Blog 3 - Hogden

What has most intrigued me with our recent readings and discussions is this ideal of emerging technology and how this swift evolution is highly unprecedented and will continue to unfold with consequences yet to be seen. I was most compelled by the Tavani Chapter 12 reading surrounding privacy issues as it relates to bioinformatics. Tavani states that “bioinformatics is a branch of informatics, which involves the acquisition, storage, manipulation, analyses, transmission, sharing, visualization, and simulation of information on a computer” for the purpose of investigation and application (Tavani, p. 369). He focuses much of this section upon computational genomics and the deCODE Genetics Inc. scenario, which purely focuses upon “genetic/genomic information” and the idea of data mining (Tavani, p. 369). I was most intrigued by the concept of patient consent and how the deCODE scenario was able to manipulate the language of consents from the contributing individuals to allow for them utilize the information as needed.

Security and privacy have been reoccurring themes during our weekly discussions. Here with bioinformatics we are introduced to technology that will change modern medicine as we know it, and yet the infancy of this triumphant technology will likely leave many patients vulnerable to unknown forces. Consider the recent US push toward electronic medical records. The vision for this effort is pure; it desires to improve patient care by providing an interconnected medical record accessible by any participating institution at any time. An Emergency Room can instantly access a primary care physician office record to reveal the patients medications, recent EKG’s, family history and so on. While this may seem like an invaluable tool, I see endless issues with this ease of accessibility. We learned from our discussion regarding anonymous about the ease that copycats can manipulate information for the purpose of hacking or cracking institutional infrastructures for their own intrinsic desires. What if health insurance companies opted to covertly access the records of potential enrollees or their family members to determine the risk involved with insuring that individual? Or, what if the government used these systems to access nondescript information such as benign demographics and diagnoses to compile a disease database without proper consent from individuals? The former could impose great harm to an individual while the later, in a more anonymous fashion, could provide the foundation for a health care revolution. How can we truly have faith that neither will happen? While laws such as HIPAA provide a veil of security the ability to compromise any such system remains. If anonymous can shut down major credit card companies and snoop around the Pentagon’s system, then I am quite certain that someone with much less technological prowess has the capacity to penetrate a small rural hospital with their new IT equipment and electronic medical record system.

This topic is most compelling to me as I work within the health care field for a system with has an electronic medical record. The concepts we have explored over the weeks that have revealed the vulnerability of even the most seemingly fortified technological infrastructures is staggering to me. We are converging upon an era where our more sensitive and private information is going digital, yet the fate of the true integrity these electronic medical record systems remain to be seen.

Blog #3

These last four weeks of class assignments have ran from exploring deep within your own identity and how you present yourself online to realms almost unimaginably far outside your own being and how this artificial intelligence is evolving and becoming more and more complex. What a lot of ground to cover! I feel as though I am still absorbing all of the information we have been presented, and it may take me weeks after class is done to keep realizing some of the meanings we have uncovered and possibilities of some of the cutting edge technologies such as Sixth Sense.

In Turkle’s Life on the Screen, she says we are reconstructing ourselves and our identities online. That, “this reconstruction is our cultural work in progress” (Turkle, 177). That is interesting; especially as we learned so many people intentionally or unintentionally misrepresent themselves in the virtual world. When looking back, will the exploration of our cultural history online show an accurate representation of who we are and what we were accomplishing during this period in time? It appears we need dedicated Digital Anthropologists to explore these facets of society to a greater degree, as they are growing and occurring, as opposed to anthropologists specializing in online societies.

As we are reconstructing ourselves online, we are seemingly doing so offline as well. Several people have mentioned Military Robots and the future of war, but it really is exciting and frightening as well as eye opening to see these weapons being created when they seemed like unachievable science fiction just a few years ago. Both the military robotics and the interactive technology of Sixth Sense are ways to try to create a better, more informed, less delicate us.

We are constantly striving to update and become enhanced, but usually fall into the same mistake of trying to do so by creating robotics with better sensors, or finding an algorithm to solve conundrums, instead of performing the really hard work of being better humans. When we discussed cross cultural and intercultural ethics, I believe we really began exploring the human interactions that are necessary to become more cosmopolitan. It is possible, and for the most part, global digital citizens are working together to solve some pretty hefty problems. But when we are still at a point that the coolest technologies are made for warfare and our children don’t always see the ethical problems that arise from not being real in the digital societies they are growing up in, we still have an uphill climb.

Mistry, Pranav, auth. "Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology." TED Talks. TED Conferences, LLC, NOV 2009. web. 2 Dec

Singer, PW, auth. "PW Singer on military robots and the future of war." TED Talks. TED Conferences, LLC, Apr 2009. web. 2 Dec 2011.

Turkle, Sherry. Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. New York: Simon & Schuster, 177-209. Print.

