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ITECH 3203 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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Assessment 2: Ethics Assignment
Task
Chat Bots: merging the digital and physical worlds
Overview
The purpose of this task is to encourage students to explore a variety of ethical theories and apply them to a
contemporary ethical issue in an area of social computing.
Timelines and Expectations
Percentage Value of Task: 20% (35 marks)
Due: Week 7 – Friday 16:00 pm
Minimum time expectation: This task will take approximately 20 hours to complete.
Learning Outcomes Assessed
The following learning outcomes for ITECH 3203 are assessed by completing this assessment: K1,
K2, S3, and A2.
Assessment Details
Background
HBO’s popular Westworld series has introduced a recu
ing response about chatbot ethics to those questioning
who’s real and who’s a robot in the near future: “If you have to ask, does it matter?”
If the response to Google Duplex is something to go by, the answer is a resounding yes. Shortly after Google
made their impressive demo of the product, tech professionals and everyday people alike expressed wo
y about
the AI’s failure to disclose that it wasn’t a human.
Not only did Google withhold the fact that it was a bot to the person on the other line. The primary issue was that
the AI was deceptive by using speech disfluencies like “hmm” and “um” to appear human. A reality in which
humans and bots are indistinguishable is a common theme of dystopian sci-fi flicks. That clearly isn’t an issue
that people want to wrestle with in their daily lives. Duplex’s reveal—and Google’s quick response to promise the
ot will disclose its status as an AI—is a high-profile case study in the messy ethical questions that come with the
development of AI that other businesses should learn from.
Source: Wikipedia (2018), Can A Bot Be Moral? Why Chatbot Ethics Matter,
https:
otanalytics.co
log/2018/10/22/can-bot-moral-chatbot-ethics-matte
, last accessed 1 March 2019.
Chatbots offer opportunities to enhance business efficiencies and service effectiveness, and also to improve
quality of life, indirectly and directly. However, numerous ethical, social and legal issues arise from the use of
these technologies will increase as they become more prevalent.
ITECH 3203 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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Requirements
Students are required to undertake an ethical analysis of issues associated with chatbot uses and further consider
the issues from a software developer, business or government context. Students will prepare a business style
eport of approximately 2000 words, which analyses companion through the lens of each of the FOUR (4) ethical
philosophies presented in lectures, and ONE (1) element selected from the Australian Computer Society’s (ACS)
code of ethics.
When analysing chatbots, consider ONE (1) of the following ethical questions:
What are the implications of a growing trend of interconnectivity for security and safety?
What are the potential implications of chatbot for notions of privacy and personal relationships?
What are the potential implications of chatbot for intellectual property rights?
Do perceived societal costs outweigh benefits associated with chatbots implementation?
Another issue to be approved by course lecturer and/or tutor.
For assistance in report writing techniques, see: http:
unilearning.uow.edu.au
eport/4b.html
A suggested report structure is as follows.
title page
executive summary
table of contents
introduction
ethical analysis of companion robots
o utilitarianism
o deontology
o social contract
o character based
o ACS code of ethics
conclusion
references
appendices
The introduction section should provide context and background on the issue of chatbot implementation. It should
clearly indicate the dilemma being discussed and provide an overview of how you propose to address the problem
and proposed solution(s).
The body section of the report should contain a
ief overview of each of the four ethical theories, and the ACS
code of ethics. It should include a discussion and proposed solution for the dilemma, from each of the four ethical
theoretical viewpoints, and the ACS code of ethics. The discussion should show an analysis and synthesis of
esearch undertaken and your own ideas.
Writing should be validated with concepts from other people’s work. Gather these references from various sources
such as the Internet, assigned text books and readings etc. For assistance with in-text referencing and formatting
your reference list in APA format.
Background Reading
Bethel, L., et al (2011). “Secret-sharing: Interactions between a child, robot, and adult”. 2011 IEEE International
Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Anchorage AK USA, 9-12 Oct 2011.
Fe
ara, E., et al (2016). “The rise of social bots”. Communications of the ACM, 59(7):96-104.
Følstad A. & Brandtzæg P.B. (2017). "Chatbots and the new world of HCI". Interactions, 44(4):38-42.
ITECH 3203 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
CRICOS Provider No. 00103D 2 itech 3203 ethics assign XXXXXXXXXXPage 3 of 4
Thieltges, A., et al (2016). “The Devil’s Triangle: Ethical Considerations on Developing Bot Detection Methods”.
2016 AAAI Spring Symposium Series.
https:
www.aaai.org/ocs/index.php/SSS/SSS16/pape
download/12696/11960, last accessed: 1 March 2019.
Turnbull, A. (2018). "Teaching chatbots how to do the right thing". http:
theconversation.com/teaching-chatbots-
how-to-do-the-right-thing XXXXXXXXXXPublished: 29 March 2018, last accessed: 1 March 2019.
Submission
This task will be marked by the course lecturer and/or tutors. Students will be required to submit an electronic copy
of their report in docx or pdf format via Moodle.
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Marking Criteria/Ru
ic
Criteria Marking Scale
Poor Excellent
1 ......... XXXXXXXXXX5
Outline of theory, discussion and application of utilitarianism
Outline of theory, discussion and application of deontology
Outline of theory, discussion and application of social contract
Outline of theory, discussion and application of character
ased
Outline of ACS code of ethics, discussion and application of
code
Quality of academic writing
Referencing and bibliography
Total [35 marks]
Total Worth [20%]
Feedback
Feedback and marks will be provided in Moodle. Marks will also be available in FDL Marks.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is the presentation of the expressed thought or work of another person as though it is one's own without
properly acknowledging that person. You must not allow other students to copy your work and must take care to
safeguard against this happening. More information about the plagiarism policy and procedure for the university
can be found at http:
federation.edu.au/students/learning-and-study/online-help-with/plagiarism
Please refer to the Course Description for information regarding late assignments, extensions, and special
consideration. A reminder all academic regulations can be accessed via the university’s website, see:
http:
federation.edu.au/staff/governance/legal/feduni-legislation