12: CAPTCHAs, Bots, And Informed Consent With Bernd Dürrwächter DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today podcast

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This episode explores the potential motivations behind Harvard Professor Francesca Gino's data fraud. Data Colada researchers Uri Simonsohn, Leif Nelson and Joe Simmons found significant evidence of data manipulation, which was later given to Harvard. This led to the retraction of four papers and a recommendation to fire Gino. What might motivate someone to manipulate data and to commit fraud? Dr. Connor Wood explains some troubling trends within Higher Education. Wood studies what the contemporary sciences have to say about human nature. His PhD in religious studies is from Boston University, and he has written and published widely on the cognitive science of ritual. You can read his Substack here ( https://cultureuncurled.substack.com ) and learn more about his research here ( https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Connor-Wood ). A convert to Catholicism, Connor writes and translates poetry for fun and also goes rock climbing (usually not at the same time). Potentially Helpful Links: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/24107889/francesca-gino-lawsuit-harvard-dishonesty-researcher-academic-fraud https://www.science.org/content/article/honesty-researcher-committed-research-misconduct-according-newly-unsealed-harvard Harvard Report: https://datacolada.org/wp-content/uploads/Harvard-Report-on-Gino.pdf Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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28: Computational Simulation in Practice: Simulating Religious Violence Documentary Interview 47:47

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This episode features an interview with Dr. Jenn Lindsay and Dr. Wesley Wildman on the forthcoming documentary film, ‘Simulating Religious Violence.’ This film explores a team of researchers seeking to build the kind of computational model that I just mentioned. Dr. Lindsay directed the film. She is Professor of Sociology and Communications at John Cabot University and the CEO and head of production at So Fare Films. Dr. Lindsay is an accomplished filmmaker, including the award winning documentary film, Quarantined Faith. Dr. Wildman is Professor of Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics, and of Computing and Data Sciences. He was one of the researchers involved in creating and deploying the simulation. The film documents the Modelling Religion Project, which was a three year project made in collaboration between researchers at the Virginia Modeling and Simulation Center (VMASC), the Center for Modeling Social Systems at the University of Agder in Norway, and the Center for Mind and Culture, the home for the Digethix podcast. If you’d like to see the film, it will be premiering at Boston University on November 19th in the Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences Building on the 17th Floor. You can also see it at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in San Diego on November 23rd, and in Rome on March 1st at John Cabot University in Rome. Premiere event at BU 11/19: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/simulating-religious-violence-premiere-tickets-953785667607 Film website: https://www.sofarefilms.com/simulatingreligiousviolence Project website: https://mindandculture.org/projects/past-projects/modeling-religion-project/ Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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27: How Should You Manage Your Data? 'Designing Data Governance from the Ground Up' with Lauren Maffeo 50:03

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Can you ever have so much data that it becomes unmanageable? Are there ways make the way you use data more effective? In this episode, Seth talks to Lauren Maffeo about how to design a data governance framework that will best suit your needs. Lauren is a service designer at Steampunk, a human-centered design firm serving the federal government. She is also a founding editor of Springer’s AI and Ethics journal and a former area editor for Data and Policy, an open access journal with Cambridge University Press. She also teaches courses on design at George Washington University. She is the author of the book, Designing Data Governance from the Ground Up: Six Steps to Build a Data-Driven Culture. Links to more from Lauren: LinkedIn Twitter Book - 35% off E-book with code: DATAGOV23 Lightning talk at Open Source Summit North America Credits: Music: “Dreams” from Bensound.com Episode art: Nicole Smith Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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26: Should You Use ChatGPT in Class? A Guide for Teachers and Students 13:56

