Gift of Fire Chapter 1 Quiz

Book Title and Edition

• Gift of Fire, A: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing Technology, Fifth Edition

Chapter 1 Title

• Unwrapping the Gift

What We Will Cover

• The Pace of Change
• Change and Unexpected Developments
• Themes of Technology Challenges
• Ethics

The Pace of Change (Part 1 of 2)

• Gutenberg's printing press is compared to the advancement of the microchip, an epochal technology with far-reaching consequences.
• Quote from Michael Rothschild

The Pace of Change (Part 2 of 2)

• 1940s: The first computer was built.
• 1956: The first hard-drive disk that stored 5 megabytes weighed a ton.
• 1991: Space shuttles had a one-megahertz computer.
• 10 years later, some cars had 100-megahertz computers. Now, speeds of several gigahertz are common.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 1 of 24)

• Quote from Betty Friedan

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 2 of 24)

• Cell Phones
• Relatively few cell phones in the 1990s.
• By 2011, approximately 5 billion cell phones existed worldwide.
• Usage went beyond conversations and messaging, including:
• Taking photos
• Sharing photos
• Downloading Music
• Watching Videos
• Checking Email
• Playing Games
• Banking
• Investment Management
• Finding Maps

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 3 of 24)

• Cell phone location tracking raises privacy concerns.
• Cell phone cameras affect privacy in public and non-public places.
• Cell phones may interfere with solitude, quiet, and concentration.
• Talking on cell phones while driving is dangerous.
• Other negative impacts include teenagers sexting, terrorists detonating bombs, rioters organizing looting parties.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 4 of 24)

• Kill Switches
• Allow remote entities to disable applications and delete files.
• Used in smartphones, tablets, and some computers.
• Primarily for security concerns but raises user autonomy concerns.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 5 of 24)

• Quote from Jim Hightower

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 6 of 24)

• Social Networking
• www.classmates.com was the first online social networking site (1995).
• Myspace (founded in 2003) had ~100 million member profiles by 2006.
• Facebook started at Harvard as an online student directory.
• Large-scale popularity due to ease of sharing aspects of lives.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 7 of 24)

• Social Networking (continued)
• Business use: connecting with customers and seeking donations
• Groups use: organizing volunteers, demonstrations, and revolutions
• Individuals' use: pooling resources through crowdfunding

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 8 of 24)

• Social Networking (continued)
• Negative aspects: stalking and bullying, jurors tweeting during trials, socialbots simulating humans

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 9 of 24)

• Communication and the Web
• Email messages were short and contained only text in the 1980s.
• Texting, tweeting, and social media are preferred nowadays.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 10 of 24)

• Blogs (Web logs) were initially for amateurs expressing ideas, now significant sources of news and entertainment.
• Inexpensive video cameras and video-editing tools led to a surge in amateur videos.
• Many web videos infringe on the copyrights of entertainment companies.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 11 of 24)

• Telemedicine
• Enables remote performance of medical exams and procedures, including surgery.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 12 of 24)

• Collaboration
• Wikipedia: an online, collaborative encyclopedia written by volunteers.
• Informal communities develop and maintain free software.
• Online watchdogs help investigate crimes.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 13 of 24)

• E-commerce
• Amazon.com (1994): started selling books online. Now a popular, reliable, and user-friendly site.
• eBay.com: facilitates online auctions.
• Traditional businesses establish websites.
• Online sales in the U.S. reached hundreds of billions of dollars annually.
• Sellers sell directly to buyers, creating a peer-to-peer economy.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 14 of 24)

• E-commerce and trust
• People hesitated to provide credit card information for online purchases. PayPal addressed this by offering a trustworthy intermediary.
• Encryption and secure servers improved online payment security.
• The Better Business Bureau established a website to help consumers review businesses.
• Auction sites implemented rating systems.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 15 of 24)

• Free Stuff
• Email programs, email accounts, browsers, filters, firewalls, encryption software, word processors, spreadsheets, multimedia editing software, and more.
• Phone services using VoIP (e.g., Skype).
• Classified ad sites (e.g., Craigslist).
• University lectures.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 16 of 24)

