Michael Schulman, The New Yorker; Daniel Radcliffe and the Art of the Fact-Check
[Kip Currier: I saw Daniel Radcliffe on MSNBC's Morning Joe program today, talking about the debut of a new Broadway play, "The Lifespan of a Fact", in which he stars, along with Bobby Cannavale and Cherry Jones. The play's exploration of "truth" is timely and intriguing.
A bit later, I heard reporter Robert Costa on MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle discussing "disappeared" and presumably murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Koshaggi's final piece for The Washington Post, which was submitted before he was last seen and was published yesterday, with a note from his editor: "Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression". Koshaggi's observations are prescient, poignant, and thought-provoking. Costa made the excellent point that truth goes hand-in-hand with the ability to have the freedom to seek and report truth.]
"Fact: the actor Daniel Radcliffe
is currently starring in the Broadway show “The Lifespan of a Fact,” as
a magazine fact checker with an aviation inspector’s zeal for accuracy.
The play is drawn from a real-life skirmish: in 2005, Jim Fingal, an
intern at The Believer, was tasked with fact-checking an essay by John D’Agata (played by Bobby Cannavale), about a teen suicide in Las Vegas. D’Agata had more of a watercolorist’s approach to the truth. When
Fingal tried to correct his claim that Las Vegas had thirty-four
licensed strip clubs—a source indicated that it was thirty-one—D’Agata
said that he liked the “rhythm” of thirty-four. Their epistolary tussle
was expanded into a book in 2012.
Not
long ago, Radcliffe arrived at the offices of this magazine, wearing a
maroon cap and a green jacket and clutching a latte. He had come to try
his own hand at fact-checking, with the help of The New Yorker’s fact-checking department."
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression; The Washington Post, October 17, 2018
Jamal Khashoggi, The Washington Post;
I was recently online looking at the 2018 “Freedom in the World” report published by Freedom House and came to a grave realization. There is only one country in the Arab world that has been classified as “free.” That nation is Tunisia. Jordan, Morocco and Kuwait come second, with a classification of “partly free.” The rest of the countries in the Arab world are classified as “not free.”
As a result, Arabs living in these countries are either uninformed or misinformed. They are unable to adequately address, much less publicly discuss, matters that affect the region and their day-to-day lives. A state-run narrative dominates the public psyche, and while many do not believe it, a large majority of the population falls victim to this false narrative. Sadly, this situation is unlikely to change."
Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression
"A note from Karen Attiah, Global Opinions editor
I
received this column from Jamal Khashoggi’s translator and assistant
the day after Jamal was reported missing in Istanbul. The Post held off
publishing it because we hoped Jamal would come back to us so that he
and I could edit it together. Now I have to accept: That is not going to
happen. This is the last piece of his I will edit for The Post. This
column perfectly captures his commitment and passion for freedom in the
Arab world. A freedom he apparently gave his life for. I will be forever
grateful he chose The Post as his final journalistic home one year ago
and gave us the chance to work together.
I was recently online looking at the 2018 “Freedom in the World” report published by Freedom House and came to a grave realization. There is only one country in the Arab world that has been classified as “free.” That nation is Tunisia. Jordan, Morocco and Kuwait come second, with a classification of “partly free.” The rest of the countries in the Arab world are classified as “not free.”
As a result, Arabs living in these countries are either uninformed or misinformed. They are unable to adequately address, much less publicly discuss, matters that affect the region and their day-to-day lives. A state-run narrative dominates the public psyche, and while many do not believe it, a large majority of the population falls victim to this false narrative. Sadly, this situation is unlikely to change."
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Gartner picks digital ethics and privacy as a strategic trend for 2019; TechCrunch, October 16, 2018
Natasha Lomas, TechCrunch; Gartner picks digital ethics and privacy as a strategic trend for 2019
"Analyst Gartner, best known for crunching device marketshare data; charting technology hype cycles; and churning out predictive listicles
of emergent capabilities at software’s cutting edge has now put
businesses on watch that as well as dabbling in the usual crop of
nascent technologies organizations need to be thinking about wider
impacts next year — on both individuals and society.
Call it a sign of the times but digital ethics and privacy has been named as one of Gartner’s top ten strategic technology trends for 2019."
The Most Important Skills for the 4th Industrial Revolution? Try Ethics and Philosophy.; EdSurge, October 6, 2018
Tony Wan, EdSurge; The Most Important Skills for the 4th Industrial Revolution? Try Ethics and Philosophy.
"[Patrick] Awuah [founder and president of Ashesi University College in Ghana], a MacArthur Fellowship recipient, continued: “If humans are designing machines to replace humans, versus helping them get work done, then that will change the structure of humanity to something that we have never seen. I’ve not read any history books where whole societies were not working. This is why it’s so important to have history and philosophy as part of the curriculum for somebody who's being educated as an engineer.”
In the United States, increased interest in technology and computer-science related career has correlated with a precipitous drop in the proportion of humanities majors at colleges. For Goodman, that’s one of his biggest worries for the future. “We’re entering a time when schools are eliminating programs in humanities, and philosophy departments are becoming an endangered species.”
“We need to be educating people so they are productive and employable,” Awuah later added. “But we also need to be educating people so that they’re creating a society that is livable and social, where human interaction is important.”"
"[Patrick] Awuah [founder and president of Ashesi University College in Ghana], a MacArthur Fellowship recipient, continued: “If humans are designing machines to replace humans, versus helping them get work done, then that will change the structure of humanity to something that we have never seen. I’ve not read any history books where whole societies were not working. This is why it’s so important to have history and philosophy as part of the curriculum for somebody who's being educated as an engineer.”
In the United States, increased interest in technology and computer-science related career has correlated with a precipitous drop in the proportion of humanities majors at colleges. For Goodman, that’s one of his biggest worries for the future. “We’re entering a time when schools are eliminating programs in humanities, and philosophy departments are becoming an endangered species.”
“We need to be educating people so they are productive and employable,” Awuah later added. “But we also need to be educating people so that they’re creating a society that is livable and social, where human interaction is important.”"
Announcing a Competition for Ethics in Computer Science, with up to $3.5 Million in Prizes; Mozilla, October 10, 2018
Mozilla; Announcing a Competition for Ethics in Computer Science, with up to $3.5 Million in Prizes
"With great code comes great responsibility.
Today, computer scientists wield tremendous power. The code they write can be used by billions of people, and influence everything from what news stories we read, to what personal data companies collect, to who gets parole, insurance or housing loans
Software can empower democracy, heighten opportunity, and connect people continents away. But when it isn’t coupled with responsibility, the results can be drastic. In recent years, we’ve watched biased algorithms and broken recommendation engines radicalize users, promote racism, and spread misinformation.
That’s why Omidyar Network, Mozilla, Schmidt Futures, and Craig Newmark Philanthropies are launching the Responsible Computer Science Challenge: an ambitious initiative to integrate ethics and accountability into undergraduate computer science curricula and pedagogy at U.S. colleges and universities, with up to $3.5 million in prizes."
"With great code comes great responsibility.
Today, computer scientists wield tremendous power. The code they write can be used by billions of people, and influence everything from what news stories we read, to what personal data companies collect, to who gets parole, insurance or housing loans
Software can empower democracy, heighten opportunity, and connect people continents away. But when it isn’t coupled with responsibility, the results can be drastic. In recent years, we’ve watched biased algorithms and broken recommendation engines radicalize users, promote racism, and spread misinformation.
That’s why Omidyar Network, Mozilla, Schmidt Futures, and Craig Newmark Philanthropies are launching the Responsible Computer Science Challenge: an ambitious initiative to integrate ethics and accountability into undergraduate computer science curricula and pedagogy at U.S. colleges and universities, with up to $3.5 million in prizes."
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Do We Need To Teach Ethics And Empathy To Data Scientists?; Forbes, October 8, 2018
Kalev Leetaru, Forbes; Do We Need To Teach Ethics And Empathy To Data Scientists?
[Kip Currier: A thought-provoking and timely piece, especially as I'm presently writing a chapter on research ethics for my ethics textbook and was just reviewing and thinking about the history of informed consent and Institutional Review Boards-cum-Human-Research-Protection-Offices. Medical ethics lapses like those involving Henrietta Lacks and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study are potent reminders of the concomitant imperative for ethics oversight and informed consent vis-a-vis digital age research.]