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When ChatGPT dropped in November 2022, it had teachers and students scrambling to figure out what to do with this new service. Seth outlines four main ways to handle ChatGPT in the classroom and notes some pitfalls of using ChatGPT uncritically. Potentially Helpful Links Vectoring Words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQddtTdmG_8 AI Models & Language Models: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rURRYI66E54 GPT-4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zW33LfffPc&list=PL1v8zpldgH3pQwRz1FORZdChMaNZaR3pu&index=82 https://monkeylearn.com/natural-language-processing/ Credits: Music: “Dreams” by Benjamin Tissot from Bensound.com Episode/Podcast Art: Nicole Smith Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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25: Should You Use Dating Apps? And Other Romance Questions with Ethicist Kate Ott 46:37

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Should you use dating apps? What skills do you need to form a relationship? What role does technology play in our relationships? Ethicist Kate Ott helps us answer these questions and more. Dr. Ott is the Jerre and Mary Joy Stead Professor of Christian Ethics at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She received her PhD in Christian Social Ethics from Union Theological Seminary and her Master of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School. She is the author of several books, including two on technology, C hristian Ethics for a Digital Society and Sex, Tech, and Faith: Ethics for a Digital Age . Credits: Intro/outro Song: Dreams, composed by Benjamin Tissot Potentially Helpful Links: https://www.pewresearch.org/ft_2020-02-06_datingtakeaways_01/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2023/02/02/key-findings-about-online-dating-in-the-u-s/ https://news.stanford.edu/2019/08/21/online-dating-popular-way-u-s-couples-meet/ Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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24: Parenting in the Digital Dystopia with Dr. Loretta Brady 54:30

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How can parents navigate the landscape of technology? How our experience with technology differed by generation? How do we build trust across these generations. Dr. Brady has a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Fordham University and currently works as a Professor of Psychology at St. Anselm College. She has written a forthcoming book on the topic called, Technology Touchpoints: Parenting in the Digital Dystopia. The book explores potential developmental moments that impact kids for the rest of their lives. Potentially Helpful Links: https://lorettalcbrady.wordpress.com/ https://twitter.com/profbrady https://www.brazeltontouchpoints.org/ https://www.amazon.com/Technology-Touchpoints-Parenting-Digital-Dystopia/dp/1538163926#:~:text=Technology%20Touchpoints%20is%20a%20compelling,our%20families%20and%20our%20lives . Credits: "Dreams" by Benjamin Tissot Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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23: Twitter's Bias Bounty Program and The Ethics of Research with Dr. Borhane Blili-Hamelin 50:20

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How do we determine what is ethical in technology? How do we do ethical research? How do we bridge gaps in expertise? How do we discover and resolve resolve ethical problems? In this episode, Dr. Borhane Blili-Hamelin discusses the challenges of interdisciplinary research and his workshop on Twitter's bias bounty program. Bo has a PhD in philosophy from Columbia University. He founded Accountability Case Labs, which seeks to leverage expertise in different fields towards accountability in artificial intelligence Research. Bo currently works as a consultant for BABL AI. Potentially Helpful Links: https://borhane.xyz/ https://accountabilitycaselabs.xyz/ https://blog.twitter.com/engineering/en_us/topics/insights/2021/algorithmic-bias-bounty-challenge Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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22: What is Digital Ethics? 14:36

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What is digital ethics? Why should you care? In this episode, we go over some basic definitions and plans for Season 3 of the podcast. Potentially Helpful Links: https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/technology-ethics/ https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250074317/automatinginequality https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/technology-and-the-virtues-a-philosophical-guide-to-a-future-worth-wanting/ Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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21: Trust and Safety Communication Technologies with Ryan Mayfield 1:26:24

