My MOOC journey: chapter 3 - technical influences on ethics

This week I managed to get through two more chapters of the course. In my opinion, their topics are the most technical of all the chapters—specifically related to development, code, and so on.

Key ideas

The first chapter dealt with the responsibilities and roles involved in the process of deploying an AI system—from researchers and developers to data analysts and product managers. This was similar to any other product, where a whole range of people are responsible for potential failures and it’s important to know which ones to assign to whom. Well, I didn’t learn much new information in this chapter.

The second one addressed the topic of transparency—a concept typically associated, in the context of AI, with the algorithms and data used for system decision-making—by expanding it to include the transparent communication of principles that are not easily understood by the general public. Another interesting point raised was the risks associated with transparency: specifically, that transparent systems may be more easily exploited or hacked by individuals with malicious intent.

My learning process

I got through these chapters more quickly—perhaps because each had only three parts, or because they focused more on the technological background and development processes, which aligns better with my field of study.

It also helped that I didn’t have any deadlines for other subjects this week, so I could dedicate more time to this course without feeling the urge to jump off to other tasks. I still end up getting sidetracked—I always do (maybe it’s just a habit, maybe it’s ADHD, who knows)—but with something like sending an email, once it’s sent, my mind settles and I can return to what I was doing; that doesn’t work the same way with more complex tasks.