"The growing shift away from ethics and empathy in the creation of our digital future is both profoundly frightening for the Orwellian world it is ushering in, but also a sad commentary on the academic world that trains the data scientists and programmers that are shifting the online world away from privacy. How might the web change if we taught ethics and empathy as primary components of computer science curriculums?
One of the most frightening aspects of the modern web is the speed at which it has struck down decades of legislation and professional norms regarding personal privacy and the ethics of turning ordinary citizens into laboratory rats to be experimented on against their wills. In the space of just two decades the online world has weaponized personalization and data brokering, stripped away the last vestiges of privacy, centralized control over the world’s information and communications channels, changed the public’s understanding of the right over their digital selves and profoundly reshaped how the scholarly world views research ethics, informed consent and the right to opt out of being turned into a digital guinea pig.
It is the latter which in many ways has driven each of the former changes. Academia’s changing views towards IRB and ethical review has produced a new generation of programmers and data scientists who view research ethics as merely an outdated obsolete historical relic that was an obnoxious barrier preventing them from doing as they pleased to an unsuspecting public."
[Kip Currier: A thought-provoking and timely piece, especially as I'm presently writing a chapter on research ethics for my ethics textbook and was just reviewing and thinking about the history of informed consent and Institutional Review Boards-cum-Human-Research-Protection-Offices. Medical ethics lapses like those involving Henrietta Lacks and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study are potent reminders of the concomitant imperative for ethics oversight and informed consent vis-a-vis digital age research.]
"The growing shift away from ethics and empathy in the creation of our digital future is both profoundly frightening for the Orwellian world it is ushering in, but also a sad commentary on the academic world that trains the data scientists and programmers that are shifting the online world away from privacy. How might the web change if we taught ethics and empathy as primary components of computer science curriculums?
One of the most frightening aspects of the modern web is the speed at which it has struck down decades of legislation and professional norms regarding personal privacy and the ethics of turning ordinary citizens into laboratory rats to be experimented on against their wills. In the space of just two decades the online world has weaponized personalization and data brokering, stripped away the last vestiges of privacy, centralized control over the world’s information and communications channels, changed the public’s understanding of the right over their digital selves and profoundly reshaped how the scholarly world views research ethics, informed consent and the right to opt out of being turned into a digital guinea pig.
It is the latter which in many ways has driven each of the former changes. Academia’s changing views towards IRB and ethical review has produced a new generation of programmers and data scientists who view research ethics as merely an outdated obsolete historical relic that was an obnoxious barrier preventing them from doing as they pleased to an unsuspecting public."
Matthew Shepard, whose 1998 murder became a symbol for the gay rights movement, will be interred at Washington National Cathedral; The Washington Post, October 11, 2018
Michelle Boorstein, The Washington Post; Matthew
Shepard, whose 1998 murder became a symbol for the gay rights movement,
will be interred at Washington National Cathedral
But now with the anniversary of their son’s murder approaching on Friday, the Shepards have decided to inter his remains inside the crypt at Washington National Cathedral, where gay-equality activists say they can be a prominent symbol and even a pilgrimage destination for the movement. Although the cause of LGBT equality has made historic advancements since Shepherd was killed, it remains divisive in many parts of a country reembracing tribalism of all kinds.
The 1998 killing of Shepard, a University of Wyoming student, by two young men in a remote area east of Laramie, Wyo., was so horrific that his name is on the federal law against bias crimes directed at LGBT people."
[Kip
Currier: A powerful story, particularly appropos today on National Coming Out
Day (see here and here), affirming every human being's right to dignity, respect, and
equality.]
"When Matthew Shepard died on a cold night 20 years
ago, after being beaten with a pistol butt and tied to a split-rail wood
fence, his parents cremated the 21-year-old and kept his ashes, for
fear of drawing attention to a resting place of a person who was a
victim of one of the nation’s worst anti-gay hate crimes.
But now with the anniversary of their son’s murder approaching on Friday, the Shepards have decided to inter his remains inside the crypt at Washington National Cathedral, where gay-equality activists say they can be a prominent symbol and even a pilgrimage destination for the movement. Although the cause of LGBT equality has made historic advancements since Shepherd was killed, it remains divisive in many parts of a country reembracing tribalism of all kinds.
The 1998 killing of Shepard, a University of Wyoming student, by two young men in a remote area east of Laramie, Wyo., was so horrific that his name is on the federal law against bias crimes directed at LGBT people."
Research ethics: are we minimizing harm or maximizing bureaucracy?; University Affairs/Affaires Universitaires, October 8, 2018
Karen Robson and Reana Maier, University Affairs/Affaires Universitaires; Research ethics: are we minimizing harm or maximizing bureaucracy?
"Researchers working with human subjects in North America and beyond are very familiar with ethics protocols required by institutions of higher education, protocols rightly put in place to minimize harm to research participants.
In Canada, individual higher education institutions have ethical jurisdiction over the research conducted within their walls and by their employees, although these operations are guided by the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS). First published in 1998 by the three main federal research funding agencies, the TCPS requires that all university research involving human subjects be approved by a research ethics board (REB) and outlines the principles to be upheld in assessing the ethical merits of an application, though no standardized process of application or evaluation is given. It is understandable that universities, following the TCPS, want to put steps in place to minimize the harm researchers may cause to potential participants.
In recent years, however, the Canadian ethics process seems to have become more of an exercise in bureaucracy than a reasonable examination of the harm posed by research, and we fear this process will prevent actual research from occurring...
We are obviously not arguing against the existence of ethics protocols or REBs, but we believe that ethics sprawl is discouraging researchers rather than protecting participants. The fetishization of rules and bureaucratic process in ethics review and a blanket worst-case scenario approach is a drain on researchers’ time and resources in return for – what? Do we have any evidence that this level of procedural minutiae is providing improved protection of research participants or preventing unethical research? We might want to consider taking a page from our colleagues south of the border: the National Science Foundation has, as of 2017, abolished the need for institutional research board ethical approval on all projects deemed “low risk.”"
"Researchers working with human subjects in North America and beyond are very familiar with ethics protocols required by institutions of higher education, protocols rightly put in place to minimize harm to research participants.
In Canada, individual higher education institutions have ethical jurisdiction over the research conducted within their walls and by their employees, although these operations are guided by the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS). First published in 1998 by the three main federal research funding agencies, the TCPS requires that all university research involving human subjects be approved by a research ethics board (REB) and outlines the principles to be upheld in assessing the ethical merits of an application, though no standardized process of application or evaluation is given. It is understandable that universities, following the TCPS, want to put steps in place to minimize the harm researchers may cause to potential participants.
In recent years, however, the Canadian ethics process seems to have become more of an exercise in bureaucracy than a reasonable examination of the harm posed by research, and we fear this process will prevent actual research from occurring...
We are obviously not arguing against the existence of ethics protocols or REBs, but we believe that ethics sprawl is discouraging researchers rather than protecting participants. The fetishization of rules and bureaucratic process in ethics review and a blanket worst-case scenario approach is a drain on researchers’ time and resources in return for – what? Do we have any evidence that this level of procedural minutiae is providing improved protection of research participants or preventing unethical research? We might want to consider taking a page from our colleagues south of the border: the National Science Foundation has, as of 2017, abolished the need for institutional research board ethical approval on all projects deemed “low risk.”"
The founder of Craigslist is funding a competition to make computer science more ethical; Quartz, October 10, 2018
Simone Stolzoff, Quartz; The founder of Craigslist is funding a competition to make computer science more ethical
"What have you been doing to help promote democracy recently?
Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist, has certainly been doing his part.
His invention may have helped decimate classified-advertising revenue
for print newspapers, but last month, he gave $20 million to a team of
experienced journalists to investigate the power of Big Tech. In June, he gave $20 million to the CUNY journalism program,
so the next generation of journalists can do the same. And today (Oct.
10), he announced he’s helping to fund a new competition called The Responsible Computer Science Challenge to incorporate more ethical training into undergraduate computer science curricula.