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What are safety technologies? How do we best utilize our resources in order to prevent tragedies? How does a crisis affect the process of consent? Ryan Mayfield is the director of strategy at Live Safe, a mobile safety application company looking to connect individuals and safety officials in order to build better communities. Ryan is an expert in safety communications and user engagement, with experience in industry, government, and academia. Together with the Social Computing Systems (SALT) Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he helped publish the first-ever study of safety communications using anonymized user data. A graduate of Stanford University, Ryan remains affiliated with the Stanford University Peace Innovation Lab. Potentially Helpful Links: Dave Ropeik book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7122765-how-risky-is-it-really 911 rollout - https://www.nena.org/page/911overviewfacts Text-to-911 - https://www.911.gov/issue_textto911.html Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Edits: Julia Brukx Episode art: Julia Donohue Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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20: Exploring Ethical Problems through Stories with After Dinner Conversation 39:54

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After Dinner Conversation is online ethics magazine and podcast. We discuss the role of stories in exploring ethical situations and how the magazine uses discussion questions to prompt discussion. How do you personally navigate situations in which you can’t tell immediately if a decision will be right or wrong? In what situations do you find yourself unsure of what choice to make? How has technology impacted the situations that you find yourself feeling this way? Potentially helpful links: Magazine: https://www.afterdinnerconversation.com/ Star Trek episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_That_Be_Your_Last_Battlefield Aristotle’s criticisms of democracy: https://fs.blog/aristotles-politics/ Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Edits: Julia Brukx Episode art: Nicole Smith Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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19: Videogames and Positive Ethical Formation with Benjamin Chicka 52:29

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Dr. Benjamin Chicka has a PhD in Religion from Claremont Graduate University. He currently serves as a lecturer of philosophy and religion at Curry College. He is the author of the book, Playing as Others, which will be the main topic of our conversation today. He is interested in how video games can be used as a source of positive ethical formation, leading people to eventually act more empathetically in society at large, particularly towards people who have been historically marginalized. Key questions: how do we learn to act ethically? What tools do we have to train ourselves in the direction that we hope to go? Should videogames be a part of this formation strategy or are they merely diversions? Potentially helpful links: Book: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481315463/playing-as-others/ Gamergate info: https://www.vox.com/2014/9/6/6111065/gamergate-explained-everybody-fighting https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/14/the-only-guide-to-gamergate-you-will-ever-need-to-read/ Forums/video game communities https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2013/jul/31/gamer-communities-positive-side-twitter Papers please https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2013/11/10/244413539/papers-please-puts-your-loyalty-sympathy-to-the-test Exploitation in the video game industry https://time.com/5603329/e3-video-game-creators-union/ Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Edits: Julia Brukx Episode art: Julia Donohue Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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18: Ethical Leadership in Business and Life with Willys DeVoll 49:16

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Willys DeVoll is a professional writer and co-author of the book, Leadership is a Relationship: How to Put People First in the Digital World, with Michael S. Erwin. Willys is the founder of Will Digital, a writing and design agency. As an expert at the intersection of language and technology, he’s spoken at a wide range of industry conferences and on podcasts. Willys earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Stanford University, where he studied English and philosophy. Willys helps us to think about the following questions: What traits make for an effective leader today? How can we build authentic relationships in our increasingly technology mediated world? Is it necessary to squeeze every ounce of productivity out of ourselves? More information on Willys and the Book: https://www.leadershipisarelationship.com/ https://willysdevoll.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdevoll/ https://twitter.com/willysdevoll Potentially Helpful Links McDonald Conference for Leaders and Character https://www.westpoint.edu/leadership-center/mcdonald-leadership-conference#:~:text=The%20mission%20of%20the%20McDonald,skills%2C%20fosters%20critical%20thinking%20and Post-covid workplace https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/the-future-of-work-after-covid-19# Crossfit info: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/crossfit-ceo-steps-down-after-inflammatory-george-floyd-comments-n1228941 Chandler Smith and Noah Olsen https://barbend.com/noah-ohlsen-chandler-smith-withdraw-2020-crossfit-games/ Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Edits: Julia Brukx Episode art: Julia Donohue Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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17: Biohacking, Implants, and DIY Science with Jacob Boss 46:59

