Faculty of Science and Technology

Week 7
Social Issues
ITECH 3203-7203
Professional Development
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Content of Course ...

Content Area Topics

1. Ethical • utilitarianism & character based
theories deontology • professional
• contract-based & ethics
2. Social impact • privacy & • social issues
of technology security • Internet &
• cybercrime, IP & systems reliability
copyright
3. Business and • professionalism
professional • leadership and management
practice • teams and negotiation
Summary

Looking at some of the social issues to do with IT

Broken up into two parts
• Social Issues 1
• issues that have always existed but which might be made
more prominent by modern technology
• Social Issues 2
• issues which have come into existence because of modern
technology
Social Issues 1
Social Issues 1

Racism
Gender
Robotics
Remote work
Workplace surveillance
Work life balance
Racism
Rhetoric and Racism

Racist speech on the Internet (Theismeyer, 1999)

• Hate speech includes text, music, on-line broadcast,
and images that exhort users to act against targeted
groups e.g. neo nazi meta tags
• Persuasive rhetoric that does not directly enunciate
racism and corresponding violence, but which does
ultimately promote or justify it e.g. pornography
Does the Internet make the spread of racist
messages and attitudes more likely?
More followers? More persuasion?
Note the Internet can provide a means to confront racial
attitudes
(Internetworldstats.com, 2013)
(Internetworldstats.com, 2015)
(Internetworldstats.com,
(I 2017)
Gender
 13
(Adapted from Rocheleau,
Rocheleau 2017)
Gender and Cyber-Technology

Issues to consider:
• Stereotype the geek effect
• Family support
• Access to jobs
• Education
• Perception of difficulty of work
• Gender bias in software design e.g. gaming
• Methodological frameworks for understanding gender
 15
(Google, 2017)
(Bond University, 2016)
Robotics
Robotics and Expert Systems

Job displacement can be viewed in terms of the net result

of jobs gained and lost
Robots and robotic arms have replaced factory workers
Expert systems have replaced professional workers by
embedding expertise into software
Issues to consider:
•Is this any different to scanning at checkouts or introducing
ATM machines?
drivers astronauts teachers

What are some ways expert systems, and

robots may replace the need for human
labour?

babysitters pharmacists surgeons

Robotics and Expert Systems
continued...

Three Laws of Robotics

(Asimov, 1956)
1. A robot may not injure a
human being or, through
inaction, allow a human
being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the
orders given to it by human
beings, except where such
orders would conflict with
the First Law.
Robotics and Expert Systems
continued...
3. A robot must protect its
own existence as long
as such protection does
not conflict with the First
or Second Laws.
Fourth or Zeroth Law
(precedes all others)
0. A robot may not harm
humanity, or, by inaction,
allow humanity to come
to harm.
Issues raised:
•Do Asimov’s (1956) laws
provide sufficient guidance
for robotics developers
today?
•What control should robots
have over important issues?
•Who is responsible?
Remote Work
Remote Work

Types of Remote Work:

•Virtual organisations, offices, teams and corporations.
•Telework organisational work performed outside the site of
the organisation.
•Telecommuting communications technologies used to
transport work to the worker (compare with the physical
transportation of the worker to the workplace).
Issues to consider:
•Are all workers affected the same way, consider those less
educated? Disabled persons?
Quality of Work-life

Some quality-related issues:

• Health and safety issues (ergonomics)
• Repetitive strain injuries (RSI) and carpal tunnel
syndrome
• Workplace surveillance
Workplace Surveillance
Workplace Surveillance

In Australia:
•Laws at both the federal and state or territory level apply to
the monitoring and recording of telephone conversations
•Reasonable for an employer to monitor some of its staff’s
activities to ensure staff are performing their duties and
using resources appropriately, e.g. email, the internet and
other computer resources
•Business that uses CCTV have obligations under several
laws, i.e. notify before taking pictures or recording, secure
records
Workplace Surveillance
continued …
• Surveillance technology, is now less expensive, has also
become less open and more diverse
• Current technology has created the potential to build
surveillance features into the core of the processes of
organisations
• Built into processes that measure work flow, keystroke
monitoring, telephone accounting, etc
• Issues:
• Video vs Audio surveillance – is there a difference?
• Video in public places e.g. toilets – to help address issues
with violence
 The pros and cons of video
surveillance
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/26/tech/innovation/security-cameras-
boston-bombings/index.html
 Discuss the arguments for and
against workplace surveillance and
computer monitoring?
Work life Balance
Other Quality issues

• Information overload

• e.g. large numbers of work emails, techno-stress,

work/life balance

• Anxieties of less confident computer users with rapid

changes in software often shown in physical symptoms

• Over-users ignore ergonomic principles

Social Issues 2
Social Issues 2

On-line communities
The Internet and democracy
Virtual reality
Personal identity and sense of self
Artificial intelligence
Bionic implants
Online Communities
On-Line Communities