The
initiative, which was incubated by Omidyar Network, and is also backed
by Mozilla, and Schmidt Futures, is soliciting proposals from professors
and graduate students about how to make ethics a central part of a
software engineer’s education. A panel of independent judges will award
up to $3.5 million in prizes to the winners.
The competition couldn’t come at a better time."
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Canadian Medical Association leaves international group after president plagiarizes past president’s speech; Retraction Watch, October 8, 2018
Retraction Watch; Canadian Medical Association leaves international group after president plagiarizes past president’s speech
[Kip Currier: Quick question: How do you know if the scientific papers you're reading, and perhaps relying upon, represent "good" science or have been discredited? Enter Retraction Watch.
While working on a Research Misconduct chapter for my ethics textbook, I was reminded of Retraction Watch from one of my Information Ethics course's lectures. Retraction Watch is a project of its parent organization, The Center for Scientific Integrity, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, supported by grants like the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
The Mission of The Center for Scientific Integrity is "to promote transparency and integrity in science and scientific publishing, and to disseminate best practices and increase efficiency in science."
One of the Center's 4 goals is a freely accessible "database of retractions, expressions of concern and related publishing events, generated by the work of Retraction Watch."
Exploring some of the content areas on the Retraction Watch site, I was enticed to check out the so-called "Retraction Watch Leaderboard"--billed by Retraction Watch as their "unofficial list" ranking individuals by the number of papers that have been retracted. Not a list one wants to make! An interesting gender-based observation by Retraction Watch, which bears further study and elucidation:
Another good-to-know-about section of Retraction Watch is its "Top 10 Most Highly Cited Retracted Papers"...Here's looking at you, Andrew Wakefield--still "in the house", presently at #2, for your 1998 invalidated autism/vaccines paper co-authored with 12 other researchers (!), not retracted until 12 years later in 2010 (!), and, as of October 9, 2018, cited 499 times after retraction (!):
While working on a Research Misconduct chapter for my ethics textbook, I was reminded of Retraction Watch from one of my Information Ethics course's lectures. Retraction Watch is a project of its parent organization, The Center for Scientific Integrity, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, supported by grants like the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
The Mission of The Center for Scientific Integrity is "to promote transparency and integrity in science and scientific publishing, and to disseminate best practices and increase efficiency in science."
One of the Center's 4 goals is a freely accessible "database of retractions, expressions of concern and related publishing events, generated by the work of Retraction Watch."
Exploring some of the content areas on the Retraction Watch site, I was enticed to check out the so-called "Retraction Watch Leaderboard"--billed by Retraction Watch as their "unofficial list" ranking individuals by the number of papers that have been retracted. Not a list one wants to make! An interesting gender-based observation by Retraction Watch, which bears further study and elucidation:
"We note that all of the top 30 are men, which agrees with the general findings of a 2013 paper suggesting that men are more likely to have papers retracted for fraud."
Another good-to-know-about section of Retraction Watch is its "Top 10 Most Highly Cited Retracted Papers"...Here's looking at you, Andrew Wakefield--still "in the house", presently at #2, for your 1998 invalidated autism/vaccines paper co-authored with 12 other researchers (!), not retracted until 12 years later in 2010 (!), and, as of October 9, 2018, cited 499 times after retraction (!):
"Ever curious which retracted papers have been most cited by other scientists? Below, we present the list of the 10 most highly cited retractions. Readers will see some familiar entries, such as the infamous Lancet paper by Andrew Wakefield that originally suggested a link between autism and childhood vaccines. You’ll note that many papers — including the #1 most cited paper — received more citations after they were retracted, which research has shown is an ongoing problem."Retraction Watch also reports examples of plagiarism, as evinced by this October 8, 2018 story about the incoming World Medical Association (WMA) President, Leonid Eidelman, delivering a speech that was, allegedly, a "mashup" of remarks from the 2014 past WMA President's speech to the WMA, an MIT press release, and a telemedicine company's website. Quite a patchwork quilt of "creative" unattributed sourcing. Canadian Medical Association leaves international group after president plagiarizes past president’s speech."]
Monday, October 8, 2018
Jamal Khashoggi chose to tell the truth. It’s part of the reason he’s beloved.; The Washington Post, October 7, 2018
David Ignatius, The Washington Post; Jamal Khashoggi chose to tell the truth. It’s part of the reason he’s beloved.
Khashoggi’s fate is unknown as I write, but his colleagues at The Post and friends around the world fear that he was murdered after he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last Tuesday...
Khashoggi wrote a column for the Post last year in which he described seeing some of his friends arrested and struggling with his conscience. “I said nothing. I didn’t want to lose my job or my freedom. I worried about my family. I have made a different choice now,” he wrote. He had made a decisive break with Mohammed bin Salman , choosing exile and honesty in his writings. His simple four-word explanation: “We Saudis deserve better.”"
[Kip Currier: As I've mentioned to a few people lately--including my book editor, as I finish up a chapter on truth for my ethics textbook--this is a particularly challenging time to tackle the topics of truth, facts, news, and information assessment. The example of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi--"disappeared" and presumed killed--painfully demonstrates both the importance of and potentially deadly stakes for those committed to promoting freedom of expression and truth telling, in the furtherance of human rights, equality, and democratic values.]
"George Orwell titled a regular column he wrote for a British newspaper in the mid-1940s “As I Please.”
Meaning that he would write exactly what he believed. My Saudi
colleague Jamal Khashoggi has always had that same insistent passion for
telling the truth about his country, no matter what.
Khashoggi’s fate is unknown as I write, but his colleagues at The Post and friends around the world fear that he was murdered after he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last Tuesday...
Khashogggi [sic] understood that he could keep his mouth
shut and stay safe, because he had so many friends in the royal family.
But it simply wasn’t in him.
Khashoggi wrote a column for the Post last year in which he described seeing some of his friends arrested and struggling with his conscience. “I said nothing. I didn’t want to lose my job or my freedom. I worried about my family. I have made a different choice now,” he wrote. He had made a decisive break with Mohammed bin Salman , choosing exile and honesty in his writings. His simple four-word explanation: “We Saudis deserve better.”"
From Orwell to ‘Little Mermaid,’ Kuwait Steps Up Book Banning; The New York Times, October 1, 2018
Rod Nordland, The New York Times;
From Orwell to ‘Little Mermaid,’ Kuwait Steps Up Book Banning
From Orwell to ‘Little Mermaid,’ Kuwait Steps Up Book Banning
"At a bookstore in Kuwait City, the
proprietor showed off a secret cupboard full of contraband books behind
the cash register and a basement storeroom with even more. “It’s a
cliché that book banning helps book sales,” she said. “As a bookseller, I
can tell you I would much rather have the books out on display.”
The bookseller did have a banned copy of “Zorba the Greek”
on display, discretely, since it could result in a minimum fine of
about $1,650 if Ministry of Information inspectors saw it. She said she
was not too worried. “You can always spot them when they come in,” she
said. “You can tell they’re not readers.”"
Thursday, October 4, 2018
We Need To Examine The Ethics And Governance Of Artificial Intelligence; Forbes, October 4, 2018
Nikita Malik, Forbes; We Need To Examine The Ethics And Governance Of Artificial Intelligence
"Who determines whether this technology can save lives, for example, versus the very real risk of veering into an Orwellian dystopia?
Take artificial intelligence systems that have the ability to predicate a crime based on an individual’s history, and their propensity to do harm. Pennsylvania could be one of the first states in the United States to base criminal sentences not just on the crimes people are convicted of, but also on whether they are deemed likely to commit additional crimes in the future. Statistically derived risk assessments – based on factors such as age, criminal record, and employment, will help judges determine which sentences to give. This would help reduce the cost of, and burden on, the prison system.
Risk assessments – which have existed for a long time - have been used in other areas such as the prevention of terrorism and child sexual exploitation."
"Who determines whether this technology can save lives, for example, versus the very real risk of veering into an Orwellian dystopia?
Take artificial intelligence systems that have the ability to predicate a crime based on an individual’s history, and their propensity to do harm. Pennsylvania could be one of the first states in the United States to base criminal sentences not just on the crimes people are convicted of, but also on whether they are deemed likely to commit additional crimes in the future. Statistically derived risk assessments – based on factors such as age, criminal record, and employment, will help judges determine which sentences to give. This would help reduce the cost of, and burden on, the prison system.