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The main topic we will be discussing together is Jacob Boss’s research on transhumanism. Transhumanism is a movement of people dedicated to using technology to transform humanity and to radically change the human condition. Jacob’s specific area of research is on a group of transhumanists known as Grinders. This group is highly interested in body modification through do-it-yourself science and technology. Jacob Boss is a doctoral candidate in Religious Studies at Indiana University. Jacob teaches widely, serving as instructor of record or associate instructor in the Departments of Religious Studies, Informatics, and the Collins Living-Learning Center . He is an editorial assistant for the Journal of the American Academy of Religion , and the co-founder of the Human Augmentation Research Network , hosted by the Center for Religion and the Human at Indiana University. He is a part of the Human Enhancement and Transhumanism unit of the American Academy of Religion . The key questions for this episode are: What does it mean to have body autonomy in an era of powerful technology? How will our ideas of self-expression change? How are grassroots movements like the grinders related to more corporatized movements within transhumanism itself? How far should we go in pursuit of new technologies that may relieve our pains and illnesses? About Jacob : https://religiousstudies.indiana.edu/about/graduate-students/boss-jacob.html https://twitter.com/jaarboss Potentially helpful links : https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/the-anatomy-riot-of-1788 https://www.wired.com/story/this-diy-implant-lets-you-stream-movies-from-inside-your-leg/ https://www.wired.com/2010/12/transcending-the-human-diy-style/ https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46442519 https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2020/10/06/a-very-kind-conversation-between-a-cyborg-and-some-biohackers/ Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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16: The Case for the Non-Profit Technology Company with Rubén Mancha 49:48

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Seth speaks with Dr. Rubén Mancha about developing more ethical business models and about the potential for a non-profit technology company. Rubén is an assistant professor of information technology at Babson College and an advisor to entrepreneurs and organizations. Rubén researches the social impact of digital technologies and digital business models, their potential for good, and the responsible digital transformation of businesses. He also acts as one of the advisors for the podcast. The key questions for this episode are: 1) Why is data valuable to businesses? 2) How can we best negotiate data sharing, data capture, and data privacy 3) Can non-profit technology companies succeed in the current marketplace? Potentially Helpful Links: https://www.whoop.com/privacy/whoop-privacy-principles/ http://www.rideaustin.com/ https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection_en Rubén's articles (may need access): Whoop article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2515127420975181 Wells Fargo article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681317301581 Article with David Nersessian and John Marthinsen: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/SRJ-09-2020-0386/full/html Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

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15: Information Asymmetry in the App Economy - The Case of the Doordash Strike 52:36

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Seth and Bernd Dürrwächter discuss the summer Doordash app strike and the state of the app economy. Bernd is principal at AnalyticDimensions.com, a consultancy for big data analytics & data science projects. On July 31st, 2021, Doordashers protested decreased wages and the striking down of the app Para, which allowed drivers to see how much they would be making in tips prior to accepting an order. The key questions to this episode are: What kind of information is important to disclose? How do we evaluate if an information asymmetry puts one party at an advantage over another? How can these relationships be negotiated in a way that will work better for both parties? Potentially Helpful Links: https://www.npr.org/2021/07/31/1023265561/why-doordash-drivers-are-on-strike https://aldianews.com/articles/politics/doordash-workers-stage-strike-over-tip-transparency-deliveries/66002 https://www.prdaily.com/doordash-responds-to-driver-strike-17-steps-for-seo-friendly-content-and-ben-jerrys-addresses-west-bank-decision/ https://gizmodo.com/doordash-is-proof-of-how-easy-it-is-to-exploit-workers-1836729119 https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2019-07-25/doordash-tipping-amazon-flex-drivers https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkbvgz/no-dasher-no-deliveries-doordash-drivers-strike-for-tip-transparency https://help.doordash.com/dashers/s/article/How-is-Dasher-pay-calculated?language=en_US https://help.doordash.com/dashers/s/article/Guaranteed-Earnings-for-Existing-Dashers?language=en_US Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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14: NFTs and the Future of Art with Timothée Mathon 54:10