Michael Starks - Blog #3

Being a fan of democracy, I followed the uprisings of Arab Spring rather closely. It felt good to see what I believed to be a legitimate revolt against a tyrannical government. The readings during week 9 changed my perspective. As the Egyptians are beginning to riot once again because of political unrest, I am forced to re-think things. Were the Arab Spring uprisings a child of the digital divide? Since the majority of citizens in those countries do not have Internet access, were a select few pulling the strings of discord; manipulating the rest of the world into believing that their revolt was a good thing? When we examine online identity in conjunction with the digital divide, questions begin to arise from the ether. Are these online identities simply the alter ego of a person or persons trying to change their society as their ethical beliefs see fit? Only time will tell.

Perhaps we, as a people, need to step back a few feet and try to understand others a little better. I do not generally philosophize about things, but this class has changed my way of thinking as of late. I am starting to see that conflict is not created out of hate; conflict is created from a lack of understanding for one another. The cosmopolitan views of Kwame Anthony Appiah illustrated this quite clearly for me. If more societies, countries, and most importantly people would just take the time to understand the "enemy", we just might find the cohesion the world is so desperately seeking.

We all view artificial intelligence with fascination and awe. Why is this? What do we gain from artificial intelligence? Before this class, I was one of those people who thought artificial intelligence is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Now I am having second thoughts. The mere thought of machines thinking and acting for themselves just to make our lives easier makes me cringe. Pranav Mistry expressed that technology will allow us to become more human; this disturbs me. How can we become more human when we rely more and more on artificial intelligence to guide us? At what point will we cease thinking for ourselves and let the machines take over? The movie Terminator may be more real that we could ever imagine.

As this class slowly comes to a close, I have learned more about my own ethical beliefs than I would have ever thought possible. Whoever coined the phrase, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" was very wrong.

Blog Entry 3

For the third and final blog I will be discussing weeks nine through thirteen.  In week nine we discussed online identity and what people choose to display online.  There are many different ways to display yourself online and some people choose to not display who they really are instead they might display someone that they would like to be. Turkle states, “Why are we doing this?” (p.180) That is an excellent question because why would we do that? I think we should show people who we really are and not try to pretend to be someone. Turkle asks many good questions and some of them simply cannot be answered because everyone is different.  I also learned how other people feel on the topic and how they choose to identify themselves on the Internet.  It seems to me that most people prefer to display themselves and don’t try to display another person.

One video that I watched during week 11 was the P.W. Singer video about military robotics. This video explained a lot about what we would do differently if we had robots going into war instead of humans. Would we take more risks? Would we become more effective? Many questions that need to be answered but we will have to wait because we aren’t sending more robots than humans into war.  It seems to be that robotics will be the future of war. There are many pros and cons about this subject, whether it would be for the better of the country or for the worse.  The pro that stands out to P.W Singer is that they wouldn’t have to tell family and friends about a solider dying out in battle.  That alone I feel would be something very important to limit human casualties.

Another topic that was brought up was if robotics would change the ethical nature of war.  I believe that they would change the ethical nature of war in many ways. The one example I think of is, if we have a dangerous mission to complete. Sending a robot into the mission instead of the human would be less dangerous and we wouldn’t be risking a human life or lives.  With the robot having no feelings it would be easier to send a robot into a mission instead of a human.

My last question is, will robotics be the future of war and will the United States invest in going this path? If they do choose to take this path then the ethical nature of war will be much different then what it is now. 

Blog 3

For the third and final blog post I am at the material that has been covered during weeks nine and thirteen. Throughout the four weeks one video really engaged me and that was P.W. Singer’s Military Robots and the Future of War. I guess I never really thought about the ethical nature of how robotic warfare really fell into place. I just always see it as a mind blowing technological advancement that keeps armed forces safe; but never stopped to think about the man behind the machine. One quote that really stuck out to me in P.W. Singer’s video was “…robotics… also changed the experience of the warrior and even the very identity of the warrior. Another way of putting this is mankind’s five thousand year old monopoly on the fighting of war is breaking down in our life time” (Singer). Robotics has really changed the entire battle field and the entire tactical strategies for the modern day warrior. We consistently think of our men and women overseas being shot at (which still does happen I’m not suggesting it doesn’t), but a lot of times the people that they are protecting us from are hundreds of miles away while they can man a robot. It just astounds me.

One interesting thing that I learned from week nine was how we can track internet usage patterns and demographic statistics based on race. I find it fascinating that we can break down such a massive database of articles, news, videos, music, etc. and categorize it by what is being viewed by a specific race. The claims by Kretchmer and Karveth on page 308 in Ethics and Technology about internet usage patterns about African American user seems odd to me. I never really think of specific races being into different activities online. I just figure it’s all one big melting pot; everyone uses Facebook, checks their bank account, pays bills, and watches YouTube. I would like to see and or know how they came to a conclusion of these patterns and demographics. I re-read the chapter and couldn’t find anything pertaining to the certain scientific method behind it. I’m guessing tracking usage for a few months or years on a certain demographic in a controlled environment.

