Informatics Institute of Technology

Trends in Computer Science

4COSC008C

Machine Learning
2. c. Overview of Machine Learning. How does the need for a Computer Scientist / Software
Engineer to familiarize themselves with Machine Learning relate to a Code of Practice (such as
the BCS Code of Practice)? What is the purpose of such a Code of Practice?

Student name: Kavindi Ama Sharadha Fonseka

UOW ID: W1987495
IIT ID: 20223250

Group members
1. Tevin Witharana
2. Diyana Fernando
3. Nadil Nethwara
4. Sandali Vithanage
5. Kavindi Ama
20222315 / w1989043
20222387 / w1990917
20221893 / w1985562
20223289 / w1999154
20223250 / w1987495
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 Table of Contents

1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………. …..page 3
2. Overview Of Machine Learning…………………………………………………page 3
3. Machine Learning And Professional Ethics: A Code Perspective
3.1. professional codes of practice…………………………………………….page 4
3.2. Ethical Considerations and Professional Competence
3.2.1. Ethical Considerations……………………………………………page 5
3.2.2. Professional competence…………………………………………page 6
4. legal compliance and social responsibility
4.1. legal compliance…………………………………………………...page 6
4.2. social responsibility………………………………………………..page 7
5. Conclusion……………………...………………………………………………...page 8
6. References………………………………………………………………………..page 9

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 1. INTRODUCTION
By creating this report, the researcher provides a tool for newcomers to the field to gain a basic understanding of
what machine learning is and how computer scientists/software engineers need to familiarize themselves with how
machine learning relates to a code of practice.

2. OVERVIEW OF MACHINE LEARNING

A category of artificial intelligence called Machine Learning (ML).it gives computers the ability to think and learn
themselves. The main goal is to teach computers to modify their behavior to increase accuracy, where accuracy is
measured by the number of times the chosen actions result in correct outcomes. (Alzubi, Nayyar and Kumar, 2018)

Machine Learning is the scientific study of algorithms and static models that computer systems use.
ML is important because it helps computers get better at doing things without needing to be told exactly how to do
each. It’s like teaching a child to ride a bike without a step-by-step instruction manual, it needs practice.

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 Figure 1: machine learning

The three types of machine learning are supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning. Each has its uses
and methods for analyzing data.

Figure 2: types of machine learning

3. MACHINE LEARNING AND PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

3.1. Professional Codes of Practice

professional codes of practice is also known as a code of ethics. It is like a rulebook created by a group of
professionals. It guides them to the right actions and choices for work. The healthcare, legal, engineering,
accounting, and education sectors have professional codes of practice that establish ethical guidelines.

Examples of professional code of practice for software engineers and computer scientists.
 ACM code of ethics and professional conduct
 IEEE code of ethics
 BCS code of conduct
 NSPE code of ethics for engineers

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What is the BCS code of practice?
The British Computer Society (BCS) created the BCS code of practice. That describes the ethics and professional
responsibilities of software engineers and computer scientists.
It’s crucial to ensure that when we use AI and ML in a way that is fair and does not cause harm.

The code is based on four key principles.

 You make IT for everyone.
 Learn what you don’t know and share what you do.
 Show consideration for the company or person you work for.
 Keep things authentic.

3.2. Ethical consideration and professional competence

3.2.1. Ethical consideration

Machine learning can affect people's lives and experiences. We can think if the impact of ML is good or bad. How
we can make sure it’s good. Ethics can help to answer these questions.

Machine learning programs can make unfair results because they learn from bias.
Healthcare, Finance, criminal justice, education, and employment are several industries where ethical
considerations in machine learning are particularly important.

General ethical issues in machine learning

 Accuracy: If an ML model gives an incorrect output, it can have different effects depending on the
situation.
 Bias
 Fairness: The results and how they are achieved should be fair.
 Safety and security: safety is a broad concern. ML systems could cause real harm if they fail.
 Privacy
E.g.-ML systems can figure out private things about us. This can be a problem because it violates our personal
space.
 Transparency

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  Accountability
 Social impacts

3.2.2. Professional competence

In the fast-changing world of machine learning, people need to keep learning and improve their knowledge and
skills. It’s also important to keep learning new things so we can do well in our job.