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Seth interviews Timothée Mathon. Timothée is a French freelance artist. He has experience working as a Concept Artist, Art Director and Illustrator for the AAA Videogame and Movie industry (Ubisoft, Quantic Dream, Netflix, and Net Ease Games). He designed a collection of Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) and heavily advocates for the independence of artists in the industry. Samples of his work can be found here: https://www.artstation.com/theartnest . You can find his NFT collection, Crypto Rocks Rescue, on Open Sea: https://opensea.io/collection/crypto-rocks-rescue/ . You can also find his stream on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theartnest . The key questions for this episode are: what is radical about non-fungible tokens as a technology? How can NFT change the way that art and art ownership function? What new options might they give to artists? Potentially Helpful Articles : https://www.ibm.com/topics/what-is-blockchain https://www.theverge.com/22310188/nft-explainer-what-is-blockchain-crypto-art-faq https://medium.com/fabric-ventures/what-is-web-3-0-why-it-matters-934eb07f3d2b Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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13: Exploring Attention and Virtue through Science Fiction with Emanuelle Burton 58:34

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Seth interviews Dr. Emanuelle Burton. Emanuelle obtained her PhD in Religion and Literature from the. University of Chicago Divinity School. She teaches ethics in the Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago. In collaboration with Judy Goldsmith, Nicholas Mattei, Cory Siler, and Sara Jo-Swiatek, she is developing a science fiction-based ethics curriculum for computer science students. Her solo research focuses on ethical formation in science fiction and fantasy for young readers. The key questions for this episode are: how do we become the right sort of people to create worthwhile technologies? How do we prevent these technologies from distorting us and our relationships? What ethical skills will be useful for the next generation of technologists? Potentially Helpful Articles: https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/10/05/1036519/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-algorithms/?truid=&utm_source=the_download&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_term=Active%20Qualified&utm_content=10-06-2021&mc_cid=7d8eef32ea&mc_eid=836f82dd3f https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/10/day-without-facebook/620303/?mc_cid=7d8eef32ea&mc_eid=836f82dd3f https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/10/facebook-outage-likely-caused-60m-loss-impacted-small-businesses/?mc_cid=7d8eef32ea&mc_eid=836f82dd3f https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/06/mark-zuckerberg-hits-back-at-facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-claims?mc_cid=7d8eef32ea&mc_eid=836f82dd3f https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/10/05/facebook-research-data-haugen-congress-regulation/?mc_cid=7d8eef32ea&mc_eid=836f82dd3f Emanuelle's Collaborators: http://www.cs.uky.edu/~goldsmit/ https://sse.tulane.edu/cs/faculty/mattei https://divinity.uchicago.edu/directory/sara-jo-swiatek-0 https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-siler-ba6784102 Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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12: CAPTCHAs, Bots, and Informed Consent with Bernd Dürrwächter 58:58

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Seth and Bernd Dürrwächter discuss the role of CAPTCHAs and bots in our automated systems and the potential obstacle they pose to people making informed decisions. Bernd is principal at AnalyticDimensions.com, a consultancy for big data analytics & data science projects. Bernd has been advising the podcast from the beginning, using insights from his decades of industry experience. The key questions for this episode are: How can companies properly inform their users so that they can make informed decisions about what they are doing? Why is it that we have to prove to your technical systems that we are human? How should we think about the tradeoffs between security and convenience? Potentially Helpful Articles: https://www.imperva.com/blog/bad-bot-report-2021-the-pandemic-of-the-internet/ https://www.imperva.com/resources/reports/Imperva_BadBot_Report_V2.0.pdf https://xkcd.com/936/ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/04/shoshana-zuboff-surveillance-capitalism-assault-human-automomy-digital-privacy https://enlightened-digital.com/the-evolving-captcha/ https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/updated-russian-man-turns-tables-on-bank-changes-fine-print-in-credit-card-agreement-then https://www.darkpatterns.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQbjdaHIZ_k Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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11: Shared Computing, Data Analysis, and Boston University's Computing and Data Sciences Unit with Azer Bestavros 1:05:22

