- Prologue
- I. Dreams
- 1. Knowledge and Creativity
- Computers as Aids to Thought
- Pioneer: Vannevar Bush
- Human Factors and Human-Machine Systems
- Pioneers: Lillian Gilbreth and Grace Hopper
- Pioneer: J.C.R. Licklider
- Computers for Everyone
- Pioneer: Alan Kay
- Dream: A time when everyone can use a computer
- Pioneer: Steven Jobs
- The Internet and the World Wide Web
- Pioneer: Tim Berners-Lee
- Digital Libraries
- Dream: Wikipedia: a free, ever-expanding online encyclopedia
- Computer-based Learning
- Pioneers: Seymour Papert and Mitchel Resnick
- Dream: A digital tablet or laptop for every student
- Dream: Global online learning
- Dream: Intelligent electronic tutors
- New Forms of Creativity
- Pioneer: Ivan Sutherland
- Dream: Enhanced creativity for design and the visual ats
- Dream: Photorealistic three-dimensional computer animation
- Notes
- 2. Health and Medicine
- Electronic medical records
- Pioneer: Lawrence Weed
- Dream: Electronic medial and personal health records
- Online health information
- Dream: Online health experience sharing communities
- The remote delivery of healthcare
- Dream: Telemedicine and telehealth
- Digital Genetics
- Dream: Reuniting families
- Dream: Personalized medicine
- Technology for Seniors’ Welfare and Care
- Dream: Robot companions for seniors
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 3. Communications, Community, and Commerce
- Dream: Free speech on the internet
- Free Speech
- Internet Communications
- Online Collaboration
- Pioneer: Doug Engelbart
- Dream: Computer-supported collaborative work
- Virtual Communities
- Dream: The Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link
- Dream: Support for family communication
- Dream: Political mobilization via the internet
- E-commerce
- Dream: Books at your fingertips
- The Gig Economy
- Dream: Crowdsourcing and crowdfunding
- Dream: An alternative to hotels
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 4. Power and Convenience
- Dream: A forecast factory for predicting the weather
- Mastering Software
- Pioneers: Jean Sammet and Fran Allen
- Mastering Numbers
- Dream: Easy financial management using spreadsheets
- Dream: Insightful information visualization
- Artificial Intelligence
- Dream: Voice assistants
- Dream: Generative AI
- Dream: Self-driving cars
- Dream: Robots at work after disasters
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 1. Knowledge and Creativity
- II. Nightmares
- 5. Disinformation and Hate Speech
- Nightmare: Mass shootings streaming live
- Free Speech on the Internet Turns Toxic
- Nightmare: Hate speech
- Political Disinformation
- Nightmare: Fake news
- Photographic Disinformation
- Nightmare: Deep fakes
- Health Disinformation
- Nightmare: Disinformation about the Coronavirus
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 6. Work, Automation, and Job Loss
- Nightmare: Taxi drivers commit suicide
- Seeking Work
- Nightmare: AI résumé screening and interviewing
- Monitoring Work
- Nightmare: Pervasive worker surveillance
- Disruptions to Industries
- Nightmare: Impoverished musicians
- Nightmare: Gig economy dislocations and challenges
- Automation and Jobs
- Nightmare: Robot doctors before their time
- The Future of Automation
- Dream or Nightmare?: Massively fewer jobs … or not?