Benefits of maintaining professional competence

 Staying up to date
 Using the most recent techniques
 Making sure responsible and ethical behavior
 Adjusting to new technologies

4. Legal compliance and social responsibility

4.1. Legal compliance

As AI and machine learning applications become more common and have a bigger impact, it is really important
sure it follow the rules and are ethical. Machine learning algorithms can have big legal and regulatory impacts in
fields like healthcare, finance, and criminal justice. Every industry faces a different kind of risk.

Key considerations:
 Data privacy and security
 Training and education
 Data governance
 Transparency
 Fairness and non-discrimination
 Risk management

Example for data privacy and security:

“Earlier this year, in Belgium, a young father of two ended his life after a conversation with an AI-powered
chatbot. He had been talking to the large language model regularly and had become emotionally dependent on it.
When the system encouraged him to commit suicide, he did. “Without these conversations with the chatbot,” his
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widow told a Brussels newspaper, “my husband would still be here.”

In this case, the chatbot’s reaction to the person’s emotional state was improper and potentially harmful. This
situation raises questions about whether the laws and guidelines controlling the use of AI chatbots are enough to
protect people’s privacy and security.

4.2. Social responsibility

The term social responsibility of AI describes a human value-driven process in which inclusiveness, privacy and
security, accountability, reliability and safety, and fairness are the guiding principles.

The pyramid of social responsibility of AI

Figure3: The pyramid of social responsibility of AI

 The purpose of a code practice for software engineers and computer scientists is to provide guidelines and
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 standards for moral behavior in the workplace by considering the effects on society.

5. Conclusion
Computer scientists and software engineers should learn about ML because it is affecting their work.
A code of practice can help them to be ethical, be good at their job, keep data safe, be honest explain things, and
keep learning.

The code of practice helps computer scientists and software engineers do their job well and it’s making the world
better place.

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references
a. Figure 1:machine learning
https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E12AQHTHLiZ_0Frpw/article-cover_image-
shrink_720_1280/0/1561419997288?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=5AauwOprMudzI2U9-
OrxseSH12AumQVCcQw_xBFSNt8

b. Figure2: : types of machine learning

https://assets.website-files.com/6029242da9cc798b70c41b19/6257f1a19ccf5ca22a4852ad_Ma
chine%20Learning-min%20(1).jpg

c. Figure3: The pyramid of social responsibility of AI

https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/D5612AQEK_AlDQEiC1A/article-cover_image-
shrink_600_2000/0/1677364028414?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=GWtCF2pcUqg4Bcg7-PZ-
hvV_0sHRknxB9XDh6r3BEYc

1. BCS (2015). BCS, THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE FOR IT CODE OF CONDUCT FOR BCS MEMBERS.
[online] Available at:
https://www.bcs.org/media/2211/bcs-code-of-conduct.pdf

2. www.w3.org. (n.d.). Ethical Principles for Web Machine Learning. [online] Available at:
https://www.w3.org/TR/webmachinelearning-ethics/

3. ieeexplore.ieee.org. (n.d.). ETHICAL FRAMEWORK FOR MACHINE LEARNING | IEEE Conference

Publication | IEEE Xplore. [online] Available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?
tp=&arnumber=8597767 [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].

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 4. Rahman, S., Rivera, E., Foutse Khomh, Yann-Gaël Guéhéneuc and Lehnert, B. (2019). Machine
Learning Software Engineering in Practice: An Industrial Case Study. [online] Available at:
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1906.07154.pdf

5. Gotterbarn, D. (1999). How the new Software Engineering Code of Ethics affects you. IEEE
Software, 16(6), pp.58–64. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1109/52.805474

6. Adopting AI Responsibly: Guidelines for Procurement of AI Solutions by the Private Sector.

(n.d.). Available at:
https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Adopting_AI_Responsibly_Guidelines_for_Procureme
nt_of_AI_Solutions_by_the_Private_Sector_2023.pdf

7. School, S.L. (2023). Artificial Intelligence and the Law. [online] Stanford Law School. Available
at:
https://law.stanford.edu/stanford-lawyer/articles/artificial-intelligence-and-the-law/

8. Cheng, L., Varshney, K.R. and Liu, H. (2021). Socially Responsible AI Algorithms: Issues,
Purposes, and Challenges. Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, [online] 71, pp.1137–
1181. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1613/jair.1.12814

9. www.oreilly.com. (n.d.). 1. NLP: A Primer - Practical Natural Language Processing [Book].

[online] Available at:
https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/practical-natural-language/9781492054047/
ch01.html#machine_learningcomma_deep_learningcomm [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].

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