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Seth interviews Dr. Azer Bestavros. Azer is the Inaugural Associate Provost for Computing and Data Sciences (aka CDS) at Boston University and the William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor in the Computer Science Department, which he joined in 1991 and chaired from 2000 to 2007. He is also the Founding Director of the Hariri Institute for Computing. As he will share in this interview, Azer has worked on several major projects involving both public and private entities, looking at mathematical methods for analyzing data without compromising the privacy or the security of the data being examined. Seth asks Azer about how he initially got involved with computer science and about the development of important topics in the field, such as massive shared computing systems and privacy preserving analytics. As Azer will explain, the mathematical and technological problems were sometimes easier to solve than the social challenges of trust and adoption. The key questions for this episode are: how can computational methods and technologies be used to address social challenges? How might data be integrated into other academic disciplines? What role do computer scientists have to play in larger research questions? Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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DIGETHIX 11 Teaser 0:58

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We are really looking forward to starting up regular episodes again. The first episode of the second season will be released next week, on September 15th. Seth will be interviewing Azer Bestavros. Azer Bestavros is the Inaugural Associate Provost for Computing and Data Sciences at Boston University and the William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor in the Computer Science Department , which he joined in 1991 and chaired from 2000 to 2007. He is also the Founding Director of the Hariri Institute for Computing . As he will share in this interview, Azer has worked on several major projects involving both public and private entities, looking at mathematical methods for analyzing data without compromising the privacy or the security of the data being examined. Not only that, but Azer's work served as a major inspiration for this podcast. His insight and experience were invaluable and getting conversations like these off the ground. We hope you will join us next week! Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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10: Season Recap and State of the Podcast 30:06

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Seth reviews the first set of episodes for the DIGETHIX podcast, talking about his experience and takeaways from this season. He reviews the cover art for each episode, which were designed by Alex Nielsen and Nicole Smith, to discuss the range of themes that were discussed. A gallery of the described images can be found on our website here: https://digethix.org/podcast-10-season-recap-and-state-of-the-podcast/ The podcast will be on a break for three weeks, with regular uploads resuming again on September 1, 2021, with other content coming out on our other social media. Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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9: Pegasus NSO Spyware and the Business of Surveillance 1:00:28

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1:00:28

Seth and Bernd Dürrwächter review the Pegasus NSO Spyware scandal. Bernd is principal at AnalyticDimensions.com, a consultancy for big data analytics & data science projects. Bernd has been advising the podcast from the beginning, using insights from his decades of industry experience. The first half of the conversation goes over the details of the Pegasus scandal and other incidents that NSO has been involved with in the past. The second half turns toward the broader questions of cybersecurity and consent. The key questions for this episode are: if someone gets access to our phone or laptop, just how much reach does that person have into our life? What kinds of surveillance have been enabled by our technologies? What can we do about it? Potentially Helpful Articles: 1. https://www.theverge.com/22589942/nso-group-pegasus-project-amnesty-investigation-journalists-activists-targeted 2. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3912882,00.html 3. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2021/07/forensic-methodology-report-how-to-catch-nso-groups-pegasus/ 4. https://info.lookout.com/rs/051-ESQ-475/images/pegasus-exploits-technical-details.pdf 5. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2019/10/morocco-human-rights-defenders-targeted-with-nso-groups-spyware/ 6. https://citizenlab.ca/2016/08/million-dollar-dissident-iphone-zero-day-nso-group-uae/ Other Articles on Tracking: 1. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/location-tracking-cell-phone.html 2. https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/20/22586161/cell-phone-location-data-grindr-catholic-church-report-data-brokers Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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8: Critical Thinking and the Process of Ethics in Technology with Bernd Dürrwächter 1:06:19

