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1 Introduction
Pages 9-22

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From page 9...
... Concerns such as these and others have led to increasing calls for governments to act both in making wiser decisions about their own use of computing technology and in revising regulations or implementing new ones. Furthermore, computing research has an obligation to support human flourishing, thriving societies, and a healthy planet.
From page 10...
... This general-purpose nature means that computing research can affect a wide diversity of applications, contexts, and societal domains. Computing researchers thus need to be especially thoughtful, creative, and dili gent when considering potential societal and ethical implications of their work, and they need to be assiduous in describing the intended uses and limitations of that work.2 1 F.P.
From page 11...
... Sustained and patient research investment is often needed to realize the full potential of computing re search. For example, machine learning research started more than five decades ago, saw its first significant commercial applications in the early 1990s, and dramatically acceler ated in impact a decade ago enabled by a combination of new algorithms, new sources of training data from an increasingly interconnected and digitized society, and advances in computing hardware.4 Other times, the rich connections in the technology innovation ecosystem and the availability of funding from venture capital or well-resourced firms make it possible for research ideas to be deployed quickly and on a large scale.5 One recent example is the use of machine learning to predict advertising clickthrough rates.
From page 12...
... 1.3 THE NATURE OF THE COMPUTING RESEARCH ECOSYSTEM Many actors participate in the multi-step translation of research results into deployed algorithms, devices and systems, including researchers, research sponsors, entrepre neurs, investors, and corporate leaders. The roles played by the various participants in 12 FOSTERING RESPONSIBLE COMPUTING RESEARCH
From page 13...
... Furthermore, choices among research topics and research methods are determinative of possible computing technologies. In focusing on computing research, this study considers how ethical and societal impact challenges can be addressed at this consequential foundational stage, and the practical steps that computing researchers, the research community as a whole, research sponsors, and research-performing institutions can take toward fostering the development of computing technologies that more often serve social good and less often cause harm.
From page 14...
... Ethics is concerned with doing good as well as avoiding harm. Consideration of ethical and societal impacts in computing research thus includes both proactive research to create computing technologies that do (more)
From page 15...
... 1.5 SOURCES OF ETHICAL AND SOCIETAL IMPACT CHALLENGES As discussed at greater length in Chapter 3, the ethical and societal impact challenges raised by computing technologies arise from various sources. For example, some chal lenges derive from people, societies, and the functioning of governmental and other organizations -- arising, for example, from conflicting values and goals of different stakeholders.
From page 16...
... In many cases, this work will involve collaboration with ethicists and social and behavioral scientists. 1.6 A BRIEF HISTORY OF CONCERNS Attention to the ethical and societal impact challenges posed by computing technologies dates back to the earliest days of computers.
From page 17...
... In a 1985 essay, James Moor cited the "logical malleability" of computers -- they "can be shaped and molded to do any activity that can be characterized in terms of inputs, outputs, and connectivity logical operations" -- and anticipated that "in the coming decades many human activities and social institutions will be transformed by computer technology and that this transforming effect of computerization will raise a wide range of issues for computer ethics."10 The 1980s also saw the founding of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) , a nongovernmental organization that focused in its early days on the risks posed by the growing use of software for military applications such as the Strategic Defense Initiative.
From page 18...
... Computing technology's spread has raised new issues and spurred growing recog nition of the ethical and societal impacts that arise from computing research and tech nologies. One manifestation of this change is that universities are exploring new ways of incorporating ethics into computing courses and curricula.12 Another is that civil society organizations, other outside observers, and even former employees are calling attention to value trade-offs being made by industry that they characterize as harmful to society.
From page 19...
... There are many ways that computing researchers can take into account the broader context: • Sufficiently deep grounding in the intended application domains. Where computing research is concerned with use in a particular application or con text, for example, in such sectors as health care, education, or transportation, computing research will benefit from researchers at a minimum engaging with experts in that application area and potentially including such experts as part of the research team.
From page 20...
... The recommendations also describe steps research institu tions and research sponsors need to take to facilitate and support such efforts. 1.8 STUDY APPROACH Responsibilities for computing technologies' effects on people and society progress from research to product and service deployment.
From page 21...
... The recommendations are also designed for use by government funding agencies as well as industry and philanthropic research sponsors. In keeping with its statement of task, this report does not provide recommendations for government regulation of computing technologies including corporate computing research, but it does discuss ways that the computing research community can help inform government action in this space.
From page 22...
... In some cases, the recommendations constrain research explicitly and call for direct action by computing researchers, while in others they speak to the roles researchers have in assisting those deploying computing research outcomes and technologies to use them in ways that take into account their limitations as well as strengths.


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