• Free Stuff (continued)
• Advertising funds many free sites and services.
• Donations support some services like Wikipedia.
• Companies use services as marketing tools while fostering public relations.
• Generosity and public service flourish online.
• Many people share expertise.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 17 of 24)

• Free Stuff (continued)
• In order to generate advertising-based revenue, many free websites collect data on online activity to offer to advertisers.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 18 of 24)

• Artificial Intelligence
• A branch of computer science that enables computers to perform tasks traditionally requiring human intelligence.
• Research has shown that computers can handle specific skills more easily than a five-year-old. This includes recognizing people, carrying on conversations, and responding intelligently to environments.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 19 of 24)

• Artificial Intelligence (continued)
• Many AI applications involve pattern recognition.
• Speech recognition is widely used.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 20 of 24)

• Artificial Intelligence (continued)
• Turing Test: If a computer can convince a human subject that it is a human, it "passes" the test.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 21 of 24)

• Discussion Questions: Surgeries done solely by machines are posed as a discussion question. Comparing that experience with automatic elevators or airplanes is used.
• Conversing with machines versus humans is brought up for discussion.
• Enhancing memory with computer chips raises the question about the human being in the future.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 22 of 24)

• Robots
• Mechanical devices performing physical tasks normally done by humans.
• Robots can operate in hazardous environments.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 23 of 24)

• Smart sensors, motion, and control
• Motion sensors provide abilities to robots to: walk; trigger airbags; protect laptops from falling damage.
• Sensors detect leaks, acceleration, position, temperature, and moisture.

Change and Unexpected Developments (Part 24 of 24)

• Tools for disabled people
• Assistive technology helps people with disabilities improve productivity and independence.
• Researchers are developing chips capable of converting brain signals to control leg and arm muscles.

Themes of Technology Challenges (Part 1 of 2)

• Old Problems in a New Context: Crime, pornography, violent fiction (re-emerging in context of technology).
• Adapting to New Technology: Requires new ways of thinking.
• Varied Sources of Solutions: Part of the changing world.
• Global Reach of Net: Easy communication with distant countries.

Themes of Technology Challenges (Part 2 of 2)

• Trade-offs and Controversy: Improving security may compromise convenience.
• Perfection is a Direction: Not a static state.
• Personal Choices, Business Policies, and Law: Distinctions matter.

Ethics (Part 1 of 9)

• What is Ethics:
• Studying the principles of doing what is right.
• People are rational and make their own choices.
• Rules govern interactions and actions that affect others.

Ethics (Part 2 of 9)

• A variety of ethical views:
• Deontological theories
• Utilitarianism
• Natural rights

Ethics (Part 3 of 9)

• Negative Rights (Liberties): The right to act freely without interference.
• Positive Rights (Claim-rights): An obligation for some to provide things to others.

Ethics (Part 4 of 9)

• Golden Rules: Treat others as you want to be treated.
• Contributing to Society: Honest, responsible, ethical, creative, productive work is virtuous.

Ethics (Part 5 of 9)

• Social Contracts: People agree to a common law to create civil societies.

Ethics (Part 6 of 9)

• No simple answers:
• Actual behavior and situations are complex; trade-offs exist.
• Ethical theories help to identify important guidelines.

Ethics (Part 7 of 9)

• Do Organizations Have Ethics?: Organizations are responsible for individuals' decisions and actions.

Ethics (Part 8 of 9)

• Important Distinctions:
• Right, wrong, and okay
• Distinguishing wrong from harm
• Separating goals from constraints
• Personal preference and ethics
• Law and ethics

Ethics (Part 9 of 9)

• Discussion Question:
• Examples of liberties (negative rights) and claims (positive rights) that oppose each other.

Test your understanding of Chapter 1 from 'Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing Technology'. This chapter discusses the rapid pace of technological change and its implications for society, ethics, and unexpected developments. Assess your knowledge of key concepts and historical milestones presented in this chapter.