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EECS 690

EECS 690. March 26. “Engineering Activism”. What Nissenbaum calls the process of identifying and discussing the values implicit in all engineering projects, be they “toys, video games, and sewage plants”.

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EECS 690

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  1. EECS 690 March 26

  2. “Engineering Activism” • What Nissenbaum calls the process of identifying and discussing the values implicit in all engineering projects, be they “toys, video games, and sewage plants”. • “Systems and devices will embody values whether or not humans want them to. To ignore values in technology is to risk surrendering their determination to chance or to some other force.” (p.39)

  3. Problematic Aspects According to Friedman and Kahn, DSTs may erode human responsibility DSTs may discourage human critical thinking. A system intended to have low autonomy can slowly become a system with a great deal of de facto autonomy (p.40-41) Positive Aspects APACHE (for example) has led to quantifiable improvements in patient care outcomes and in medical costs. It is an empirical matter whether any autonomy is eroded. Decision Support Tools

  4. Limiting the Application of DSTs • Medical science works as well as it does because human bodies are largely alike in their biology. APACHE contains a database of how certain classes of patients respond to certain kinds of treatments, and how fast they respond, etc. Finding statistical norms about peoples’ bodies seems practical and eminently scientific. • However, the NIH program designed to predict the preferences of terminally ill patients relies on average preferences. Might those outside the average have valid personal reasons for their preferences? Relying on statistical norms concerning preferences seems heavy-handed overly conformist.

  5. Honesty and Anthropomorphism • It is startlingly easy and natural for people to anthropomorphize things that bear no real resemblance to human beings. • On one hand, incorporating human-like capabilities can make devices more “user-friendly”. • On the other hand, such exploitation of human psychology could be dishonest and destructive. F&K even pint out that explicit training about the limitations of such intelligent systems is necessary to avoid harms that could result due to misunderstanding of the capabilities if such systems.

  6. The Heider and Simmel Studies • These studies demonstrated how pervasive a psychological habit anthropomorphism is.

  7. The Uncanny Valley (Masahiro Mori) • The uncanny valley is a theoretical concept with some studied evidence to support it. • Additional empirical questions: • Is this culturally variable? • Does this change over time? • To what extent is this universal or normable? • Does this effect encompass behavior or appearance only?

  8. Machines and Social Interaction • Wallach and Allen relay the work of Sherry Turkle, who studied emotional interactions between robotic toy dolls and nursing home patients. • Are social robots an acceptable alternative to human interaction? • Given other concerns, are they better than nothing? • Is this an instance of a technology allowing people to abrogate their moral duties?

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