating capacity. More recently, Hydro Sherbrooke gave a good deal to Bitfarms, who moved into the hockey stick factory, and have caused noise pollution from the cooling fans needed. Is this energy use justified?

Reference style examples

Baxter, Keith 2002 Economics Essay Instructions, Bishop's University,
URL="https://cs.ubishops.ca/ljensen/ethics/Economics Essay instructions.doc"

Orwell, George 1949 Nineteen Eighty-four, Martin, Secker & Warburg Ltd, London

References can be numbered, or else preceded by the abbreviation used for the reference, e.g. [Bax 02] or [Orw 49]