CS 4002 Robots and Society
Spring 2008
TR 9:35-10:55
College of Computing 102
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/AY2008/cs4002_spring/
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Instructor: Zsolt Kira, zkira@cc, TA 238 Technology Square Research Building, Office hours: M,Th 1:30-2:30PM |
Required Texts: Digital People: From Bionic Humans to
Androids Robo Sapiens: Evolution of a New Species |
General Information
Robots and Society examines the role and impact of robotics, distributed
sensing and actuation, ubiquitous computing and related technology in society.
Robots and Society is an alternative to Computers in Society (CS 4001), and
satisfies the required course on ethics for Computing majors. Like 4001, it is
not a typical computer science course. Here we are less interested in the
technical content of computing and robots, and focus instead on the effects of such technology on individuals, organizations, and
society, paying close attention to what your responsibilities are as a
computing professional.
There will not be any programming in this
class, but you will do a lot of reading, a lot of analyzing, and a lot of
communicating (both orally and in writing). Although there are some lectures,
this is not a lecture course. Getting the most out of this course (including
the best grade) will require your active participation throughout the semester.
On any given issue, you may be asked to critique reading assignments from a
variety of readings or to summarize group discussions or positions... but don't
worry, it should still be fun.
Objectives
There are several outcomes for the course. By
its end, you should be able to:
· Communicate and argue coherently with others about
technology and its impacts both in writing and orally
· Engage in the global debate on the ethical issues that
arise from robotic technology, identifying the salient issues and evaluating
the reasoning behind them
· Achieve and demonstrate a more than adequate writing ability
· Understand and explain the consequences of your
profession on individuals, organizations, and society.
· Understand and explain the importance of all these
issues
You will be challenged to broaden your
understanding by learning something of the history of robotics, the
similarities and differences in public attitudes and policies concerning
robotics in the U.S. and in other countries. Some of these issues are unique to
robotics; others arise in the context of computing in general as well as in other
technologies; still others are new manifestations of more general ethical,
political and constitutional law issues.
You will have ample opportunity to analyze
critically various situations and descriptions in papers, books, on the web,
and from your own observations.
You will be able to practice your ability to
communicate by writing coherent and well-structured critiques of situations and
papers, researching and organizing a longer paper, and leading and
participating in class discussions and debates.
A detailed topical outline is given below.
The actual schedule is available as well.
Teaching this Course
The primary purpose of this course is to help
you develop into a responsible and effective professional, and that means
having a basic understanding of and sensitivity to the ethical issues and
principles of our field.
This is not going to happen with a professor
lecturing at you about Kant (although this will happen as it turns out). As is
the case in most courses, this is less about teaching and more about learning.
Our role is to assist you in this process, and to provide enough structure so
that a class of forty students can do this effectively.
If we think in terms of data structures, the
fundamental one here is the thoughtful dialogue. We will make extensive use
classroom discussions and writing assignments. You will be given many
opportunities to express your positions on a variety of situations where
robotics is having or may one day have an impact. Equally, you will be expected
to read and listen critically to the arguments of others, and to demonstrate
that you have done so.
This is not a debate course. The goal is not
to persuade others with your rhetorical skill--though you will develop the
skills to do so--nor is it to "win" the argument. The goal is to gain
a better appreciation and understanding of how robotics is changing society and
what your responsibilities should be as an effective professional.
In line with this, you are entitled to your
opinions on these topics, whatever they happen to be. You will not be penalized
for your positions even when we might think said position is insane; however,
you must be able to support your
arguments effectively. This means showing that you have actually given a
position some thought and can discuss the various trade-offs and implications
of the position you have chosen. This also means that you should be able take
any side of an issue and explain it and argue for it sympathetically, even
though your personal views may be different.
Disclaimer
We reserve the right to modify any of these plans as need be during the course of the class; however, we will not do anything capriciously, anything that is changed will not be too drastic, and you will be informed as far in advance as possible.