4 thoughts on “Leadership Academy sponsored event “Your (Ethical) North Star.””
This past Saturday, I woke up bright and early to attend the “Your (Ethical) North Star” seminar, initially feeling a little reluctant to attend. However, that feeling quickly went away after the first activity. We were asked to wander around and read the large posters hung up on the walls. It was very intriguing to read about the rapid advancements in our technology and how the impact that it makes on society can be easily overlooked. Implementing all this fancy and powerful technology could be dangerous in the wrong hands. Like they say, “with great power, comes great responsibility”. I think it is important for every student in a field of technology to understand how their work will impact the world. In the next activity we chose from a list of values that were most important to us. It made me ponder the impact that I want to leave on the world based on what is right. I learned that the reach of computer science is limitless and that it is up to us to use it correctly. In order to use it correctly we should always keep in mind the consequences of our work and whether it follows some sort of ethics.
Andrea and I really struggled to get up early on a Saturday morning, but oddly enough, despite all our complaining, we got up and got ready to leave. Once we got there, we noticed how many people there were and realized that this was probably going to be more interesting than we thought. “We all still persisted to come here despite not wanting to, so it must be something good!” I said. Many of the activities we participated were very unique, and something I had never seen before. Our first activity was a gallery walk, where we read about different technologies and their possible ethical impact, watched a documentary called “Do You Trust This Computer?” and determined 5 words we thought described our values. I found that picking just 5 words was incredibly challenging for me, and had to pick 10, and dwindle my list down. My favorite part had to be watching the documentary “Do You Trust This Computer” I found it really interesting, and got to hear opinions on the ethics of technology from various big names such as Elon Musk. After every activity, we got the chance to have a great conversation with individuals at our table, and we met 5 other girls who had interesting things to say about the ethics of social media companies developing targeted ads.
Wow! I had been waiting for this event for a long time. On Saturday morning, I was super excited to attend my first Leadership Academy seminar. I was told by many that the speaker was going to be engaging and I was not disappointed.
This four-hour seminar discussed the importance of the many ethical consequences regarding today’s advancing technologies including, but not limited to, the future and current job displacement with the automation of jobs like cashiering and professional driving, discrimination against groups of people via. algorithmic bias (Facebook ads, China’s Social Credit Rating), health concerns derived from the institution of new 5G networks, and the fact that, in general, lawmakers and ethicists are leagues behind the technological curve.
The morning started with an opening activity. There were posters adhered to all the walls, with each giving an overview of a specific technology or STEM field. Our job was to walk around and note ethical concerns that may arise from these different technologies. This was interesting, as everyone in my group approached ethical concerns differently.
Next, we were given a list of personal values to choose from and told to choose the ones that meant the most to us. Something new that I learned about myself is that I value a lot more of those “ethical foundations” than I initially thought I would.
Following this, was a break and the screening of “Do You Trust This Computer?” This movie was definitely over the top but brought about some real concerns that exist in many fields, like Computer Science. Ethics aren’t necessarily at the top of the priority list of every technological innovator. While everything has ramifications, more thought could go into some of the decisions that tech companies, for example, make when developing and marketing their technologies.
Lastly, we ended the day with a conversation regarding making these ethical decisions ourselves. I thought that this part of the overall program was extremely important. Talking about these issues is one thing, but leaving with a way to enact action and use this information in our daily lives is another thing entirely.
I will definitely be attending the next Leadership Academy event and am extremely grateful for this experience.
Just as Builtworlds was my first hackathon, Your (Ethical) North Star would also be my first leadership seminar. I had no idea what I would be doing during a seminar but I was excited to go.
Your Ethical North Star was presented by Dr. Scott J Allen. In this fast-paced session, he gave us a basic understanding of ethical decision making. He also talked about values, principals, virtues, and the difference between them. The last point was exploring a model that could serve as a virtual North Star in difficult and challenging times. Throughout the four-hour session, we watched a film, did activities together, and reflected on ourselves. One of the activities was circling five virtues that we thought were essential. I ended up choosing honesty, selfless, ambition, dedication, and discipline. This activity taught me what I valued in people and in myself.
Although this activity was not related to computer science in any way, I did learn things that I could apply to computer science. To succeed in this field, I must have dedication and discipline. Computer science is not an easy subject and I must put my mind to it to do well in classes. If I slack a little, my grades will show. I also have to maintain honesty in classes and do my work without cheating. So even though this seminar did not directly relate to computer science, I was able to learn things that I could apply to computer science.
I most definitely would attend an event like this again. It was fun, fast-paced, and I learned so much in such a short period of time.