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 7. Abusing Market Dominance
- Nightmare: The Facebook Files
- Digital Market Dominance in the 20th Century
- Big Tech in the 21st Century
- Nightmare: Apple’s control over app distribution
- Nightmare: Google’s control over search and internet advertising
- Nightmare: Amazon’s domination of e-commerce
- Nightmare: Meta’s control over social media
- Big Tech Becomes Bigger
- Nightmare: Tech firm growth via acquisition
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 8. Helplessness and Injustice
- Nightmare: Cyberbullying using explicit images of a teenager causes her suicide
- Technology Timidity and Fear
- Nightmare: Geek speak
- Nightmare: No more paper tickets
- Nightmare: No tech support number to call
- Technology Addiction
- Nightmare: Tech addiction damages children
- Nightmare: Ubiquitous tech encourages adult workaholism
- Dangers in Internet Use
- Nightmare: Revenge porn
- Inequities in Technology Availability and Use
- Nightmare: Digital disenfranchisement
- Government Interference in Internet Use
- Nightmare: Censorship and shutdowns of the internet
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 9. Loss of Privacy
- Nightmare: Digital video cameras everywhere
- Privacy is a Complex Idea
- Personal Data No Longer Under Our Control
- Nightmare: Data breaches
- Privacy Invasions by Government
- Nightmare: Surveillance by Big Brother
- Privacy Invasions by Business
- Nightmare: Surveillance capitalism by the Big Other
- Scary New Technologies for Surveillance
- Nightmare: Surveillance of students and women
- Your Personal Data Can Haunt You Forever
- Nightmare: Self-surveillance: Your past cannot be forgotten
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 10. Monopolies
- Nightmare: Your hospital is shut down
- Financial Fraud on the Internet
- Nightmare: Identity theft
- Digital Technology Can Have Deadly Bugs
- Nightmare: A radiation therapy machine that kills
- Pioneers: Norbert Wiener and Joe Weizenbaum
- Nightmare: An airplane with a mind of its own
- Cyberterrorism
- Nightmare: Election hacking
- Nightmare: Ransomware
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 11. Risky AI (artificial intelligence)
- Nightmare: Your Chatbot cannot be trusted
- AI Has Gone Mainstream
- Nightmare: Consequential AI, introduced before it is ready for safe use
- Honesty
- Nightmare: Machines masquerading as humans
- Accuracy and Reliability
- Nightmare: AI algorithms making serious mistakes
- Transparency and Explainability
- Nightmare: Inscrutable software
- Fairness and Justice
- Nightmare: Biased decisions by algorithms
- Responsibility and Accountability
- Nightmare: No responsibility or accountability for algorithms
- Trust
- Nightmare: Premature use of conversational agents
- Nightmare: Autonomous weapons are on the horizon … can we trust them?
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 5. Disinformation and Hate Speech
- III. Actions
- 12. Pursue Your Career Ethically
- Action: Do work worth doing
- Computer Science for Good
- Action: Let your values guide your career choices
- Keeping Good Work on a Good Track
- Responses to Disinformation and Hate Speech
- Action: Work on algorithmic content moderation
- Achieving Usable and Accessible Technology
- Pioneer: Batya Friedman
- Action: Do Value Sensitive Design
- Action: Work towards digital inclusion
- Ethical Turning Points in Your Career
- Action: Speak up when you see injustice or perceive evil
- Action: If need be, consider conscientious objection or whistleblowing
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 13. Support Constructive Citizen Initiatives
- Action: A “connected community”, not a Google “smart city” for Toronto
- The Education of Computer Scientists
- Action: Teach ethics, as with Harvard Embedded EthiCS program
- A Responsible Computer Science Profession
- Action: Introduce accreditation and licensing of computer scientists
- Action: Engage thoughtfully with technology policy issues
- Technological Literacy, Self-Confidence, and Good Judgment
- Action: Help non-technical people achieve technological self-confidence
- Action: Evangelize usability becoming a major factor in technology choice
- Tech Addiction
- Action: Encourage respites from technology
- Community and Societal Initiatives
- Action: Reduce digital energy use; attribute costs to tech’s environmental damage
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 14. Help Guide Legislation and Regulation
- Action: Protect your culture vigorously
- Digital Technologists and Political Action
- Action: Making a difference by working in government
- Action: Making a difference by influencing and advising government
- Legislation for Wise Tech Governance
- Action: Enact laws such as the GDPR
- Governmental Regulation of Technology Firms
- Action: Support effective antitrust actions against Big Tech
- Big Tech, Competition, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship
- Action: Create a vigorous competitive tech industry landscape
- Governmental Initiatives with Respect to Automation and Jobs
- Action: Support job benefits and security for full-time gig workers
- Action: Work towards a Guaranteed Annual Income
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 15. Promote Caution about Using AI Prematurely
- Action: Deploy robot caregivers for seniors only when they are ready
- Care in Introducing Consequential AI
- Action: Work towards ethical AI
- Honesty
- Action: Insist that algorithms identify themselves as such
- Accuracy and Reliability
Action: Focus not on self-driving but on safer driving - Transparency and ExplainabilityAction: Develop software that can explain “why?”
- Fairness and Justice
- Action: Only use unbiased facial recognition software with safeguards
- Responsibility and Accountability
- Action: Hold accountable those responsible for unreliable or unjust AI
- Trust
- Action: Build trustworthy AI
- Action: Ensure that autonomous weapons are under strict controls
- Questions for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- 12. Pursue Your Career Ethically
- Epilogue
- Dream or Nightmare? OpenAI
- Dream or Nightmare? Artificial general intelligence
- Question for Research and Discussion
- Notes
- Appendix A Further Reading
- Notes
- Appendix B The History of Digital
- Pioneers: Charles Babbage and Lady Ada Lovelace
- Pioneer: Alan Turing
- Notes
- Appendix C A Perspective from Sociology
- Note
- Appendix D A Primer on Governance
- Note
- Appendix E A Primer on Ethics
- Notes
- About the Author and the Collaborator
- Index
Ron Baecker 