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1:06:19

Seth talks to Bernd Dürrwächter, one of DIGETHIX’s advisory board members and main collaborators. Bernd is principal at AnalyticDimensions.com, a consultancy for big data analytics & data science projects. He studied computer science at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences from 1988-1992. Bernd is a seasoned practitioner in software engineering, IT architectures, business intelligence & data analytics solutions. Seth and Bernd discuss the challenges to education. They highlight how difficult it is to come to a consensus around values. The key questions for this episode are: given the value problem, how can a podcast like DIGETHIX make concrete suggestions? How can public discussion be used in conjunction with education to better equip the next generation of technologists? Potentially Helpful Links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook%E2%80%93Cambridge_Analytica_data_scandal https://cmr.berkeley.edu/2017/04/evolution-of-business-ethics/ https://www.iso.org/iso-9001-quality-management.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/technology/myanmar-facebook-genocide.html Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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7: Artificial Intelligence, Emotion, and What Makes Us Human with Dr. Noreen Herzfeld 1:01:35

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In this episode of the podcast, Seth interviews Dr. Noreen Herzfeld. Noreen is the Nicholas and Bernice Reuter Professor of Science and Religion at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict. She holds degrees in both Computer Science and Mathematics and has a Ph.D. in Theology from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. Seth talks to Noreen about the history of artificial intelligence and about cultural attitudes towards technology, especially those in transhumanism. She stresses that emotions are a key difference between us and machines and that emotions may be essential to what makes us human. The key questions for this episode are: what does it mean for a machine system to be considered intelligent? Is education really a matter of a simple information transfer? Potentially Helpful sources: https://www.loc.gov/loc/brain/emotion/Kagan.html https://www.simplypsychology.org/behaviorism.html https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/emotion-ai-explained https://news.stanford.edu/2021/02/23/four-causes-zoom-fatigue-solutions/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/feeling-our-emotions/ Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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6: Using Data to Address Inequities in Healthcare with Muhammad Ahmad 55:53

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In this episode of the Podcast, Seth interviews Muhammad Ahmad. Muhammad is an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at University of Washington and a Research Scientist at KenSci. His research areas are machine learning in healthcare, accountability and ethics in AI. His recent work is focused on foundations of machine learning and cross-cultural perspectives on AI. Muhammad’s work combines academic rigor with extensive experience in deploying machine learning systems at scale in the healthcare sector and thus first-hand knowledge of many moral and ethical dilemmas that come with it. He has published over 50 research papers in machine learning and artificial intelligence. He has a PhD in Computer Science from University of Minnesota. This episode will be the second part of our look at race and healthcare. In this interview, Seth and Muhammad explore a variety of topics. Muhammad talks about how he eventually turned his focus towards healthcare, specifically addressing discrepancies in care between different ethnic groups. He explains many technical problems in machine learning, including the challenges to applying different definitions of fairness. The key questions to this episode are: how has data served to both obscure and to illuminate discrepancies on healthcare? How can machine learning enhance our understanding of complex social problems? Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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5: Black Maternal Mortality and the Informatic Problem of Personal Experience 48:15

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Seth interviews shaunesse’ jacobs. shaunesse‘ jacobs is a Ph.D. student in the Constructive Theology and Ethics track at the Boston University’s School of Theology. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Emory University, where she also completed a Master’s of Theological Studies and a Master’s in Bioethics. She is interested in communal incorporation of religious practices and theological doctrines when facing injustices in the U.S. healthcare system, specifically around the issue of black maternal mortality. This is part one of a two-part look at how questions of race are intertwined with healthcare. In this interview, Seth talks to shaunesse about black maternal mortality in the US. Maternal mortality refers to the rate of death in childbirth per 100,000 pregnancies. The key questions for this episode are: what factors lead to discrepancies in hospital care? Why would doctors differ in their assessment of the pain that is reported by their patients? How does the question of race intertwine with the care that someone receives? What does it mean to have trust in the doctor-patient relationship? Potentially helpful links: https://www.npr.org/2017/12/07/568948782/black-mothers-keep-dying-after-giving-birth-shalon-irvings-story-explains-why https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/p0905-racial-ethnic-disparities-pregnancy-deaths.html https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/features/maternal-mortality/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6835a3.htm?s_cid=mm6835a3_w Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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4: Digitality, Photoshop, and the Audiences of Our Making 1:00:58