Risk assessments – which have existed for a long time - have been used in other areas such as the prevention of terrorism and child sexual exploitation."
The push to create AI-friendly ethics codes is stripping all nuance from morality; Quartz, October 4, 2018
Olivia Goldhill, Quartz; The push to create AI-friendly ethics codes is stripping all nuance from morality
"A paper led by Veljko Dubljević, neuroethics researcher at North Carolina State University, published yesterday (Oct. 2) in PLOS ONE, claims to establish not just the answer to one ethical question, but the entire groundwork for how moral judgements are made.
According to the paper’s “Agent Deed Consequence model,” three things are taken into account when making a moral decision: the person doing the action, the moral action itself, and the consequences of that action. To test this theory, the researchers created moral scenarios that varied details about the agent, the action, and the consequences."
"A paper led by Veljko Dubljević, neuroethics researcher at North Carolina State University, published yesterday (Oct. 2) in PLOS ONE, claims to establish not just the answer to one ethical question, but the entire groundwork for how moral judgements are made.
According to the paper’s “Agent Deed Consequence model,” three things are taken into account when making a moral decision: the person doing the action, the moral action itself, and the consequences of that action. To test this theory, the researchers created moral scenarios that varied details about the agent, the action, and the consequences."
Data Science Institute prepares students for ethical decision-making; The Cavalier Daily (University of Virginia), October 4, 2018
Zoe Ziff, The Cavalier Daily (University of Virginia); Data Science Institute prepares students for ethical decision-making
"The University's Data Science Institute recently incorporated the new Center for Data Ethics and Justice — founded by the University’s Bioethics Chair Jarrett Zigon — in an effort to ramp up its focus on ethics in analysis and interpretation of data. This partnership has created a new course for graduate data science students that specifically addresses ethical issues related to the handling of data and advancement in technology.
The DSI — located in Dell 1 and Dell 2 — is a research and academic institute that offers masters programs in data science as well as dual degrees in partnership with the Darden School of Business, the Medical School and the Nursing School.
Phillip Bourne — director of the DSI and professor of biomedical engineering — regards ethics as a pillar of their graduate program. He said few data scientists have formal training in ethics, and the partnership with the Center will equip students with the tools to make ethical decisions throughout their careers.
The Center brings a redefined course to the Master’s of Science in Data Science that is specifically designed for tackling ethical problems in the data science field."
"The University's Data Science Institute recently incorporated the new Center for Data Ethics and Justice — founded by the University’s Bioethics Chair Jarrett Zigon — in an effort to ramp up its focus on ethics in analysis and interpretation of data. This partnership has created a new course for graduate data science students that specifically addresses ethical issues related to the handling of data and advancement in technology.
The DSI — located in Dell 1 and Dell 2 — is a research and academic institute that offers masters programs in data science as well as dual degrees in partnership with the Darden School of Business, the Medical School and the Nursing School.
Phillip Bourne — director of the DSI and professor of biomedical engineering — regards ethics as a pillar of their graduate program. He said few data scientists have formal training in ethics, and the partnership with the Center will equip students with the tools to make ethical decisions throughout their careers.
The Center brings a redefined course to the Master’s of Science in Data Science that is specifically designed for tackling ethical problems in the data science field."
Publishers Escalate Legal Battle Against ResearchGate; Inside Higher Ed, October 4, 2018
Lindsay McKenzie, Inside Higher Ed; Publishers Escalate Legal Battle Against ResearchGate
"The court documents, obtained by Inside Higher Ed from the U.S. District Court in Maryland, include an “illustrative” but “not exhaustive list” of 3,143 research articles the publishers say were shared by ResearchGate in breach of copyright protections. The publishers suggest they could be entitled to up to $150,000 for each infringed work -- a possible total of more than $470 million.
This latest legal challenge is the second that the publishers have filed against ResearchGate in the last year. The first lawsuit, filed in Germany in October 2017, is ongoing. Inside Higher Ed was unable to review court documents for the European lawsuit.
The U.S. lawsuit is the latest development in a long and increasingly complex dispute between some academic publishers and the networking site."
"The court documents, obtained by Inside Higher Ed from the U.S. District Court in Maryland, include an “illustrative” but “not exhaustive list” of 3,143 research articles the publishers say were shared by ResearchGate in breach of copyright protections. The publishers suggest they could be entitled to up to $150,000 for each infringed work -- a possible total of more than $470 million.
This latest legal challenge is the second that the publishers have filed against ResearchGate in the last year. The first lawsuit, filed in Germany in October 2017, is ongoing. Inside Higher Ed was unable to review court documents for the European lawsuit.
The U.S. lawsuit is the latest development in a long and increasingly complex dispute between some academic publishers and the networking site."
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Why you need a code of ethics (and how to build one that sticks); CIO, September 17, 2018
Josh Fruhlinger, CIO; Why you need a code of ethics (and how to build one that sticks)
"Importance of a code of ethics
Most of us probably think of ourselves as ethical people. But within organizations built to maximize profits, many seemingly inevitably drift towards more dubious behavior, especially when it comes to user personal data. "More companies than not are collecting data just for the sake of collecting data, without having any reason as to why or what to do with it," says Philip Jones, a GDPR regulatory compliance expert at Capgemini. "Although this is an expensive and unethical approach, most businesses don’t think twice about it. I view this approach as one of the highest risks to companies today, because they have no clue where, how long, or how accurate much of their private data is on consumers."
This is the sort of organizational ethical drift that can arise in the absence of clear ethical guidelines—and it's the sort of drift that laws like the GDPR, the EU's stringent new framework for how companies must handle customer data, are meant to counter."
"Importance of a code of ethics
Most of us probably think of ourselves as ethical people. But within organizations built to maximize profits, many seemingly inevitably drift towards more dubious behavior, especially when it comes to user personal data. "More companies than not are collecting data just for the sake of collecting data, without having any reason as to why or what to do with it," says Philip Jones, a GDPR regulatory compliance expert at Capgemini. "Although this is an expensive and unethical approach, most businesses don’t think twice about it. I view this approach as one of the highest risks to companies today, because they have no clue where, how long, or how accurate much of their private data is on consumers."
This is the sort of organizational ethical drift that can arise in the absence of clear ethical guidelines—and it's the sort of drift that laws like the GDPR, the EU's stringent new framework for how companies must handle customer data, are meant to counter."
Saturday, September 29, 2018
How to Identify MBA Programs That Emphasize Ethics; U.S. News & World Report, September 27, 2018
Ilana Kowarski, U.S. News & World Report; How to Identify MBA Programs That Emphasize Ethics
""Students need to ask if ethics is integrated into all classes," Scott MacDonald, the director of the MBA program at the University of Dayton's School of Business Administration, wrote in an email. "Does the curriculum integrate ethics into finance, marketing, operations etc. or does the program just offer a stand-alone ethics class? How ingrained is ethics in the DNA of the school?”
""Students need to ask if ethics is integrated into all classes," Scott MacDonald, the director of the MBA program at the University of Dayton's School of Business Administration, wrote in an email. "Does the curriculum integrate ethics into finance, marketing, operations etc. or does the program just offer a stand-alone ethics class? How ingrained is ethics in the DNA of the school?”
Leigh Hafrey, a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management
who teaches courses on professional ethics, says discussion-based
ethics courses are particularly valuable. "I have attended many very
good lectures on ethics, and that certainly qualifies as a legitimate
method to convey ethics instruction, but I do think that the opportunity
to participate in the conversation makes a huge difference," Hafrey
says. "It gives the student ownership … and invites them to take an
active stance on issues of major concern to all of us and the
organizations in which we work.""
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Why bother teaching drone pilots about ethics? It’s robots that will kill us; The Guardian, September 27, 2018
Andrew Brown, The Guardian; Why bother teaching drone pilots about ethics? It’s robots that will kill us
"The Church of England has just announced a programme to help RAF chaplains offer pastoral care and support to drone pilots. The unusual thing is that they are to study ethics and philosophy in this training."
