- Consider the ethics of technology and AI
- Make sure your app will have a positive impact on its stakeholders
These are the activities for this lesson:
ETHICS AND ACTIONS
What is Ethics?
- Moral principles about what is right and wrong
- Important in the world of technology and AI
- You do not want to cause harm, even if by accident
- Your project must help people and society
What is Algorithmic Bias?
- Where programmer causes their program to treat some users better than others
- or the AI model is trained without using diverse samples
- Creating unfair outcomes for some users
- It may not be intentional but can still affect users negatively
Check out this video to learn more about algorithmic bias.
TECHNOLOGY'S NEGATIVE IMPACT
We all use technology every day and are often unaware of what that technology is actually doing – how we are reacting to it, what it is doing to our psyche.
In October, 2021, it was revealed that Facebook (now Meta), through its own research, was aware of the harm it was causing to some of its users, yet did nothing to fix the situation.
“Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram (owned by Facebook) made them feel worse,” the researchers reportedly wrote. Facebook also reportedly found that 14% of boys in the U.S. said Instagram made them feel worse about themselves.
DO NO HARM
Following the Wall Street Journal article, Facebook whistleblowers have provided further information that:
- Facebook promoted disinformation
- ignored hate speech and illegal activity from certain users.
Software companies such as Facebook are so influential around the world and have a responsibility to make sure their software does no harm.
While you are just starting out and do not have the reach of Facebook or Instagram, you still need to think carefully about who will use your product and how they might be affected by it.
Pledge to make sure your project has only a positive impact!
STAKEHOLDERS
As you develop your project, you need to consider your stakeholders.
Stakeholders are people or entities that are affected by decisions or actions taken by your project.
Direct Stakeholders
- your users
Indirect Stakeholders
- people or organizations that may be affected by your technology, but not necessarily directly.
For example, TikTok’s users are its direct stakeholders.
But it has some indirect stakeholders, such as:
- music artists whose music is played on TikTok
- Influencers who benefit from being on TikTok
- Schools, because students are influenced by what they view on TikTok
This video explains stakeholders in more detail, as well as other key points for making ethical technology.
Here are some things to think about as you develop your app.
- Does your app collect user data?
- Do your users know it?
- Do you have permission to collect the data?
- What steps are you taking to keep their data private?
- Is the advice or information you provide in your app accurate?
- How do you know?
APP EXAMPLE
Imagine a mobile app called the Weed Detector that predicts if a plant is a weed or not. Let’s step through what you would consider regarding ethics with the Weed Detector app.
Make sure the dataset is representative of the objects being classified.
Data should reflect the population on which the app is being used. If your data has bias, the AI model used in the app might make mistakes.
What if the dataset only contains images of weeds found in the desert?
If we use the app on plants found near water, it probably won’t work, because it wasn’t trained using images of those types of plants.
The app has a bias for desert plants!
Think about each decision you will code your app to make.
Are there any decisions it could make that you did not originally intend?
What if the Weed Detector identifies a tomato plant as a weed? That could negatively impact people who were planning to eat it and insects in the garden.
Can you tell which of these plants is a weed? What would you do if you weren’t sure?
Maybe the app collects data about the locations of peoples’ homes when they use the app in their garden. It might share sensitive information about the location of peoples’ homes – that is a problem!
The information your app shares must be carefully considered. Users should trust your project to respect their information and not misuse it. How would you feel if a stranger somehow knew your secrets?
As developers, we bear responsibility for how our technology interacts with people and we should always be mindful of the potential impact our inventions can have.
ACTIVITY: ETHICAL JOURNEY
Ensure your app has only positive impact
- Identify who your stakeholders are, both direct and indirect.
- Follow the flowchart of questions, and check that you are doing everything you can to make your project have only positive impact.
REFLECTION
Now that you have learned more about ethics and your part in making sure your project has only positive impact, consider these questions:
REVIEW OF KEY TERMS
- Ethics – set of moral principles that affect how people decide what’s right or wrong
- Bias – preconceived ideas somebody has that are often unfair to some people or groups
- Stakeholders – people or entities that will affect or be affected by decision or actions take by an organization or business
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Here are more videos on ethics and positive impact in technology.
Good commentary on why it’s important to consider the impact of technology you create.
The Gender Shades Project promotes inclusive product testing for AI.