This past Saturday, I woke up bright and early to attend the “Your (Ethical) North Star” seminar, initially feeling a little reluctant to attend. However, that feeling quickly went away after the first activity. We were asked to wander around and read the large posters hung up on the walls. It was very intriguing to read about the rapid advancements in our technology and how the impact that it makes on society can be easily overlooked. Implementing all this fancy and powerful technology could be dangerous in the wrong hands. Like they say, “with great power, comes great responsibility”. I think it is important for every student in a field of technology to understand how their work will impact the world. In the next activity we chose from a list of values that were most important to us. It made me ponder the impact that I want to leave on the world based on what is right. I learned that the reach of computer science is limitless and that it is up to us to use it correctly. In order to use it correctly we should always keep in mind the consequences of our work and whether it follows some sort of ethics.
Andrea and I really struggled to get up early on a Saturday morning, but oddly enough, despite all our complaining, we got up and got ready to leave. Once we got there, we noticed how many people there were and realized that this was probably going to be more interesting than we thought. “We all still persisted to come here despite not wanting to, so it must be something good!” I said. Many of the activities we participated were very unique, and something I had never seen before. Our first activity was a gallery walk, where we read about different technologies and their possible ethical impact, watched a documentary called “Do You Trust This Computer?” and determined 5 words we thought described our values. I found that picking just 5 words was incredibly challenging for me, and had to pick 10, and dwindle my list down. My favorite part had to be watching the documentary “Do You Trust This Computer” I found it really interesting, and got to hear opinions on the ethics of technology from various big names such as Elon Musk. After every activity, we got the chance to have a great conversation with individuals at our table, and we met 5 other girls who had interesting things to say about the ethics of social media companies developing targeted ads.
Wow! I had been waiting for this event for a long time. On Saturday morning, I was super excited to attend my first Leadership Academy seminar. I was told by many that the speaker was going to be engaging and I was not disappointed.
This four-hour seminar discussed the importance of the many ethical consequences regarding today’s advancing technologies including, but not limited to, the future and current job displacement with the automation of jobs like cashiering and professional driving, discrimination against groups of people via. algorithmic bias (Facebook ads, China’s Social Credit Rating), health concerns derived from the institution of new 5G networks, and the fact that, in general, lawmakers and ethicists are leagues behind the technological curve.
The morning started with an opening activity. There were posters adhered to all the walls, with each giving an overview of a specific technology or STEM field. Our job was to walk around and note ethical concerns that may arise from these different technologies. This was interesting, as everyone in my group approached ethical concerns differently.
Next, we were given a list of personal values to choose from and told to choose the ones that meant the most to us. Something new that I learned about myself is that I value a lot more of those “ethical foundations” than I initially thought I would.
Following this, was a break and the screening of “Do You Trust This Computer?” This movie was definitely over the top but brought about some real concerns that exist in many fields, like Computer Science. Ethics aren’t necessarily at the top of the priority list of every technological innovator. While everything has ramifications, more thought could go into some of the decisions that tech companies, for example, make when developing and marketing their technologies.
Lastly, we ended the day with a conversation regarding making these ethical decisions ourselves. I thought that this part of the overall program was extremely important. Talking about these issues is one thing, but leaving with a way to enact action and use this information in our daily lives is another thing entirely.
I will definitely be attending the next Leadership Academy event and am extremely grateful for this experience.
Just as Builtworlds was my first hackathon, Your (Ethical) North Star would also be my first leadership seminar. I had no idea what I would be doing during a seminar but I was excited to go.
Your Ethical North Star was presented by Dr. Scott J Allen. In this fast-paced session, he gave us a basic understanding of ethical decision making. He also talked about values, principals, virtues, and the difference between them. The last point was exploring a model that could serve as a virtual North Star in difficult and challenging times. Throughout the four-hour session, we watched a film, did activities together, and reflected on ourselves. One of the activities was circling five virtues that we thought were essential. I ended up choosing honesty, selfless, ambition, dedication, and discipline. This activity taught me what I valued in people and in myself.
Although this activity was not related to computer science in any way, I did learn things that I could apply to computer science. To succeed in this field, I must have dedication and discipline. Computer science is not an easy subject and I must put my mind to it to do well in classes. If I slack a little, my grades will show. I also have to maintain honesty in classes and do my work without cheating. So even though this seminar did not directly relate to computer science, I was able to learn things that I could apply to computer science.
I most definitely would attend an event like this again. It was fun, fast-paced, and I learned so much in such a short period of time.