"The Church of England has just announced a programme to help RAF chaplains offer pastoral care and support to drone pilots. The unusual thing is that they are to study ethics and philosophy in this training."
92% Of AI Leaders Now Training Developers In Ethics, But 'Killer Robots' Are Already Being Built; Forbes, September 26, 2018
John Koetsier, Forbes; 92% Of AI Leaders Now Training Developers In Ethics, But 'Killer Robots' Are Already Being Built
""Organizations have begun addressing concerns and aberrations that AI has been known to cause, such as biased and unfair treatment of people,” Rumman Chowdhury, Responsible AI Lead at Accenture Applied Intelligence, said in a statement. “Organizations need to move beyond directional AI ethics codes that are in the spirit of the Hippocratic Oath to ‘do no harm.’ They need to provide prescriptive, specific and technical guidelines to develop AI systems that are secure, transparent, explainable, and accountable – to avoid unintended consequences and compliance challenges that can be harmful to individuals, businesses, and society.""
""Organizations have begun addressing concerns and aberrations that AI has been known to cause, such as biased and unfair treatment of people,” Rumman Chowdhury, Responsible AI Lead at Accenture Applied Intelligence, said in a statement. “Organizations need to move beyond directional AI ethics codes that are in the spirit of the Hippocratic Oath to ‘do no harm.’ They need to provide prescriptive, specific and technical guidelines to develop AI systems that are secure, transparent, explainable, and accountable – to avoid unintended consequences and compliance challenges that can be harmful to individuals, businesses, and society.""
Cornell Food Researcher's Downfall Raises Larger Questions For Science; NPR, September 26, 2018
Brett Dahlberg, NPR; Cornell Food Researcher's Downfall Raises Larger Questions For Science
"The fall of a prominent food and marketing researcher may be a cautionary tale for scientists who are tempted to manipulate data and chase headlines.
Brian Wansink, the head of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, announced last week that he would retire from the university at the end of the academic year. Less than 48 hours earlier, JAMA, a journal published by the American Medical Association, had retracted six of Wansink's studies, after Cornell told the journal's editors that Wansink had not kept the original data and the university could not vouch for the validity of his studies."
"The fall of a prominent food and marketing researcher may be a cautionary tale for scientists who are tempted to manipulate data and chase headlines.
Brian Wansink, the head of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, announced last week that he would retire from the university at the end of the academic year. Less than 48 hours earlier, JAMA, a journal published by the American Medical Association, had retracted six of Wansink's studies, after Cornell told the journal's editors that Wansink had not kept the original data and the university could not vouch for the validity of his studies."
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Star Trek: Marina Sirtis Reveals Why She Hasn't Watched 'Discovery'; Comicbook.com, September 22, 2018
Jamie Lovett, Comicbook.com; Star Trek: Marina Sirtis Reveals Why She Hasn't Watched 'Discovery'
"I actually think that Star Trek got it right in our show and in the original show because the shows were about something,” [Star Trek: The Next Generation's Marina Sirtis] said. “They weren’t just entertainment. They were little morality plays and that is what Star Trek lost after we were done. And it ought to go back to that.”
"I actually think that Star Trek got it right in our show and in the original show because the shows were about something,” [Star Trek: The Next Generation's Marina Sirtis] said. “They weren’t just entertainment. They were little morality plays and that is what Star Trek lost after we were done. And it ought to go back to that.”
Your DNA Is Not Your Culture; The Atlantic, September 25, 2018
Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic; Your DNA Is Not Your Culture
"DNA, these marketing campaigns imply, reveals something essential about you. And it’s working. Thanks to television-ad blitzes and frequent holiday sales, genetic-ancestry tests have soared in popularity in the past two years. More than 15 million people have now traded their spit for insights into their family history.
"DNA, these marketing campaigns imply, reveals something essential about you. And it’s working. Thanks to television-ad blitzes and frequent holiday sales, genetic-ancestry tests have soared in popularity in the past two years. More than 15 million people have now traded their spit for insights into their family history.
If this were simply about wearing kilts or liking Ed Sheeran, these ads could be dismissed as, well, ads. They’re just trying to sell stuff, shrug.
But marketing campaigns for genetic-ancestry tests also tap into the
idea that DNA is deterministic, that genetic differences are meaningful.
They trade in the prestige of genomic science, making DNA out to be far
more important in our cultural identities than it is, in order to sell
more stuff.
First, the accuracy of these tests is unproven (as detailed here and here).
But putting that aside, consider simply what it means to get a surprise
result of, say, 15 percent German. If you speak no German, celebrate no
German traditions, have never cooked German food, and know no Germans,
what connection is there, really? Cultural identity is the sum total of
all of these experiences. DNA alone does not supersede it."
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Open-access journal editors resign after alleged pressure to publish mediocre papers; Science, September 4, 2018
Jop de Vrieze, Science; Open-access journal editors resign after alleged pressure to publish mediocre papers
"The conflict is salient because this week 11 European national funding organizations announced that beginning in 2020, research they fund should only be published in open-access journals, which make articles publicly available, as opposed to traditional journals, which sometimes block access to nonsubscribers. To maintain a level of quality, scientists will be directed to publish only in journals in the Directory of Open Access Journals."
"The conflict is salient because this week 11 European national funding organizations announced that beginning in 2020, research they fund should only be published in open-access journals, which make articles publicly available, as opposed to traditional journals, which sometimes block access to nonsubscribers. To maintain a level of quality, scientists will be directed to publish only in journals in the Directory of Open Access Journals."
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Batman: Damned’s Digital Release Censors Bruce Wayne’s Naughty Bits; Comic Book Resources, September 19, 2018
Justin Carter, Comic Book Resources; Batman: Damned’s Digital Release Censors Bruce Wayne’s Naughty Bits
[Kip Currier: Tensions related to intellectual freedom, free expression, and censorship in comics and other media formats raise thorny questions about the nebulous distinctions sometimes made between content that is included and omitted in analog and digital formats. Case in point: the new comic, Batman: Damned. These kinds of decisions about free expression and censorship vis-a-vis analog and digital formats have implications for intellectual freedom and the historical record, as well as for diverse domains and activities involving creativity, knowledge, and research.
During a chat today with Mr. Wayne Wise, a graphic novels course instructor as well as a comics historian and creator with Pittsburgh's Oakland-based Phantom of the Attic, Mr. Wise flagged Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples' popular comic book Saga as another example where free expression and censorship have come into conflict. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) has a summary of the 2013 Saga controversy here. A thought-provoking quote from that CBLDF case study lays out the larger implications of censorship and self-censorship in the digital age:
[Excerpt from Comic Book Resources article]
"CBR has been informed that, while Black Label is an imprint for mature readers, it was decided Bruce Wayne’s nudity was not additive to the story. Thus, the digital version blacked out the scenes. Additionally, CBR has confirmed that future printings of the issue will use the altered panels."
[Kip Currier: Tensions related to intellectual freedom, free expression, and censorship in comics and other media formats raise thorny questions about the nebulous distinctions sometimes made between content that is included and omitted in analog and digital formats. Case in point: the new comic, Batman: Damned. These kinds of decisions about free expression and censorship vis-a-vis analog and digital formats have implications for intellectual freedom and the historical record, as well as for diverse domains and activities involving creativity, knowledge, and research.
During a chat today with Mr. Wayne Wise, a graphic novels course instructor as well as a comics historian and creator with Pittsburgh's Oakland-based Phantom of the Attic, Mr. Wise flagged Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples' popular comic book Saga as another example where free expression and censorship have come into conflict. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) has a summary of the 2013 Saga controversy here. A thought-provoking quote from that CBLDF case study lays out the larger implications of censorship and self-censorship in the digital age:
Although the removal of Saga #12 was temporary, the circumstances surrounding the case, including Apple’s vague and subjective content policy, lend themselves to a much larger and more frightening issue: To what extent does one need to self-censor in order to make their books available on digital platforms?"]
[Excerpt from Comic Book Resources article]
"CBR has been informed that, while Black Label is an imprint for mature readers, it was decided Bruce Wayne’s nudity was not additive to the story. Thus, the digital version blacked out the scenes. Additionally, CBR has confirmed that future printings of the issue will use the altered panels."
