Hacks 1

Write summary/thoughts/conclusions from each of the exercises above. Focus on avoiding Bias in algorithms or code you write.

Computer Bias

Earlier we talked about beneficial and harmful effects of computing. Such conversation often lead to conversations on computer bias, particularly when bias creates a harmful effect.

As programmers, you now have the possibility of creating algorithms. It has been said, “Humans are error-prone and biased”. So, does that mean algorithms and the computers they run on are better?

  • No, while humans are fallible and biased, computers and algorithms can be more biased and fixed.

Intentional or Purposeful bias

Google “What age groups use Facebook” vs “… TikTok”? What does the data say? Is there purposeful exclusion in these platforms? Is it harmful? Should it be corrected? Is it good business?

  • People who use facebook are mostly older people, and people who use tiktok should be teenagers or younger people

Why do virtual assistants have female voices? Amazon, Alexa Google, Apple Siri. Was this purposeful? Is it harmful? Should it be corrected? Is it good business?

  • I think it’s because generally women’s voices are clearer, easier to hear, and gentler, so they adopt the virtual assistant as the default for women’s voices.

Talk about an algorithm that influences your decisions, think about these companies (ie FAANG - Facebook, Amazon, Apple,Netflix, Google) Google’s big data algorithm will recommend suitable ads for you based on the web pages you browse and what you search for

As Pairs (5 minutes) Watch the video… HP computers are racist Come up with some thoughts on the video and be ready to discuss them as I call on you. Here are some ideas… Does the owner of the computer think this was intentional? If yes or no, justify you conclusion. How do you think this happened? Is this harmful? Was it intended to be harmful or exclude? Should it be corrected? What would you or should you do to produce a better outcome?

  • I think this is not intentional, but because the computer algorithm can not recognize the face of black people, so it creates the illusion that the computer is a racist phenomenon. This is harmful because this camera can not monitor the crime of black people. The source of the cause of bias in the code should be identified and solved or improved.

Hacks 2

CompSci has 150 ish principles students. Describe a crowdsource idea and how you might initiate it in our environment? What about Del Norte crowdsourcing? Could your project be better with crowdsourcing? What kind of data could you capture at N@tM to make evening interesting? Perhaps use this data to impress Teachers during finals week.

  • Open online collaboration. One person makes an announcement and others divide up the work to solve problems or make comments.Del Norte crowdsourcing is, for example, posting announcements on canvas, or broadcasting announcements for students to share their opinions like food survey. Yes, we can ask questions to teachers and classmates on slack to solve the problems and improve the quality of the project when we do the project.