ethics

Radar Trends to Watch: June 2022 [O’Reilly]

On 06/03/2022, in 21st century, Amazon, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, ethics, Facebook / Meta Platforms, Google, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, internet, IT in HE, NVIDIA, platforms, programming, robotics, United States, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Radar Trends to Watch: June 2022 — from oreilly.com

Excerpt:

The explosion of large models continues. Several developments are especially noteworthy. DeepMind’s Gato model is unique in that it’s a single model that’s trained for over 600 different tasks; whether or not it’s a step towards general intelligence (the ensuing debate may be more important than the model itself), it’s an impressive achievement. Google Brain’s Imagen creates photorealistic images that are impressive, even after you’ve seen what DALL-E 2 can do. And Allen AI’s Macaw (surely an allusion to Emily Bender and Timnit Gebru’s Stochastic Parrots paper) is open source, one tenth the size of GPT-3, and claims to be more accurate. Facebook/Meta is also releasing an open source large language model, including the model’s training log, which records in detail the work required to train it.

Building a culture of pioneering responsibly [Ibrahim]

On 06/01/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, accessibility / UDL, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), corporate / business world, ethics, experimentation, future, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, Google, Microsoft, morals/values, by Daniel Christian

How to ensure we benefit society with the most impactful technology being developed today — from deepmind.com by Lila Ibrahim

In 2000, I took a sabbatical from my job at Intel to visit the orphanage in Lebanon where my father was raised. For two months, I worked to install 20 PCs in the orphanage’s first computer lab, and to train the students and teachers to use them. The trip started out as a way to honour my dad. But being in a place with such limited technical infrastructure also gave me a new perspective on my own work. I realised that without real effort by the technology community, many of the products I was building at Intel would be inaccessible to millions of people. I became acutely aware of how that gap in access was exacerbating inequality; even as computers solved problems and accelerated progress in some parts of the world, others were being left further behind.

After that first trip to Lebanon, I started reevaluating my career priorities. I had always wanted to be part of building groundbreaking technology. But when I returned to the US, my focus narrowed in on helping build technology that could make a positive and lasting impact on society. That led me to a variety of roles at the intersection of education and technology, including co-founding Team4Tech, a non-profit that works to improve access to technology for students in developing countries.

Also relevant/see:

Microsoft AI news: Making AI easier, simpler, more responsible — from venturebeat.com by Sharon Goldman

But one common theme bubbles over consistently: For AI to become more useful for business applications, it needs to be easier, simpler, more explainable, more accessible and, most of all, responsible.

?

Above video from Steve Kerr’s statement on school shooting in Texas

From DSC:
Steve Kerr has it right. Powerful. Critically important.

“Enough!” “We can’t get numb to this!”

The Future of Work and the Jobs we might have in 2040 [Badminton & Powers]

On 05/16/2022, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, change, entrepreneurship, ethics, future, Metaverse, platforms, Web3, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

The Future of Work and the Jobs we might have in 2040 — from futurist.com by Nikolas Badminton & Marianne Powers

Excerpt:

So, let’s set our sights on a future horizon of 2040 and we can wonder what the future of work and the future of jobs for our children may be. The world may feel and look the same but underneath we’ll need people to transition to new careers to support the hyper-fast, data-obsessed world. Let’s take a look at the Future of Work and Jobs in 2040

Human-centred Designers and Ethicists
Artificial Intelligence Psychologists
Metaverse Architects
…

AI research is a dumpster fire and Google’s holding the matches — from thenextweb.com by Tristan Greene
Scientific endeavor is no match for corporate greed

Excerpts:

The world of AI research is in shambles. From the academics prioritizing easy-to-monetize schemes over breaking novel ground, to the Silicon Valley elite using the threat of job loss to encourage corporate-friendly hypotheses, the system is a broken mess.

And Google deserves a lion’s share of the blame.
…
Google, more than any other company, bears responsibility for the modern AI paradigm. That means we need to give big G full marks for bringing natural language processing and image recognition to the masses.

It also means we can credit Google with creating the researcher-eat-researcher environment that has some college students and their big-tech-partnered professors treating research papers as little more than bait for venture capitalists and corporate headhunters.

But the system’s set up to encourage the monetization of algorithms first, and to further the field second. In order for this to change, big tech and academia both need to commit to wholesale reform in how research is presented and reviewed.

Also relevant/see:

Every month Essentials publish an Industry Trend Report on AI in general and the following related topics:

AI Research
AI Applied Use Cases
AI Ethics
AI Robotics
AI Marketing
AI Cybersecurity
AI Healthcare

It’s never too early to get your AI ethics right — from protocol.com by Veronica Irwin
The Ethical AI Governance Group wants to give startups a framework for avoiding scandals and blunders while deploying new technology.

