Course Description for CSC 199/299:
Social Implications of Computing
Spring 2013
Computers and the Internet, perhaps more than any other technology, have
transformed society over the past 50 years. In developed nations, at
least, they have enabled dramatic increases in human productivity; an
explosion of options for news, entertainment, and communication; and
fundamental breakthroughs in almost every branch of science and
engineering. At the same time, they have contributed to unprecedented
threats to privacy; whole new categories of crime and anti-social
behavior; major disruptions in the job market; and the large-scale
concentration of risk into systems capable of catastrophic failure. In
this discussion- and writing-oriented class, we will consider all of
this and more, with the goal of better understanding how to shape
technological change in ways that maximize the benefits and minimize the
costs.
The exact topics to be covered will depend in large part on the interests
of students enrolled. Possibilities include:
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access:
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the “digital divide”;
Internet neutrality
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privacy and freedom of speech:
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data mining;
social networks;
electronic footprints;
monitoring and surveillance;
anonymity;
the Patriot Act;
government access to / control over Internet traffic
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cyber crime and risks:
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theft (of money; IP);
kiddie porn;
predation;
Internet gambling;
spam;
phishing;
electronic voting
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intellectual property:
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software patents; copyright;
music sharing;
digital rights management;
the Digital Millenium Copyright Act;
open source
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environmental impact and sustainability:
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energy and water use in server clusters;
planned obsolescence;
recycling;
use of toxic materials;
climate modeling
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the job market:
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technological displacement;
off-shoreing;
employee monitoring;
death of newspapers;
books?
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education:
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classroom technology;
the end of the lecture;
massive open online courses (MOOCs)
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risk concentration:
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medical records;
fly-by-wire, etc.;
nuclear power;
computerized warfare
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opportunities:
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smart grid (electric power distribution);
modeling
(climate,
genomics,
pharmacology, etc.);
resource prospecting;
AI;
assistive technology;
“digital democracy”
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choices & ethics:
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professional conduct;
which technologies?
We’ll also be watching the news; class discussion may be shaped by
current events.