[SIGCIS-Members] Some suggestions on the early history of the ethics of AI

Mon Apr 23 07:54:13 PDT 2018

I would add the seminal text by AI and HCI pioneer Terry Winograd and his
colleague Fernando Flores:

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Computers-Cognition-Foundation-Design/dp/0201112973

And of course the seminal paper below:

https://hearingbrain.org/docs/letvin_ieee_1959.pdf

On Mon, Apr 23, 2018 at 7:34 AM, Jamie Cohen-Cole <jcohencole at gwu.edu>
wrote:

> Hi Kevin, Debbie
>
> I also pair the two Weizenbaum texts.  For the book I use chapters 1,6 (on
> computer models of the mind), and the last (on dangers of instrumental
> reason).  When I have seniors then the chapter on programmers as gambling
> addicts has worked well to stimulate discussion especially after they have
> read Dreyfus’ Rand paper.
>
> Which chapters do you use, Kevin?
>
> Jamie Cohen-Cole
> Associate Professor
> Department of American Studies
> George Washington University
> 2108 G Street
> Washington, DC 20052
> ph: 202-994-7244
> fax: 202-994-8651
>
> On Apr 23, 2018, at 9:05 AM, Kevin Driscoll <kdriscoll at alum.mit.edu>
> wrote:
>
> Dear Debbie,
>
> I've found that some familiarity with the ELIZA chatbot is helpful for
> students learning about the history of AI. ELIZA appears often in later
> literature and provides a generative starting point for thinking about the
> social and political consequences of AI in society.
>
> In a media studies course about programming, I ask students to compare
> passages from Weizenbaum's 1966 paper and 1976 follow-up book:
> - Weizenbaum, J. (1966). ELIZA: A Computer Program for the Study of
> Natural Language Communication Between Man and Machine. Commun. ACM, 9(1),
> 36–45. https://doi.org/10.1145/365153.365168
> - Weizenbaum, J. (1976). Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to
> Calculation (1st edition). San Francisco: W H Freeman & Co.
>
> There are also lots of ELIZAs living on the web for them to play with,
> e.g.:
> - http://www.masswerk.at/elizabot/
> - https://www.smallsurething.com/implementing-the-famous-
> eliza-chatbot-in-python/
>
> Plus, the racist meltdown of Microsoft's Tay in 2016 offers an extension
> into the present:
> - https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/24/11297050/tay-microsoft-chatbot-racist
>
> Best of luck to you and your student!
>
> Kevin Driscoll
> University of Virginia
>
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 23, 2018 at 3:55 AM, Alberts, Gerard <g.alberts at uva.nl> wrote:
>
>> Dear Deborah,
>> The crucial book is Hubert L. Dreyfus, *What computers still can't do. A
>> critique of artificial reason* (MIT, 1972. 1992). *The original What
>> computers can't do*, is basically a philosophical argumentation. The
>> revised edition has an ample introduction offering a most readible
>> historical view of the debate as it evolved.
>> AI from its very inception in the 1950s has been accompanied with
>> debates. These debates may have been different in Europe from the US; just
>> like the automation debate in the 1950s was predominantly a socio-economic
>> debate in the US, and when it landed in Europe it had turned into a
>> cultural debate.
>> Our colleague Dick van Lente (University of Rotterdam) published on these
>> issues.
>>
>> I do read Dreyfus with graduate students. For undergraduates I find J.
>> David Bolter, *Turing's man* (from 1984!) still very readible. To
>> students in CS or AI it will always serve as an eye-opener to the
>> worldviews implicit in their discipline - which to me is the key element of
>> an ethical reflection course.
>> Kind regards,
>> Gerard Alberts, University of Amsterdam
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> *Van:* Members [members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org] namens Deborah Douglas
>> [ddouglas at mit.edu]
>> *Verzonden:* maandag 23 april 2018 3:21
>> *Aan:* members
>> *Onderwerp:* [SIGCIS-Members] Some suggestions on the early history of
>> the ethics of AI
>>
>> I am appealing to the collective for some quick recommendations to help
>> one of my undergraduates interested in the early history of ethics and
>> artificial intelligence.  What sorts of articles or books have others used
>> in their classes with undergraduates to help them understand the key issues
>> and concerns?
>>
>> Many thanks,
>>
>> Debbie Douglas
>>
>> *Deborah G. Douglas, PhD* • Director of Collections and Curator of
>> Science and Technology, MIT Museum, Room N51-209 • 265 Massachusetts Avenue
>> • Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 • http://web.mit.edu/museum  •
>> http://museum.mit.edu/150 • ddouglas at mit.edu •  617-253-1766 phone  •
>>  617-253-8994 fax
>>
>>
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