Excerpt:

To solve this problem, a group of consultants, venture capitalists and executives in AI created the Ethical AI Governance Group last September. In March, it went public, and published a survey-style “continuum” for investors to use in advising the startups in their portfolio.

The continuum conveys clear guidance for startups at various growth stages, recommending that startups have people in charge of AI governance and data privacy strategy, for example. EAIGG leadership argues that using the continuum will protect VC portfolios from value-destroying scandals.

The rise of tech ethicists shows how the industry is changing [Irwin]

On 05/10/2022, in 21st century, career development, change, culture, emerging technologies, ethics, instructional design, society, trends, vendors, by Daniel Christian

The rise of tech ethicists shows how the industry is changing — from protocol.com by Veronica Irwin
Though the job titles are new, the ways to attract new talent are virtually the same.

Excerpt:

In 2022, “responsible tech” is a career path. Job titles range from “trust and safety officer” to “policy lead.” And several organizations and academic institutions are engaged in ecosystem-mapping projects to define which academic programs best prepare students to work in the field, how the jobs are described and what companies are pursuing ethical tech in earnest.

“There’s a lot of appetite for this, especially as the public has become very aware of highly publicized problems with technology,” Tweed, now the program director for All Tech is Human, said. “I see that continuing to grow for the foreseeable future.”

Speaking of careers, here’s another item:

Instructional Design Careers and Trends Webinar — from christytuckerlearning.com by Christy Tucker
Get answers to questions about instructional design careers and trends in this webinar recording from UC-Irvine.

DC: This isn’t right; let’s fix this situation: “The internet is a lifeline for students on far-flung tribal campuses. Too often, they’re priced out of learning.” [Mangan]

On 04/27/2022, in colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, digital learning, distance education, education, education technology, ethics, face-to-face, funding / grants, higher education, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, legislatures / government / legal, online learning, participation, political science, society, sociology, student-related, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, Uncategorized, United States, vendors, videoconferencing, vocational / trades, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
There are many things that are not right here — especially historically speaking. But this is one WE who are currently living can work on resolving.

*******

The Cost of Connection — from chronicle.com by Katherine Mangan
The internet is a lifeline for students on far-flung tribal campuses. Too often, they’re priced out of learning.

Excerpt:

Affordable and reliable broadband access can be a lifeline for tribal colleges, usually located on or near Native American reservations, often in remote, rural areas across the Southwest and Midwest. Chartered by their respective tribal governments, the country’s 35 accredited tribal colleges operate in more than 75 campus sites across 16 states, serving more than 160,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives each year. They emphasize and help sustain the culture, languages, and traditions of their tribal communities and are often the only higher-education option available for Native students in some of the nation’s poorest rural regions.

Also relevant/see:

Tribal Colleges Will Continue Online, Despite Challenges — from chronicle.com by Taylor Swaak
Other institutions could learn from their calculus.

Excerpt:

Two years after tribal colleges shuttered alongside institutions nationwide, many remain largely, if not fully, online, catering to students who’ve historically faced barriers to attending in person. Adult learners — especially single mothers who may struggle to find child care, or those helping to support multigenerational households — make up the majority of students at more than half of the 32 federally recognized institutions in the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program. These colleges are also often located in low-income, rural areas, where hours of daily commute time (and the cost of gas) can prove untenable for students simultaneously working part- or full-time jobs.

Also relevant/see:

Why Tribal Colleges Struggle to Get Reliable Internet Service — from chronicle.com by Katherine Mangan and Jacquelyn Elias
For tribal colleges across the country, the pandemic magnified internet-access inequities. Often located on far-flung tribal lands, their campuses are overwhelmingly in areas with few broadband service providers, sometimes leaving them with slow speeds and spotty coverage.

“You can be driving from a nearby town, and as soon as you hit the reservation, the internet and cellphone signals drop off,” said Cheryl Crazy Bull, president of the American Indian College Fund and a member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation. “Students would be in the middle of class and their Wi-Fi access dropped off.”

Worsening matters, many students have been limited by outdated equipment. “We had students who were trying to take classes on their flip phones,” Crazy Bull said. Such stories were cropping up throughout Indian territory.

Announcing the 2022 AI Index Report — from hai.stanford.edu by Stanford University

Excerpt/description:

Welcome to the Fifth Edition of the AI Index

The AI Index is an independent initiative at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), led by the AI Index Steering Committee, an interdisciplinary group of experts from across academia and industry. The annual report tracks, collates, distills, and visualizes data relating to artificial intelligence, enabling decision-makers to take meaningful action to advance AI responsibly and ethically with humans in mind.