From Arabic to AI: the ancient roots of the algorithm; The Guardian, September 20, 2018
Steven Poole, The Guardian; From Arabic to AI: the ancient roots of the algorithm
"To this day, algorithm is still just a fancy name for a set of rules. If this, then that; if that is true, then do this. In finance, especially, the word is often shortened to “algo”, which via “algae” evokes a sense of inexorable biological growth. But perhaps if we thought of algorithms as mere humdrum flowcharts, drawn up by humans, we’d be better able to see where responsibility really lies if, or when, they go wrong."
"To this day, algorithm is still just a fancy name for a set of rules. If this, then that; if that is true, then do this. In finance, especially, the word is often shortened to “algo”, which via “algae” evokes a sense of inexorable biological growth. But perhaps if we thought of algorithms as mere humdrum flowcharts, drawn up by humans, we’d be better able to see where responsibility really lies if, or when, they go wrong."
Move Fast And (Don't) Break Things; Forbes, September 20, 2018
Eric Schrock, Forbes; Move Fast And (Don't) Break Things
[Kip Currier: Excellent points made by the author, underscoring the need for organizations of all kinds to provide and promote data ethics education and training within organizational cultures. As RuPaul would say, "Can I get an Amen up in here?!"]
"Integrate Data Ethics Training
The technology landscape is changing rapidly, and few employees are familiar with the ethical implications of new techniques. The applications of computer science are so diverse and varied that there’s no all-encompassing set of standards they can to look to. Navigating what’s right and wrong when you’re moving fast and under pressure to meet project deadlines can add a ton of pressure and be a recipe for data breach or misuse.
Companies have a duty to provide their employees with training, and we’re seeing it outside industries, too. At the University of Stanford, a joint initiative by the students in computer science, Social Good and the Stanford AI Group offer a course on the ethical implications of AI as a way to get future computer scientists and engineers to think about the role of ethics tied to the products they’re creating.
Despite the need to move fast, people need to have downtime to think about the work they’re doing and whether it addresses data privacy and security concerns. We need to stop talking about ethics only when a massive breach happens and instead ensure that they’re ingrained in workflows and across developer communities to help form broader professional standards. Companies should provide their employees with this on-the-job learning.
In 2014, Facebook updated its motto to the less catchy “move fast with stable infrastructure."
[Kip Currier: Excellent points made by the author, underscoring the need for organizations of all kinds to provide and promote data ethics education and training within organizational cultures. As RuPaul would say, "Can I get an Amen up in here?!"]
"Integrate Data Ethics Training
The technology landscape is changing rapidly, and few employees are familiar with the ethical implications of new techniques. The applications of computer science are so diverse and varied that there’s no all-encompassing set of standards they can to look to. Navigating what’s right and wrong when you’re moving fast and under pressure to meet project deadlines can add a ton of pressure and be a recipe for data breach or misuse.
Companies have a duty to provide their employees with training, and we’re seeing it outside industries, too. At the University of Stanford, a joint initiative by the students in computer science, Social Good and the Stanford AI Group offer a course on the ethical implications of AI as a way to get future computer scientists and engineers to think about the role of ethics tied to the products they’re creating.
Despite the need to move fast, people need to have downtime to think about the work they’re doing and whether it addresses data privacy and security concerns. We need to stop talking about ethics only when a massive breach happens and instead ensure that they’re ingrained in workflows and across developer communities to help form broader professional standards. Companies should provide their employees with this on-the-job learning.
In 2014, Facebook updated its motto to the less catchy “move fast with stable infrastructure."
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
SAP Becomes First European Tech Company to Create Ethics Advisory Panel for Artificial Intelligence; PR Newswire via Yahoo, September 18, 2018
PR Newswire via Yahoo; SAP Becomes First European Tech Company to Create Ethics Advisory Panel for Artificial Intelligence
""SAP
considers the ethical use of data a core value," said Luka Mucic, Chief
Financial Officer and Member of the Executive Board, SAP. "We want to
create software that enables the intelligent enterprise and actually
improves people's lives. Such principles will serve as the basis to make
AI a technology that augments human talent."
SAP guiding principles reflect the company's commitment to comply with the highest ethical standards."
'One of the boys': lost narwhal finds new home with band of beluga whales; The Guardian, September 13, 2018
Greg Mercer, The Guardian; 'One of the boys': lost narwhal finds new home with band of beluga whales
[Kip Currier: Check out the fascinating video clip in this article too. Another example of how drones are being utilized for scientific research, such as wildlife monitoring and conservation, and yielding intriguing information and insights.]
"Whale researchers in Quebec’s St Lawrence River are celebrating a remarkable discovery: a juvenile narwhal far from its arctic home, that appears to have been adopted by a band of beluga whales.
The narwhal, more than 1,000km outside its typical range, was filmed by a drone swimming and playing with dozens of belugas that were treating it as one of their own."
[Kip Currier: Check out the fascinating video clip in this article too. Another example of how drones are being utilized for scientific research, such as wildlife monitoring and conservation, and yielding intriguing information and insights.]
"Whale researchers in Quebec’s St Lawrence River are celebrating a remarkable discovery: a juvenile narwhal far from its arctic home, that appears to have been adopted by a band of beluga whales.
The narwhal, more than 1,000km outside its typical range, was filmed by a drone swimming and playing with dozens of belugas that were treating it as one of their own."
Monday, September 17, 2018
Myanmar’s Assault on a Truthful Press; The New York Times, September 16, 2018
Stephen J. Adler, The New York Times; Myanmar’s Assault on a Truthful Press
"Mr. Adler, the president and editor in chief of Reuters, sits on the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists."
"Mr. Adler, the president and editor in chief of Reuters, sits on the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists."
"With the world’s nations preparing for
the opening this week of the United Nations General Assembly, it is time
to affirm not only the facts of this case but the value of facts
themselves — to declare our certainty that some things are true and
others are not. We must reject the cynical and dangerous idea that
everyone is entitled to their own facts. We can see where this has
gotten us in Myanmar and elsewhere. And we need to reaffirm the
essential role of a free press in uncovering facts.
Journalists,
being people, are imperfect. But journalism, done right, serves a high
public purpose. It produces transparency in markets, holds governments
and businesses to account, gives people tools to make well-informed
decisions, uncovers wrongdoing, inspires reforms, and tells true and
remarkable stories that move and inspire. The United Nations must insist
that the suppression of a free press contradicts the very nature of
democracy and cannot be tolerated. And other multinational institutions,
alongside governments, should make it forcefully clear to Myanmar’s
leaders that Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo must be freed."
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Publishers Call Out Target for 'Censoring' Book Descriptions; Publishers Weekly, September 13, 2018
Claire Kirch, Publishers Weekly; Publishers Call Out Target for 'Censoring' Book Descriptions
"According to Ohio State University Press director Tony Sanfilippo, Target’s move might be a well-meaning policy gone awry. “I understand that they might want to avoid controversy. But if they want to keep Nazis off their site, or Nazi-themed products out of their search results, there are ways of doing that that don’t censor. If you can’t say 'Nazi,' you can’t stop Nazis. And if you can’t search for books about the trans community and trans issues, your search engine and your corporate philosophy are morally flawed.""
"According to Ohio State University Press director Tony Sanfilippo, Target’s move might be a well-meaning policy gone awry. “I understand that they might want to avoid controversy. But if they want to keep Nazis off their site, or Nazi-themed products out of their search results, there are ways of doing that that don’t censor. If you can’t say 'Nazi,' you can’t stop Nazis. And if you can’t search for books about the trans community and trans issues, your search engine and your corporate philosophy are morally flawed.""
Once again, Putin gives us a lesson on the usefulness of the blatant lie; The Washington Post, September 14, 2018
Anne Applebaum, The Washington Post; Once again, Putin gives us a lesson on the usefulness of the blatant lie
"Why did she bother? Or, more accurately: Why was she told to bother? Because the production of blatant lies is useful."
"Why did she bother? Or, more accurately: Why was she told to bother? Because the production of blatant lies is useful."
Saturday, September 15, 2018
Russia is better at propaganda than we are; CNN, September 14, 2018
James Ball, CNN; Russia is better at propaganda than we are
"It's a playbook NATO is so aware of that it's produced a handbook setting out the Russian model -- "dismiss, distort, distract, dismay" -- in detail.
