Launching into Computer Science

Computing as a Profession – Responsibilities and Challenges

Unit 1

Founded in 1998, Google Inc. has become one of the world's most recognized technology companies. Its core service, the Google search engine, is used by millions of people to find documents on the World Wide Web. In addition, Google provides electronic mail service (called Gmail), an Internet based video sharing service (called YouTube), and a host of other Internet services (including Google Maps, Google Calendar, Google Earth, Google Books, and Google Translate).
However, in addition to being a prime example of the entrepreneurial spirit, Google also provides examples of how expanding technology is challenging society. For example, Google's search engine has led to questions regarding the extent to which an international company should comply with the wishes of individual governments; YouTube has raised questions regarding the extent to which a company should be liable for information that others distribute through its services as well as the degree to which the company can claim ownership of that information; Google Books has generated concerns regarding the scope and limitations of intellectual property rights; and Google Maps has been accused of violating privacy rights
by Brookshear and Brylow (2018)

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Outcomes

  • Summary of the learning outcomes

This unit aims to:

  • Appreciate the roles and responsibilities of computer professionals
  • Examine the various challenges and threats a computer professional may deal with
  • Apply the professional ethics and code of conduct in computing practices

  • Reflection

What exactly have I learnt and how?

After reading the rules for the protection of personal data inside and outside the EU (GDPR) and a Code of Conduct for Computing Professionals, I realized the importance of handling data and the importance of ethics in computer science in many activities.
I conluded that a code of conduct is a significant help to protect yourself from severe consequences in handling and protecting personal data. In addition, training on the code and conduct should be a must for an IT professional.

  • Notes

Notes from the elaboration of the unit, various meetings, and feedback from team members and tutors

Feedback from the tutor on the "new challenges" discussion
    Hi Gianluca,
    Thought it would be good reading for you. See attached file.
  • AR

Feedback from a student on the "new challenges" discussion
Hello Gianluca,
Media Informatics seems to be a fascinating subject, Virtual / Augmented reality is the new emerging technology, and seems to follow a similar trend to Artificial Intelligence. I agree with the challenges that you proposed, there are many debates and raised questions regarding ethical concerns with Virtual Reality, whether to apply real world rules to the virtual reality world or not, (Pan, 2020). It sure is an interesting topic to look at.
References:
Xueni Pan. (2020) The Ethics of Realism in Virtual and Augmented Reality. Front. Virtual Real. DOI: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frvir.2020.00001/full

Reply to a student on discussion topic: Computer Science Role and Challenges Discussion - Artificial Intelligence
The student wants to pursue the field of Artificial Intelligence; it has always been an exciting field. AI can support people doing repetitive tasks by imitating how humans function. Using algorithms, it can be trained and function like how a person does to achieve many results. This technology is evolving daily, which is very interesting, seeing how far AI can reach and the extent of its capability. With that said, there are many challenges within AI. First of all, the ethics concerning AI and the moral principles, AI should continually be monitored as mistakes occur, some of which can be devastating. Second, AI is still developing and in its early maturity stage; it would require a lot of development for AI to thoroughly and adequately replicate humans. One final challenge is that AI needs a vast amount of data that can be used to train and build algorithms properly, and this data can be a challenge to retrieve on a large scale.
- Post by Gianluca Cannone:
I also agree that AI has enormous potential in the future. It is inspiring which technologies you can develop with AI; however, as you state, you have to face many challenges until it is accessible for everybody. The biggest question is: Can you rely on an AI program that takes the responsibility to decide? The European Commission provide a fundamental approach to this issue. The data protection rules call for extraordinary transparency for automated decisions (European Commission, 2019).
References:
European Commission (2019) Data protection rules as a trust-enabler in the EU and beyond – taking stock. (COM/2019/374). Available from: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2019:374:FIN [Accessed 13 March 2022].
- Reply to Gianluca Cannnone from the student:
Hi Gianluca,
Relying on AI has always been a critical, ethically discussed topic. I believe the decision making part has always required human intervention, especially if it could impact.
Thanks for providing the reference as well!

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