The 2022 AI Index report measures and evaluates the rapid rate of AI advancement from research and development to technical performance and ethics, the economy and education, AI policy and governance, and more. The latest edition includes data from a broad set of academic, private, and non-profit organizations as well as more self-collected data and original analysis than any previous editions.

Also relevant/see:

Andrew Ng predicts the next 10 years in AI — from venturebeat.com by George Anadiotis
Nvidia’s latest AI wizardry turns 2D photos into 3D scenes in milliseconds — from thenextweb.com by Thomas Macaulay
The Polaroid of the future?
Nvidia events are renowned for mixing technical bravado with splashes of showmanship — and this year’s GTC conference was no exception. The company ended a week that introduced a new enterprise GPU and an Arm-based “superchip” with a trademark flashy demo. Some 75 years after the world’s first instant photo captured the 3D world in a 2D picture…

Nvidia believes Instant NeRF could generate virtual worlds, capture video conferences in 3D, and reconstruct scenes for 3D maps.

What’s ahead for AI, VR, NFTs, and more? — from oreilly.com by Mike Loukides
Here are some predictions for tech in 2022.

China Is About to Regulate AI—and the World Is Watching [Conrad]

On 02/25/2022, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Asia, emerging technologies, ethics, future, game-changing environment, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, platforms, policy, political science, privacy, society, the downsides of how people use tech, by Daniel Christian

China Is About to Regulate AI—and the World Is Watching — from wired.com by Jennifer Conrad
Sweeping rules will cover algorithms that set prices, control search results, recommend videos, and filter content.

Excerpt:

On March 1, China will outlaw this kind of algorithmic discrimination as part of what may be the world’s most ambitious effort to regulate artificial intelligence. Under the rules, companies will be prohibited from using personal information to offer users different prices for a product or service.

The sweeping rules cover algorithms that set prices, control search results, recommend videos, and filter content. They will impose new curbs on major ride-hailing, ecommerce, streaming, and social media companies.

Reflections on “As bomb threats keep targeting HBCUs, 64 higher ed groups tell Congress to act” [Spitalniak]

On 02/17/2022, in 21st century, colleges, ethics, political science, society, sociology, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

As bomb threats keep targeting HBCUs, 64 higher ed groups tell Congress to act — from highereddive.com by Laura Spitalniak

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

More than a dozen HBCUs have been forced to clear campuses and cancel in-person classes following bomb threats this year. Fisk University, in Tennessee, issued a shelter-in-place order Monday after receiving a series of threats. The same day, Howard University, in Washington, D.C., received a bomb threat for the fourth time since the beginning of January and told students and employees to stay indoors.

All-clear notices have since been issued for both Fisk U and Howard U.

‘You’re Not Safe as a Black Person’: New Round of Bomb Threats Rattles HBCUs — from chronicle.com by Oyin Adedoyin

Excerpt:

The recent string of bomb threats across a handful of historically Black colleges and universities has sparked fear within higher education’s Black community. “This is probably one of the clearest examples of hate crimes based on race,” said Paulette Granberry Russell, the president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education.

From DSC:
Some of the institutions I saw mentioned were:

Bowie State University, Howard University, Albany State University, Bethune-Cookman University, Southern University and A&M College, and Delaware State University

Can you imagine if this happened at Harvard, Yale, Northwestern, Stanford, and/or similar institutions? You and I both know that if students there kept having to put up with bomb threats and having their in-person classes canceled, there would be hell to pay! There would be a lot more heat in the kitchen. A lot more noise. A lot more overall societal concern.

For me, the bottom line is that this situation is horribly wrong. It’s downright evil. I hope it gets resolved soon, though I have to say that I’m not as hopeful as I’d like to be in this 21st century of ours here in the United States…where I continue to be amazed at our lack of unity, respect, compassion, and caring for other people. The amount of racism and hate crimes in our country is just horribly wrong.

On somewhat related notes, see:

Where HBCU grads are thriving — from linkedin.com by McKenna Moore

Excerpt:

Promotion rates for graduates of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) rose 4.94% in 2021 from the previous year, according to insights from LinkedIn’s data on over 600,000 HBCU alumni. The industries that outperform others in promoting HBCU grads include energy and mining, software and IT services, hardware and networking, finance and manufacturing. And the specific job functions that lead to the best chance of promotion for these alumni are program and project management, marketing, human resources, business development and accounting.

Black talent on the fast track: these 10 paths stand out for HBCU graduates — from linkedin.com by George Anders

Excerpt:

All told, more than 600,000 graduates of HBCUs such as Spelman have profiles on LinkedIn. That makes it possible for LinkedIn’s Economic Graph team to analyze the career paths that these alumni have chosen – and to extract insights about promotion rates by job types, gender and in comparison to non-HBCU graduates.

