COMPUTER SCIENCE TODAY

COMPUTER INNOVATION

How computer innovation can have benefits, harms, and impact beyond it's initial purpose.
February 21, 2023

 Most people in the United States and other countries have started using technology everyday. With the increased use of technology comes computing innovation. Computing innovation may seem like it can only be a good thing, however there are harmful and unintended effects that come with computing innovations.
 The benefits of computing innovation can help affect our physical health and increase ease of access for communication and distributing media. The most major benefit that computing innovation gives to us is better medical technology to cure more diseases and save more lives. One such thing is a cancer-diagnosing AI like that of Shravya Shetty that would be more accurate when detecting cancer in patients. Computing innovations however can also be harmful, one of them most popular worries being the loss of jobs to AI since they can easily be more accurate and precise.
 Computing innovation may have it’s benefits and disadvantages, however it also has impact beyond its intended purposes. One such is the collection of data by corporations to increase sales on products. This might seem like a good thing for both sides, since consumers are getting things advertised to them that they want, and businesses are making more money; however in reality it leads to their selling and collecting of private information that can easily be abused. Technology is advancing almost everyday, and with each computing innovation, new harms or benefits could easily come out.

DIGITAL DIVIDE

What it is, it's factors, and how to reduce it globally and locally.
February 21, 2023

 The digital divide, what is it? It happens everyday, yet most of us are oblivious to the impact that it has on today’s society. The digital divide is the unequal access to digital technology -- creating a division and inequality around access to information and resources. This can be through smartphones, tablets, laptops, and even the internet as a whole. There are many factors to which the digital divide exists, many of them having to do with social and economic factors.
 There are many current factors that exist today that contribute to the digital divide, mostly being affected by either the simple fact of not being able to afford a device that connects to the internet or lower education. For example, the Pew Research Center states that 24% of adults with annual incomes below $30,000 don’t own a smartphone while 40% with lower incomes don’t have broadband services or a computer. For an example on how lower education contributes to the digital divide, is the fact that people with college degrees are 10 times more likely to have internet access at work than those with just a highschool diploma.
 The digital divide is obviously a problem that needs to be addressed as it has an impact on society and affects those most that are in need of support. Luckily there are possible ways to bridge the digital divide, however it is not known how long that will take or whether any action will be taken at all. For example, the United Nations have created “World Information Society Day” and the “Information and Communications Technologies Taskforce ” as efforts. We can also bridge the gap locally, by increasing funding to schools districts and low-income areas to increase the amount of technological devices that can be accessed and better internet.

COMPUTER BIAS

How there is computer bias in today's world.
February 24, 2023

 Bias is defined as “the prejudice of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way to be considered unfair.” In computers this same concept exists, however there are three categories in which computer bias exists. There is preexisting, technical, and emergent bias, all having an effect on how people use the internet everyday. Computer bias occurs in many fields of practice, and can cause real problems in the real world.
 Pre Existing bias is rooted in social practices, technical bias comes from technical constraints of considerations, and emergent bias rises from the context that it is being used. It may be hard to tell whether a computer is being biased against one person or another, but there are plenty of examples of computer bias occurring everyday. One example of computer bias is recruiting algorithms, which can be biased against certain races or genders, training itself to look for men or white candidates. Another example of computer bias is in criminal assessment tools, which determine the chance an offender will reoffend based on the person’s history. Historical data can be biased, especially since people of color. This is a major problem, since this information can be used to influence judicial processes.
 Solving computer bias can be difficult, due to technical constraints of consideration and pre existing bias in current social systems, however there are a few ways to counteract the current bias in computers. One that is certainly possible to achieve soon is using diverse data sets that represent the entire population when creating algorithms. This would eliminate much of the social bias, and although not perfect, could definitely make up for some of the technical constraints of consideration. Bias is something that will be difficult to fix, however there are definitely solutions to lower or even completely eliminate computer bias.