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In this episode of the Podcast, Seth interviews Alex Nielsen. Alex is a lead project scientist at Old Dominion University in the Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center. He is currently pursuing a PhD in scientific and technical communication from Old Dominion University. Alex’s help has also been invaluable in developing this podcast, and he has been one of our earliest advisers. In this interview, Seth talks to Alex about the aesthetics of DIGETHIX and more broadly about the concept of digitality. In other words, how has our current means of communication affected the ways in which we think about each other and even the very ways we think. The key questions for this episode are: what does it mean for something to be digital? What does it mean to expose otherwise invisible digital markers? What does it mean to have our relationships mediated digitally? If you would like to follow along with this conversation, you can find some of the images that we discuss at https://digethix.org/gallery/. If you would like to respond to this episode, you can email us at digethix@mindandculture.org, and you can find us at twitter.com/digethix and facebook.com/digethix. Potentially Help Resources: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/760702.Goodbye_to_Berlin https://www.npr.org/2014/11/13/363517842/for-decades-kodak-s-shirley-cards-set-photography-s-skin-tone-standard https://www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/articles/biblical-illumination https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45123/hymn-to-intellectual-beauty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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3: Simulation Research and Applications with F. LeRon Shults 52:14

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In this episode of the Podcast, I am interviewing Dr. F. LeRon Shults. Dr. Shults is Professor at the Institute for Global Development and Social Planning at the University of Agder, and he is the Scientific Director of the Center for Modeling Social Systems at NORCE in Kristiansand, Norway. In this interview, I talk to Dr. Shults about the discipline of computer simulation and modeling. We go over the misconceptions around simulation and how practitioners go about building simulations in the first place. While these new kinds of tools are no doubt powerful, there may also be new problems that arise with it. The key question for this episode is this: are there dangers to understanding a complex process? How and why could that be the case? LeRon has a new book, available for download through Brill Academic Open Publishing, called, Practicing Safe Sects: Religious Reproduction in Scientific and Philosophical Perspective. https://leronshultsblog.com/2020/08/24/practicing-safe-sects-book-now-open-access/ Potentially helpful sources: http://nifty.stanford.edu/2014/mccown-schelling-model-segregation/ Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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2: Neurofeedback, Technodelics, Brain Stimulation, and the New Spirit Tech with Kate Stockly 45:50

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Kate Stockly is a PhD candidate in Science, Philosophy, and Religion at Boston University’s Graduate Division of Religious Studies. her work is characterized by multidisciplinary investigation into human religiosity that aspires to harmonize the sciences and humanities. Kate recently published the book, Spirit Tech , which explores technologies of 'spiritual enhancement.' In this interview, Seth talks to Kate about her interdisciplinary training for her PhD in religion and science at Boston University, specifically about the application of scientific methods to the study of religion. In her book, Spirit Tech, Kate describes the ways in which new technologies are being developed to facilitate both connection between people and new kinds of spiritual experiences. The key questions for this episode are: what drives people to seek out novel experiences? What role might technology play in these experiences in the future? Credits: Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com Contact us: digethix.org facebook.com/digethix twitter.com/digethix instagram.com/digethixfuture EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org…

DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today

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1: Data Science, Interdisciplinary Research, and the Problem of the Humanities with Wesley Wildman 47:29

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