My last question to answer will be “How will you take what your learned this week into your everyday life?” I am not going to look at this specific week but the general course over all. First off this was my first ethics class so please doesn’t judge too harshly but, this course has taught me many valuable things and one of them being how to see the world as a whole from a vastly different vantage point. Most of the topics that have been covered have actually pertained quite accurately towards what I want to do in life; and that’s working with technology. People need to remain ethically sound in a rapidly changing technological environment that is full of loop holes, unmonitored actions, and little law restrictions. It is really up to the user and the population as a whole to keep technology ethically appropriate and more importantly safe for users for years to come.

Works Cited

"PW Singer on Military Robots and the Future of War | Video on TED.com." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. Apr. 2009. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. .

Tavani, Herman T. "The Digital Divide and the Transformation of Work." Ethics and Technology: Controversies, Questions, and Strategies for Ethical Computing. 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. 308-09. Print.

Reflection Blog 3

           In week these last four weeks, we have covered a wide range of topics.  From the digital divide in week 9, to identity and experience online in week 10.  In week 11, we touched on robotics and the new Sixth Sense technology, and we are finishing up with cross/intercultural ethics.  I believe that week 11 interested me the most, with regards to robotics and artificial intelligence, culminating with P.W. Singer's presentation on Military robots and the future of war.   (http://tinyurl.com/coaemf)

            I think that as a society, and world, as artificial intelligence continues to grow in our lives, we will need to develop new rules for ethics and morals.  In contrast to early readings, where we were introduced to the idea that there are no new ethical issues, I believe that with the advent of advanced robotics in combat and everyday life, we will be faced with heretofore unforeseen issues. (Tavani p. 11)  For example, in his presentation, P.W. Singer notes how the use of drones changes the face of war, and how it affects the soldiers fighting it.  To break this down further, it takes away (some, not all) the harsh gravity of some situations, and replaces them with what can almost be looked at as a video game.  Now we all know about the advent of violent video games, and how in some, players are able to rape and kill people.  This has been deemed acceptable by our society, because its "just a game."  But, I think we must consider the implications of those that are now being exposed to this as children and young adults, and think how it might affect them as they fight our wars in the future. 

            Now, I am not trying to take sides on the whole debate about whether video game violence is good or bad, and how it might make young people not understand what is acceptable or not, or how it might warp their young, malleable minds.  What I am considering though, is that someone who has played violent video games their entire life, may not take the same thoughtfulness into an armed conflict as someone who has been on an actual battlefield, and is now fighting it through the computer screen.  If you have personally experienced something, or even if you have never played a game where you killed another person, your reaction may very well differ from someone who has. 

            These considerations are why I feel that we will face new issues in morality and ethics.  Both for the unmanned, but human controlled drone, and the future autonomous killing machine.  New laws may need to be written to address who is responsible for war crimes, and how they are prosecuted.  If a semi-autonomous robot is supposed to have protocols programmed into it, to not kill civilians, and yet it allows the human operator to target civilians and kill them, who is at fault?  The operator, or the programmer?

blog 2

Over the last four weeks, we have covered the topics of
privacy and security, hackers, freedom of information and speech and the
digital divide. Tavani defines
informational privacy as privacy is defined as control over the flow of one’s
personal information, including the transfer and exchange of that information. In privacy and cyberspace, it made you realize
that no matter how many protection programs you have in place on your computer,
people can still get all the information about you they want. The government
can “sniff” and make sure what you are emailing is not a government threat. If
you look at a website and enter your email, it can be sold to millions of other
people to send you tons of junk mail. The idea of just looking at one item no
longer exists on the internet.

In the
article Anonymous, it tells us how one group can easily attack a group or
political person in just a few you tube videos. The endless streaming and back
and forth banter between the two groups, can possibly destroy one group while
gaining popularity for another.

Hacking is
another controversy and the counter hacking, was interesting. I could never
fight back against a hacker, but to know that other hackers do this almost
gives you a sense of revenge. When people hack into your information and take
it for there own personal gain is frustrating enough. Knowing that others can
fight back for you and return the “favor” and actually have moral grounds to
stand on, seemed a little double-edged.

Professional
code of conduct is something that I use each day at my job. We handle personal
health information each day. Our IT department places strong program security
programs in place to make sure nobody crashes the firewall and anti virus
programs to not only steal the information but could possibility use it to ruin
a person. Professional codes are put in
place to make sure that this does not happen. In the medial field, you have to
be willing to blow the whistle if you see someone using this information in the
wrong way. It would not be considered to me a moral responsibility but rather
professional, because we have to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

These
last four chapters made me realize that nothing I do on the computer is safe, I
can have all the protection I want and it does not even matter.