It's a playbook that prospers by using the tools of a democracy -- open disagreement, tolerance of fringe groups and crucially mainstream and social media -- against us. And there is so far no sign that its efficacy is diminishing.
Simply put, Russia is better at misinformation than its opponents. It understands better how information -- good or bad -- is spread. Everyone else needs to get better at dealing with it."
"It's a playbook NATO is so aware of that it's produced a handbook setting out the Russian model -- "dismiss, distort, distract, dismay" -- in detail.
It's a playbook that prospers by using the tools of a democracy -- open disagreement, tolerance of fringe groups and crucially mainstream and social media -- against us. And there is so far no sign that its efficacy is diminishing.
Simply put, Russia is better at misinformation than its opponents. It understands better how information -- good or bad -- is spread. Everyone else needs to get better at dealing with it."
Forbidden love: the original Dorian Gray revealed, direct from Oscar Wilde’s pen; The Guardian, September 8, 2018
Donna Ferguson, The Guardian; Forbidden love: the original Dorian Gray revealed, direct from Oscar Wilde’s pen
"It is the first time the original manuscript in Wilde’s own writing has been published and demonstrates how he self-censored some of the most romantic paragraphs. He tones down the more overt references to the homoerotic nature of Basil Hallward’s relationship with Dorian, crossing out his confession that “the world becomes young to me when I hold his hand”.
Yet the manuscript also includes passages – later removed from the novel we know today – that show how Wilde wanted to shock his Victorian readers by openly writing about homosexual feelings. For example, this declaration of love by Basil for Dorian on page 147: “It is quite true that I have worshipped you with far more romance than a man should ever give to a friend. Somehow I have never loved a woman… I quite admit that I adored you madly, extravagantly, absurdly.”"
"It is the first time the original manuscript in Wilde’s own writing has been published and demonstrates how he self-censored some of the most romantic paragraphs. He tones down the more overt references to the homoerotic nature of Basil Hallward’s relationship with Dorian, crossing out his confession that “the world becomes young to me when I hold his hand”.
Yet the manuscript also includes passages – later removed from the novel we know today – that show how Wilde wanted to shock his Victorian readers by openly writing about homosexual feelings. For example, this declaration of love by Basil for Dorian on page 147: “It is quite true that I have worshipped you with far more romance than a man should ever give to a friend. Somehow I have never loved a woman… I quite admit that I adored you madly, extravagantly, absurdly.”"
Scientific publishing is a rip-off. We fund the research – it should be free; The Guardian, September 13, 2018
George Monbiot, The Guardian; Scientific publishing is a rip-off. We fund the research – it should be free
"Never underestimate the power of one determined person. What Carole Cadwalladr has done to Facebook and big data, and Edward Snowden has done to the state security complex, the young Kazakhstani scientist Alexandra Elbakyan has done to the multibillion-dollar industry that traps knowledge behind paywalls. Sci-Hub, her pirate web scraper service, has done more than any government to tackle one of the biggest rip-offs of the modern era: the capture of publicly funded research that should belong to us all. Everyone should be free to learn; knowledge should be disseminated as widely as possible. No one would publicly disagree with these sentiments. Yet governments and universities have allowed the big academic publishers to deny these rights. Academic publishing might sound like an obscure and fusty affair, but it uses one of the most ruthless and profitable business models of any industry."
"Never underestimate the power of one determined person. What Carole Cadwalladr has done to Facebook and big data, and Edward Snowden has done to the state security complex, the young Kazakhstani scientist Alexandra Elbakyan has done to the multibillion-dollar industry that traps knowledge behind paywalls. Sci-Hub, her pirate web scraper service, has done more than any government to tackle one of the biggest rip-offs of the modern era: the capture of publicly funded research that should belong to us all. Everyone should be free to learn; knowledge should be disseminated as widely as possible. No one would publicly disagree with these sentiments. Yet governments and universities have allowed the big academic publishers to deny these rights. Academic publishing might sound like an obscure and fusty affair, but it uses one of the most ruthless and profitable business models of any industry."
Please, students, take that ‘impractical’ humanities course. We will all benefit.; The Washington Post, September 14, 2018
Ronald J. Daniels, The Washington Post; Please, students, take that ‘impractical’ humanities course. We will all benefit.
"Ronald J. Daniels is the president of Johns Hopkins University. This op-ed is adapted from a letter to Hopkins students...
I would have also mentioned to the student who shunned the philosophy course that he was misinformed about the job market. It is true that many employers are looking for graduates with specialized technical skills, but they also look for other capabilities. As the world is transformed by artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation, the uniquely human qualities of creativity, imagination, discernment and moral reasoning will be the ultimate coin of the realm. All these skills, as well as the ability to communicate clearly and persuasively, are honed in humanities courses."
"Ronald J. Daniels is the president of Johns Hopkins University. This op-ed is adapted from a letter to Hopkins students...
I would have also mentioned to the student who shunned the philosophy course that he was misinformed about the job market. It is true that many employers are looking for graduates with specialized technical skills, but they also look for other capabilities. As the world is transformed by artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation, the uniquely human qualities of creativity, imagination, discernment and moral reasoning will be the ultimate coin of the realm. All these skills, as well as the ability to communicate clearly and persuasively, are honed in humanities courses."
How can we better serve LGBTQ journalists?; The Poynter Institute, September 14, 2018
Daniel Funke, The Poynter Institute; How can we better serve LGBTQ journalists?
"Striving to dismantle otherness in order to come up with
solutions to journalism’s biggest problems is a constant thread at
NLGJA. This year, one of the event’s main panels was made up almost entirely of people of color. There were sessions on how to cover the transgender community, telling stories about bisexuals and diversity and intersection. Some of the issues journalists highlighted include:
- Deadnaming transgender people in obituaries.
- A lack of sensitivity from newsroom leaders about stories that could potentially be triggering for reporters of diversity.
- Missing out on important local stories about the LGBTQ community because of national political coverage.
- A lack of support for journalists who experience trauma on assignment.
- Covering stories about transgender people that don’t involve death or hardship."
Thursday, September 13, 2018
NIPS | 2018: Thirty-second Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems; NIPS Code of Conduct
NIPS | 2018: Thirty-second Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems
[Kip Currier: Listening to a Getting Smart podcast, "AI4All Extends The Power of Artificial Intelligence to High School Girls", led me to Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) and their NIPS Code of Conduct, which I've copied below]
"NIPS Code of Conduct
The open exchange of ideas, the freedom of thought and expression, and respectful scientific debate are central to the goals of this conference on machine learning; this requires a community and an environment that recognizes and respects the inherent worth of every person.
Who? All participants---attendees, organizers, reviewers, speakers, sponsors, and volunteers at our conference, workshops, and conference-sponsored social events---are required to agree with this code of conduct both during the event and on official communication channels, including social media. Organizers will enforce this code, and we expect cooperation from all participants to help ensure a safe and productive environment for everybody.
Scope? The conference commits itself to providing an experience for all participants that is free from harassment, bullying, discrimination, and retaliation for all participants. This includes offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), politics, technology choices, or any other personal characteristics. Bullying, intimidation, personal attacks, harassment, sustained disruption of talks or other events, and behavior that interferes with another's full participation will not be tolerated. This includes sexual harassment, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, inappropriate physical contact, unwelcome sexual attention, public vulgar exchanges, and diminutive characterizations, which are all unwelcome in this community.
Sponsors are equally subject to this Code of Conduct. In particular, sponsors should not use images, activities, or other materials that are of a sexual, racial, or otherwise offensive nature. Booth staff (including volunteers) should not use sexualized clothing/uniforms/costumes, or otherwise create a sexualized environment. This code applies both to official sponsors as well as any organization that uses the conference name as branding as part of its activities at or around the conference.
Outcomes? Participants asked by any member of the community to stop any such behavior are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in such behavior, the conference organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, including: a formal or informal warning to the offender, expulsion from the conference with no refund, barring from participation in future conferences or their organization, reporting the incident to the offender’s local institution or funding agencies, or reporting the incident to local law enforcement. A response of "just joking" will not be accepted; behavior can be harassing without an intent to offend. If action is taken, an appeals process will be made available.
