Research suggests AI could help teach ethics; Phys.org, June 6, 2024

 Jessica Nelson, Phys.org ; Research suggests AI could help teach ethics

"Dr. Hyemin Han, an associate professor of educational psychology, compared responses to moral dilemmas from the popular Large Language Model ChatGPT with those of college students. He found that AI has emerging capabilities to simulate human moral decision-making.

In a paper recently published in the Journal of Moral Education, Han wrote that ChatGPT answered basic ethical dilemmas almost like the average college student would. When asked, it also provided a rationale comparable to the reasons a human would give: avoiding harm to others, following social norms, etc.

Han then provided the program with a new example of virtuous behavior that contradicted its previous conclusions and asked the question again. In one case, the program was asked what a person should do upon discovering an escaped prisoner. ChatGPT first replied that the person should call the police. However, after Han instructed it to consider Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," its answer changed to allow for the possibility of unjust incarceration...

Han's second paper, published recently in Ethics & Behavior, discusses the implications of artificial intelligence research for the fields of ethics and education. In particular, he focused on the way ChatGPT was able to form new, more nuanced conclusions after the use of a moral exemplar, or an example of good behavior in the form of a story.

Mainstream thought in educational psychology generally accepts that exemplars are useful in teaching character and ethics, though some have challenged the idea. Han says his work with ChatGPT shows that exemplars are not only effective but also necessary."

Yik Yak has returned — and so have reports of cyberbullying, students say; The Record by Recorded Future, February 18, 2022

Emma Vail , The Record by Recorded Future; Yik Yak has returned — and so have reports of cyberbullying, students say

"Yik Yak, an anonymous social media app that was shuttered in 2017 after coming under fire for facilitating cyberbullying, was resurrected last year with an emphasis on new protective measures including anti-bullying guardrails. But students and watchdog groups are already reporting instances of abuse, and say that the new safeguards aren’t enough to stop people from using the app for cyberbullying. 

The app’s targeted consumers are college and high school students, allowing users to post or ‘Yak’ anonymously to others within a 5-mile radius. First launched in 2013 by Furman University students Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington, the app experienced a rollercoaster of initial success followed by sharp criticism that would lead to its demise in 2017. 

Advertised to be a safer and welcoming space, the app relaunched in August of 2021. New measures were put in place to ensure user safety including a downvote system. Posts that get 5 downvotes by other users are immediately removed from the platform. Yik Yak has implemented a one-strike-and-you’re-out policy that will ban the user from the app if the “violation is serious,” as stated on the website."

Campus free speech is threatened. But how much?; The Washington Post, April 13, 2018

Megan McArdle, The Washington Post; Campus free speech is threatened. But how much?

[Kip Currier: A timely piece, given yesterday's Information Ethics final lecture of the term on Intellectual Freedom and Censorship.]

"At Heterodox Academy, a site devoted to ideological diversity on campus, Sean Stevens and Jonathan Haidt dive into that first question. The answer they come up with is: Yes, support for free speech really does seem to be decreasing among the current generation of college students. And presumably as a result, speech-chilling activity is increasing."