Worksheet

A14.8 Moral, ethical, social and cultural issues

Software development, law and ethics · A level · OCR H446 1.5.2, AQA 7517 4.8.1 · about 45 min

What this lesson is about

Automated decisions, AI, surveillance, personal data at scale, censorship, piracy, the environment and accessibility, with an autonomous robot that explains every decision.

• Why computer scientists carry responsibility
• The words in the question
• The issues the specifications name
• Case study: the autonomous delivery robot
• Structuring a discussion

Questions 5 marks in all

1. [1 mark]A CV-screening system trained on a company's past hiring decisions rejects most applicants from one group. What is the most likely cause?

   1. ABias in the training data, which reflects unfair past decisions
   2. BA syntax error in the program
   3. CThe computer deliberately chose to discriminate
   4. DToo few features in the user interface

2. [1 mark]Which of these are named by OCR as moral and ethical issues of digital technology?

   Tick every answer that is true.

   1. AAutomated decision making
   2. BCensorship and the internet
   3. CLayout, colour paradigms and character sets
   4. DClock speed
   5. ENormalisation

3. [1 mark]AQA says software and its algorithms embed moral and cultural values. What does this mean?

   1. AEach rule in a program is a decision someone made about what should happen to people
   2. BPrograms contain comments about ethics
   3. CSoftware can only be written by philosophers
   4. DComputers have their own values

4. [1 mark]Why does the scale of software raise the stakes of a developer's decisions?

   1. AOne program can run on millions of devices, so one choice affects millions of people
   2. BLarger programs are always slower
   3. CScale only matters for hardware
   4. DBig programs cannot contain bias

5. [1 mark]Why does an autonomous robot that logs each decision with its reason help with accountability?

   1. AIts decisions can be checked, questioned and corrected afterwards
   2. BIt makes the robot drive faster
   3. CIt means no human is ever responsible
   4. DIt removes the need for testing

The task: explain every decision

The robot starts 66 cm from a person standing in the corridor, facing them. Write a program that approaches safely and explains every decision it makes. Repeat: read the gap with distance() and decide: - if the gap is more than 40 cm, the decision is drive: LED green, then move forward 5 cm at speed 60; - if the gap is more than 25 cm but not more than 40 cm, the decision is slow: LED orange, then move forward 2 cm at speed 30; - otherwise the decision is stop: LED red, and leave the loop without moving. Print a line only when the decision changes from the previous one (including the first decision), in the form <time> s: <decision>, because the gap is <gap> cm, where <time> is clock() and <gap> is the reading the decision was based on. Change the LED at the same moment. After the loop, play a note and print handing over to a human. That makes exactly four lines. Do not touch the person.

# the two lines every program starts with: the commands, then the robot
from bugbot import *
connect()

last = ""      # the previous decision, so a line is printed only when it changes

Plan your program here, then type it in and press Run.

Do it on the robot
www.bugbotlab.com/learn/a14-8-moral-and-ethical-issues/
The simulator checks it and tells you when it passes. Nothing to install, no account.

Challenges

1. Discuss whether the school should allow the robot to use face recognition to deliver parcels to the right teacher. Use the five-step structure and reach a judgement.
2. Change the program so the stopping gap is larger when the robot is carrying something heavy. Whose safety does this protect, and what does it cost?
3. Give one way a delivery robot could disadvantage a wheelchair user, and one design change that prevents it.