Reporting? If you have concerns related to your inclusion at that conference, or observe someone else's difficulties, or have any other concerns related to inclusion, please contact the Diversity and Inclusion co-chairs. The Diversity and Inclusion co-chairs can be reached by email at diversity-chairs@lists.nips.cc, on Twitter at @InclusionInML or by telephone/wechat at a number to be announced shortly; conference volunteers will also have this contact information and can assist with connecting you to the co-chairs. Complaints and violations will be handled at the discretion of the Diversity & Inclusion co-chairs, general chair and the conference board. Reports made during the conference will be responded to in less than 24 hours; those at other times in less than two weeks. We are prepared and eager to help participants contact relevant help services, to escort them to a safe location, or to otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the conference. We gratefully accept feedback from the community on policy and actions; please contact us."
[Kip Currier: Listening to a Getting Smart podcast, "AI4All Extends The Power of Artificial Intelligence to High School Girls", led me to Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) and their NIPS Code of Conduct, which I've copied below]
"NIPS Code of Conduct
The open exchange of ideas, the freedom of thought and expression, and respectful scientific debate are central to the goals of this conference on machine learning; this requires a community and an environment that recognizes and respects the inherent worth of every person.
Who? All participants---attendees, organizers, reviewers, speakers, sponsors, and volunteers at our conference, workshops, and conference-sponsored social events---are required to agree with this code of conduct both during the event and on official communication channels, including social media. Organizers will enforce this code, and we expect cooperation from all participants to help ensure a safe and productive environment for everybody.
Scope? The conference commits itself to providing an experience for all participants that is free from harassment, bullying, discrimination, and retaliation for all participants. This includes offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), politics, technology choices, or any other personal characteristics. Bullying, intimidation, personal attacks, harassment, sustained disruption of talks or other events, and behavior that interferes with another's full participation will not be tolerated. This includes sexual harassment, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, inappropriate physical contact, unwelcome sexual attention, public vulgar exchanges, and diminutive characterizations, which are all unwelcome in this community.
Sponsors are equally subject to this Code of Conduct. In particular, sponsors should not use images, activities, or other materials that are of a sexual, racial, or otherwise offensive nature. Booth staff (including volunteers) should not use sexualized clothing/uniforms/costumes, or otherwise create a sexualized environment. This code applies both to official sponsors as well as any organization that uses the conference name as branding as part of its activities at or around the conference.
Outcomes? Participants asked by any member of the community to stop any such behavior are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in such behavior, the conference organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, including: a formal or informal warning to the offender, expulsion from the conference with no refund, barring from participation in future conferences or their organization, reporting the incident to the offender’s local institution or funding agencies, or reporting the incident to local law enforcement. A response of "just joking" will not be accepted; behavior can be harassing without an intent to offend. If action is taken, an appeals process will be made available.
Reporting? If you have concerns related to your inclusion at that conference, or observe someone else's difficulties, or have any other concerns related to inclusion, please contact the Diversity and Inclusion co-chairs. The Diversity and Inclusion co-chairs can be reached by email at diversity-chairs@lists.nips.cc, on Twitter at @InclusionInML or by telephone/wechat at a number to be announced shortly; conference volunteers will also have this contact information and can assist with connecting you to the co-chairs. Complaints and violations will be handled at the discretion of the Diversity & Inclusion co-chairs, general chair and the conference board. Reports made during the conference will be responded to in less than 24 hours; those at other times in less than two weeks. We are prepared and eager to help participants contact relevant help services, to escort them to a safe location, or to otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the conference. We gratefully accept feedback from the community on policy and actions; please contact us."
AI4All Extends The Power of Artificial Intelligence to High School Girls; Getting Smart, March 1, 2018
Getting Smart Staff, Getting Smart; AI4All Extends The Power of Artificial Intelligence to High School Girls
"In 2015, Stanford’s Fei-Fei Li, Olga Russakovsky, and Rick Sommer started a summer camp to address the diversity crisis. The early programs, focused on high school girls, had incredible results including increased technical ability, connections to role models, and a sense of belonging in computer science and AI for participants.
A new nonprofit, AI4ALL, was formed last year to extend access to summer programs like the one launched by Li, Russakovsky, and Sommer–beginning with Stanford, Carnegie Mellon University, Berkeley, Princeton, Boston University, and Simon Fraser.
The mission of AI4ALL, according to Posner, is to increase diversity and inclusion in the field and to make sure the benefits are widely shared by democratizing access to tools and involveing [sic] diverse voices in the field."
"In 2015, Stanford’s Fei-Fei Li, Olga Russakovsky, and Rick Sommer started a summer camp to address the diversity crisis. The early programs, focused on high school girls, had incredible results including increased technical ability, connections to role models, and a sense of belonging in computer science and AI for participants.
A new nonprofit, AI4ALL, was formed last year to extend access to summer programs like the one launched by Li, Russakovsky, and Sommer–beginning with Stanford, Carnegie Mellon University, Berkeley, Princeton, Boston University, and Simon Fraser.
The mission of AI4ALL, according to Posner, is to increase diversity and inclusion in the field and to make sure the benefits are widely shared by democratizing access to tools and involveing [sic] diverse voices in the field."
Elon Musk's secretive LA private school doesn't just teach spelling and math — it also asks students ethics and critical thinking puzzles you usually don't see elsewhere; Business Insider, September 3, 2018
Andy Kiersz, Business Insider; Elon Musk's secretive LA private school doesn't just teach spelling and math — it also asks students ethics and critical thinking puzzles you usually don't see elsewhere
"Elon Musk's secretive LA private school, Ad Astra, has developed a new tool for teachers and students.
Educational software developer ClassDojo
is partnering up with Ad Astra to develop a set of critical thinking
puzzles called "Conundrums" that they'll release to teachers and
students this fall. The tools are meant to offer the type of critical
thinking espoused by Ad Astra, although Ad Astra is not using this
specific tool.
The Conundrums pose open-ended critical
thinking or ethical problems for the students, who are then encouraged
to discuss the issues among themselves and reason out a solution. They
tend to pose somewhat more nuanced and complicated questions than most
elementary or middle school curricula address."
Let's Talk About AI Ethics; We're On A Deadline; Forbes, September 13, 2018
Tom Vander Ark, Forbes; Let's Talk About AI Ethics; We're On A Deadline
"In Pittsburgh, the Montour School District launched America's First Public School AI Program.
Justin Aglio, director of academic achievement and innovation, is working with MIT on an open source middle school AI Ethics Curriculum that will develop students’ ethical thinking abilities in the domain of artificial intelligence. In addition to learning computer science fundamentals, students will also learn how professions such as designers, social scientists, or philosophers contribute to the ethical design of AI systems.”
AI4ALL is creating a national network of university computer science departments connecting with high school students.
Why secondary schools as the hub of community conversations? Every secondary school student should be studying the implications of AI--it’s the most important change force that will shape their careers, social networks, and communities. And what better way to learn than to host conversations that explore what’s going on, what it means, and how to prepare (see a SXSWedu conversation using this framework)?
It’s time to #AskAboutAI. It’s time for secondary schools to become the hub of community conversations about the ethics and opportunities of our time. We’re on a deadline."
"In Pittsburgh, the Montour School District launched America's First Public School AI Program.
Justin Aglio, director of academic achievement and innovation, is working with MIT on an open source middle school AI Ethics Curriculum that will develop students’ ethical thinking abilities in the domain of artificial intelligence. In addition to learning computer science fundamentals, students will also learn how professions such as designers, social scientists, or philosophers contribute to the ethical design of AI systems.”
AI4ALL is creating a national network of university computer science departments connecting with high school students.
Why secondary schools as the hub of community conversations? Every secondary school student should be studying the implications of AI--it’s the most important change force that will shape their careers, social networks, and communities. And what better way to learn than to host conversations that explore what’s going on, what it means, and how to prepare (see a SXSWedu conversation using this framework)?
It’s time to #AskAboutAI. It’s time for secondary schools to become the hub of community conversations about the ethics and opportunities of our time. We’re on a deadline."
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