CROWDSOURCING

What is crowdsourcing and is it good?
February 24, 2023

 Crowdsourcing is a process in which work, opinions, and/or information is obtained through a large group of people who submit their ideas on the web. People who work in the crowdsourcing field can sometimes be paid, and other times they could be volunteering their work or information. This has a huge impact on the corporate world, allowing companies to save a lot of time and money while still getting the required skills that are needed. Crowdsourcing also allows for companies to hire people from around the country, or even the world, expanding the potential for companies to grow.
 A popular real world example of crowdsourcing being successful in non-corporate markets are websites that are purely dedicated to crowdsourcing. It doesn’t usually solve large tasks, but it can solve smaller tasks like art, voice acting, or proofreading. The best example is Fiverr, one of the most successful crowdsourcing websites that perform tasks like this. There are many benefits to sites like this and also corporate companies using crowdsourcing. A common benefit to crowdsourcing is a lot of money saved. Instead of housing many employees into a costly workspace, it can hire people from home or from other parts of the world that can do the work without having to pay for the cost of the employees living there. Companies also save costs by allowing multiple crowdsourced people to work on a single project that could have only been assigned to one employee.
 Although there are many benefits to crowdsourcing, there are also many disadvantages that come with it. For one, the crowd that is being sourced could be completely incompetent or have no idea how to do their job correctly. Also, since there is a large crowd working on the project instead of just a few employees who probably have confidentiality in their project, the word getting out about the project you're working on could be more likely. Overall, crowdsourcing is definitely an interesting way to complete work more cheaply and more efficiently, but there are definitely disadvantages to using crowdsourcing as a method for completing work.

LEGAL & ETHICAL ISSUES

How computing raises legal and ethical issues.
February 24, 2023

 Before computers were ever invented, nobody could imagine that there would be ethical and legal issues concerning software and hardware. However today these problems are everywhere and affect the way people interact with computers and have created new concerns in the world of data and security. The most common issues raised by this topic are the issues of online copyright, whether online crimes are “victimless” and whether or not storing the information of different individuals on hardware is an invasion of privacy.
 A common computer crime that usually ends with the offender getting no repercussions for their actions is when the person steals funds through a computer. For the person to even be able to commit this computer heist, the person has to be smart enough in the first place to manipulate the computer and have some way to access the funds whether they’re an employee or not. The punishment for such a crime is usually just the return of the stolen money or if that person was an employee, their job. However the probability of that person getting hired by a competitor for them being able to pull off this “heist” in the first place is a possibility. The most talked about ethical and legal issue of today is computer privacy. Today information can be easily exchanged at the press of the button, allowing one person to expose all of their private information whether intentionally or not. The main issue with this issue is that many large corporate companies collect their own personal data on individuals, so there is rarely any punishment for such a crime.
 The legal and ethical issues of computing raises many concerns about laws that concern computers. Just because a large company is the one collecting and possibly even selling personal data, is it okay for there to be no punishment? Should people who are skiled at manipulating a computer be hired for their skills even though they stole data or funds from a company? These are common questions that are important to how we will interact with the web concerning our own personal information and funds.

SAFE COMPUTING

The importance of safe computing/
February 24, 2023

 In today’s world, safe computing is a necessity -- whether you’re just using a computer for personal use or you’re a large corporation that needs to protect information and funds. At the click of a button important personal information like passwords, social security numbers, and IP addresses can be taken if people are not precautious when browsing the internet. Safe computing requires diligence in both the real world and online, and there are some steps you can take to minimize the danger and practice safe computing.
 It may not seem like it, but physical devices like laptops and phones can be easily accessed if left unattended and in the open. A skilled hacker or criminal will be able to access devices, so if possible try to keep them on you or in a secure place at all times. It is definitely true that you should practice safe computing in the real world, however the most common form for attacks on your devices to happen is online. For example, public wifi networks may seem convenient, but they are a perfect place for attacks on your device to happen. Many people have access to the internet you are using, and the data you use can be monitored by any interested party. These are just two examples of ways that you can practice safe computing.
 The internet has allowed us to access information and news at incredible speeds, however that does not change the fact that with new innovations, new dangers form. WIth these new dangers, people need to practice safe computing in order to keep their personal information safe from criminals in an age where it is easier than ever to access data.