A traditional community is defined on a geographical basis

i.e. people living in the same district and subject to common
laws.
An on-line community is a computer mediated social group
e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Linked In (Rheingold, 2001).
Characteristics in common social interaction, personal
support and a shared learning environment.
Graham’s Theory (1999):
Internet major impact on social life by allowing for a
reconfiguration of human communities. Greater choice and
freedom in joining communities.
On-line Communities
continued…

Positive Features
•Individual people have more choice about the people with
whom they associate
•Geographically dispersed sense of belonging
•Greater sense of freedom

Negative Features
•Face-to-face interaction with other people is reduced
•Greater anonymity may result in an increase in unacceptable
actions
•Reduce general social cohesion
 Social Networking Quiz
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=social-networking-quiz
The Internet and Democracy
The Internet and Democracy

Democracy is system of government by the whole

population or all the eligible members of a state, typically
through elected representatives
Issues that arise:
•Does the Internet foster democratic ideals?
•Should the Internet foster democratic ideals?
•Do what extent are ISPs morally responsible for the
content held on their servers?
•Do what extent are network engineers morally responsible
for the use of the technologies they develop?
Virtual Reality
Misrepresentation in VR

VR (Virtual Reality) creatures can display human qualities

(anthropomorphisation)
Issues that arise:
•It is possible for specific human groups to be
misrepresented or represented in a biased fashion?
•To what extent do creators of VR have a moral
responsibility? What guidance does the ACS provide?
• If a robot (or other VR, AI) is programmed to behave as
though it has human feelings (love, pain, etc ) what
moral responsibility do we have?
Virtual Reality Harmless?

Issues continued…
• Is the virtual universe independent of the physical
universe?
• Is it OK to allow crimes to be committed in virtual space
that are forbidden in real space?

Effect on:
• The player (belongs to both worlds)
• The victim (resulting distress?)
• The victim’s community
 If a Griefer made a Server –
Minecraft
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYulFtuiAYs
Personal Identify and Sense of Self
Personal Identity

Cybertechnology allows people to adopt a different

character and interact with others in cyberspace.
In this sense, the computer is a means of self-expression
and self-discovery.
In extreme cases it may be hard for a person to identify the
“real” self.
Sense of Self

Human beings have had to reconsider their significance in

the world when:
•It was discovered that the earth is not the centre of the
universe.
•Darwin’s theory of evolution indicated that man is not as
special as once perceived.
Issues:
•What questions concerning the sense of self arise in the
cyberage?
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Is it only humans who are capable of rational activity?

Recent research in animal intelligence suggests that many
primates demonstrate some form of rational behavior.
Work in AI and cognitive science has shown that certain
forms of rational activity can also be attributed to
computers e.g. chess
Issues:
•Should we continue to develop artificial intelligent entities?
•If so, what moral considerations towards such entities will
be required?
Bionic Implants
Implants

Which would be acceptable?

• Pacemakers, defibrillators, and bionic eyes that maintain
and restore natural bodily functions
• Giving patients added arms or infrared vision
• Using a chip that reduced dyslexia
• Deep blue chip for superior chess play
• Chip to assist memory of Alzheimer patients
• Miniature digital camera that would record and playback
what a person had just seen
Implants
continued…

Clear policies and laws will need to be framed, as more and

more bionic parts become available.

With bionic parts, humans and machines could soon begin

to merge into “cyborgs”

What are the ethical considerations?

 Tagging Dad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jExkLS_onuY
Summary

Racist speech on the internet includes hate speech and

persuasive rhetoric.
Gender and cyber technology issues include stereotyping,
software bias, and philosophy.
Work considerations in the cybertech age include quantity,
quality and transformation.
Robotics and expert systems have replaced workers,
embedded professional expertise into software and
transformed human labour.
Summary
continued...

Many organisations now track their employee work through

the use of surveillance technologies
The Internet is transforming our social communities,
Graham's (1909) theory
The Internet a vehicle for democracy? Yes/No
Is VR harmless? Yes/No
AI and implants, what is acceptable?
References

Barwick, H. (2013). Defence considers drones, while UN wants

moratorim on lethal robots. Retrieved March 6, 2015, from
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/460873/defence_considers
_drones_while_un_wants_moratorium_lethal_robots_/?
utm_medium=newsletter&eid=-6787&utm_source=computerworld-
today-pm-edition
Frum, L. (2013). Nearly half of all video-gamers are women. Retrieved
March 6, 2015, from http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/08/tech/gaming-
gadgets/female-gamers
Miniwatts. (2013). Internet world stats. Retrieved March 6, 2015, from
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm