All Narratives (356)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 3 min
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
This narrative explains that the push for technology to help with accessibility for disabled groups, especially blind or visually impaired individuals, has spurred scientific innovation which is to the benefit of everyone.
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
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- 3 min
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
What will tomorrow’s tech look like? Ask someone who can’t see.
This narrative explains that the push for technology to help with accessibility for disabled groups, especially blind or visually impaired individuals, has spurred scientific innovation which is to the benefit of everyone.
What are the benefits of developing technologies and innovations which aim to solve a specific problem? How might this lead to unprecedented positive innovations? How can accessibility become a priority, and become adequately incentivized, in tech development, instead of other priorities such as profit?
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- 5 min
- Gizmodo
- 2020
This article describes the new Amazon Sidewalk feature and subsequently explains why users should not buy into this service. Essentially, this feature uses the internet of things created by Amazon devices such as the Echo or Ring camera to create a secondary network connecting nearby homes which also contain these devices, which is sustained by each home “donating” a small amount of broadband. It is explained that this is a dangerous concept because this smaller network may be susceptible to hackers, putting a large number of users at risk.
- Gizmodo
- 2020
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- 5 min
- Gizmodo
- 2020
You Need to Opt Out of Amazon Sidewalk
This article describes the new Amazon Sidewalk feature and subsequently explains why users should not buy into this service. Essentially, this feature uses the internet of things created by Amazon devices such as the Echo or Ring camera to create a secondary network connecting nearby homes which also contain these devices, which is sustained by each home “donating” a small amount of broadband. It is explained that this is a dangerous concept because this smaller network may be susceptible to hackers, putting a large number of users at risk.
Why are “secondary networks” like the one described here a bad idea in terms of both surveillance and data privacy? Is it possible for the world to be too networked? How can tech developers make sure the general public has a healthy skepticism toward new devices? Or is it ultimately Amazon’s job to think about the ethical implications of this secondary network before introducing it for profits?
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- 5 min
- NPR
- 2020
After the FTC and 48 States charged Facebook with being a monopoly in late 2020, the FTC continues the push for accountability of tech monopolies by demanding that large social network companies, including Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter, share exactly what they do with user data in hopes of increased transparency. Pair with “Facebook hit with antitrust lawsuit from FTC and 48 state attorneys general“
- NPR
- 2020
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- 5 min
- NPR
- 2020
Amazon, TikTok, Facebook, Others Ordered To Explain What They Do With User Data
After the FTC and 48 States charged Facebook with being a monopoly in late 2020, the FTC continues the push for accountability of tech monopolies by demanding that large social network companies, including Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter, share exactly what they do with user data in hopes of increased transparency. Pair with “Facebook hit with antitrust lawsuit from FTC and 48 state attorneys general“
Do you think that users, especially younger users, would trade their highly-tailored recommender system and social network experiences for data privacy? How much does transparency of tech monopolies help when many people are not fluent in the concept of how algorithms work? Should social media companies release the abstractions of users that it forms using data?
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- 6 min
- TED
- 2020
Jamila Gordon, an AI activist and the CEO and founder of Lumachain, tells her story as a refugee from Ethiopia to illuminate the great strokes of luck that eventually brought her to her important position in the global tech industry. This makes the strong case for introducing AI into the workplace, as approaches using computer vision can lead to greater safety and machine learning can be applied to help those who may speak a language not dominant in that workplace or culture train and acclimate more effectively.
- TED
- 2020
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- 6 min
- TED
- 2020
How AI can help shatter barriers to equality
Jamila Gordon, an AI activist and the CEO and founder of Lumachain, tells her story as a refugee from Ethiopia to illuminate the great strokes of luck that eventually brought her to her important position in the global tech industry. This makes the strong case for introducing AI into the workplace, as approaches using computer vision can lead to greater safety and machine learning can be applied to help those who may speak a language not dominant in that workplace or culture train and acclimate more effectively.
Would constant computer vision surveillance of a workplace be ultimately positive or negative or both? How could it be ensured that machine learning algorithms were only used for positive forces in a workplace? What responsibility to large companies have to help those in less privileged countries access digital fluency?
How AI can help shatter barriers to equality: Jamila Gordon-
- 5 min
- ZDNet
- 2020
In recent municipal elections in Brazil, the software and hardware of a machine learning technology provided by Oracle failed to properly do its job in counting the votes. This ultimately led to a delay in the results, as the AI had not been properly calibrated beforehand.
- ZDNet
- 2020
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- 5 min
- ZDNet
- 2020
AI Failure in Elections
In recent municipal elections in Brazil, the software and hardware of a machine learning technology provided by Oracle failed to properly do its job in counting the votes. This ultimately led to a delay in the results, as the AI had not been properly calibrated beforehand.
Who had responsibility to fully test and calibrate this AI before it was used for an election? What sorts of more dire consequences could result from a failure of AI to properly count votes? What are the implications of an American tech monopoly providing this faulty technology to another country’s elections?
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- 20 min
- MIT Press
- 2018
Lilith, a contract laborer, ends up in a dangerous situation when the self-driving ship she rides malfunctions. Kyleen, a human who has undergone a human-editing networking process called “meshing,” is able to control a proxy robot via a brain-computer interface to help Lilith get to her destination safely.
- MIT Press
- 2018
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- 20 min
- MIT Press
- 2018
Robotic Proxies and Telepresence: “Different Seas” by Alastair Reynolds
Lilith, a contract laborer, ends up in a dangerous situation when the self-driving ship she rides malfunctions. Kyleen, a human who has undergone a human-editing networking process called “meshing,” is able to control a proxy robot via a brain-computer interface to help Lilith get to her destination safely.
How can robotic proxies be helpful to people in danger? Who should be allowed or certified to operate these, in theory? How might these be implicated in inequitable class structures, as outlined in the story? Should humans be networked with machines, and would this really be to the ultimate benefit of humanity?