The overall picture that emerges from this data includes a wide list of career paths where HBCU alumni are thriving, as well as signs that overall gaps between HBCU graduates’ promotion rates and non-HBCU trends haven’t yet closed.

Giving to Community Colleges and HBCUs Soared Last Year — from philanthropy.com by Dan Parks

Addendum on 2/19/22:

Morgan State, Southern Poverty Law Center leaders testify on bomb threats against HBCUs — from highereddive.com by Laura Spitalniak

How I use Minecraft to help kids with autism [Duncan]

On 02/14/2022, in 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, attention, communications, communities of practice, creativity, digital learning, digital storytelling, distance education, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, ethics, hearts -- matters of the heart, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, library / librarians, love of learning, Metaverse, Microsoft, morals/values, neurodivergent/special needs, online learning, online media, parents/guardians, participation, passions, platforms, play, productivity / tips and tricks, psychology, remote teaching and learning, social learning / networks, storytelling, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, UK, United States, vendors, web-based collaboration, youth, by Daniel Christian

How I use Minecraft to help kids with autism — from ted.com by Stuart Duncan; with thanks to Dr. Kate Christian for this resource

Description:

The internet can be an ugly place, but you won’t find bullies or trolls on Stuart Duncan’s Minecraft server, AutCraft. Designed for children with autism and their families, AutCraft creates a safe online environment for play and self-expression for kids who sometimes behave a bit differently than their peers (and who might be singled out elsewhere). Learn more about one of the best places on the internet with this heartwarming talk.

Below are two excerpted snapshots from Stuart’s presentation:

The Future of Education | Gerd Leonhard

On 02/08/2022, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), Canada, career development, change, changing business models, creativity, education, education reform, emerging technologies, Emotion, ethics, Europe, future, future of higher education, heutagogy, higher education, India, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, lifelong learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP), pace of change, real-world assignments, reinvent, robotics, skills, society, staying relevant, STEAM-related, student-related, trends, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vocational / trades, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, workplace, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

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As seen/accessible from this page.

A brief insert from DSC:
Another futurist Thomas Frey has some thoughts along this same line.

#Canada #education #future #trends #careerdevelopment #change #paceofchange #automation #robotics #education #AI #learnhowtolearn #unlearn #learningecosystems #lifelonglearning #endofroutine #experientiallearning

Machines are for answers. Humans are for questions.

Also relevant/see:

Next-Gen Skills Essential To Fill In The Curriculum Gap For Modern World Education — from edtechreview.in by Ravi Bhushan
5 tips to avoid “foresight burnout” — from thefuturesschool.com

A positive and a negative example of the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

On 01/31/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), emerging technologies, ethics, Facebook / Meta Platforms, legislatures / government / legal, policy, privacy, UK, United States, by Daniel Christian

Both of the items below are from Sam DeBrule’s Machine Learnings e-newsletter:

AI can predict signs of a heart attack within a year — from a routine eye test — from studyfinds.org
Excerpt:
A team from the University of Leeds believes this AI tool opens the door to a cheap and simple screening program for the world’s number one killer. Their tests find the computer can predict patients at risk of a heart attack in the next 12 months with up to 80 percent accuracy.
Opinion: Facial-recognition technology is one of the biggest threats to our privacy — from marketwatch.com by Jurica Dujmovic
Excerpt:
Companies including Apple and Facebook, and governments worldwide, can misuse our facial images and unwittingly pass them on to hackers and other bad actors

Also see:

It’s Not Just the IRS—the US Government Wants Your Selfies — from wired.com by Tom Simonite
A controversial new program that uses facial recognition is part of a national effort to verify identities and reduce fraud.

Isaiah 1:17

On 01/17/2022, in Access to Justice (A2J), ethics, faith, law schools, legal reform, legislatures / government / legal, policy, relationships, religion, society, sociology, United States, by Daniel Christian

Isaiah 1:17

Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.

From DSC:
This verse especially caught my eye as we have severe access to justice issues here in the United States.

Reflections on “AI-powered chatbots, designed ethically, can support high-quality university teaching”

On 01/14/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, Canada, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, ethics, Europe, faculty, India, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Natural Language Processing (NLP), teaching & learning, teaching online, United States, user experience (UX), user interface design, using teams, vendors, vision/possibilities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, by Daniel Christian

DC: The staff from Teaching & Learning Centers as well as the IT/AV staff would likely collaborate on creating/maintaining this type of database.#teachingandlearning #AV #IT #AI #NLP #highereducation https://t.co/Vs3RQJwrrH

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) January 13, 2022

Learning Ecosystems

The rise of tech ethicists shows how the industry is changing [Irwin]

Reflections on “As bomb threats keep targeting HBCUs, 64 higher ed groups tell Congress to act” [Spitalniak]

Isaiah 1:17

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