EET Paper Topics
Paper 1
Write an argumentative paper on EXACTLY ONE of the following topics (do not write about more than one!):
1. Ownership: Do people own the data from their online activities? Do they own some types of data and not others (e.g., search and browsing history, purchase history, viewing history, text and images posted on various platforms and sites)? What are the implications of data ownership for respectful practices around the collection and use of online data?
2. Privacy: Which data should be considered private, and why? Is there any data which should never be accessed by companies, even with consent?
3. Manipulation: In what ways do new technologies allow for the manipulation of consumer behaviors, and when is manipulation unacceptable (if ever)? Should manipulative ads and media be treated like deceptive ads and media?
4. Transformative Impact: Which long-term impacts of a new technology is a company responsible for, and which impacts is it not responsible for? If new types of media are transforming the society and well-being of users in negative ways, but users have (on the face of it) consented to this, what are the specific obligations of companies to prevent or mitigate this impact?
If you would like to write about another topic, you must discuss it with me to get permission first.
The paper is argumentative, which means you will present a clear thesis (which should be obvious from p.1) in the form of a corporate policy, and then you will justify that policy in a way that is designed to convince the skeptical reader. Imagine that you are trying to convince people who take the opposite position. You should identify a range of positions/policies which disagree with your own, and make it clear why we should adopt your recommendation. If you are arguing for a policy which no reasonable person could disagree with, it's not an interesting or substantive ethical debate.
You must make use of at least one normative theory (Consequentialism, Negative Rights, Positive Rights, Agent Based Theories) which will be used to justify your corporate policy. I strongly recommend discussing the normative theory in a bit of detail, how it works and why we should adopt it. I also recommend NOT discussing other normative theories in detail. However, you may raise them as objections (e.g., "a natural rights libertarian, who only values non-interference with basic protections of life, liberty, and property, might object...").
You must discuss at least one real case-study to ground the discussion, which may be taken from the readings, lectures, or your own research. I recommend focusing on one case-study in detail, and mentioning others as either complimentary or contrast cases. It should be clear how your proposed corporate policy will extend to other cases.
The paper must be a minimum of 7 complete double-spaced pages, and a maximum of 8 complete double-spaced pages. This does not include the works cited, title page, or intro heading. You may use any formatting or citation style (e.g., MLA, APA, footnotes or endnotes, etc.), as long as it is consistent throughout. If you are using LaTex, please only submit the output file (in PDF). Whatever document software you are using, I strongly recommend submitting the file to Canvas as a PDF to preserve all formatting.
I expect you to make use of the class readings as a primary source, as well as relevant secondary sources from academic sources. Sources like Wikipedia and YouTube may be a good starting point, but they are not rigorous and reliable source material for a term paper. For ethics materials, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is an excellent peer-reviewed resource written by experts in the field, which you can cite properly and use as a launching point for bibliographic materials.
Feel free to see me in office hours to talk about outlines and drafts. I do not read drafts that you email me (unless there is a specific question associated with it), I will read through it with you in person and discuss it.
Finally: do not procrastinate!
Paper 2
Write an argumentative paper on EXACTLY ONE of the following topics (do not write about more than one!):
1. Explainable AI: How interpretable does an AI model need to be for a certain domain of application (e.g., hiring, lending, medicine, transportation, etc.)? What sorts of explanations (if any) do companies owe those who are impacted by the decisions of an AI model?
2. Algorithmic Discrimination / Fairness: How do AI models discriminate and/or produce unfair decisions, and what standards should companies hold AI models to in order to avoid this?
3. AI Safety: How do we evaluate the safety of a product which "makes decisions" for itself which the company cannot predict? What sorts of hard constraints should be put into AI models in a certain domain of application (e.g., autonomous vehicles, generative AI, etc.)?
If you would like to write about another topic, you must discuss it with me to get permission first.
The paper is argumentative, which means you will present a clear thesis (which should be obvious from p.1) in the form of a corporate policy, and then you will justify that policy in a way that is designed to convince the skeptical reader. Imagine that you are trying to convince people who take the opposite position. You should identify a range of positions/policies which disagree with your own, and make it clear why we should adopt your recommendation. If you are arguing for a policy which no reasonable person could disagree with, it's not an interesting or substantive ethical debate.
You must make use of at least one normative theory (Consequentialism, Negative Rights, Positive Rights, Agent Based Theories) which will be used to justify your corporate policy. I strongly recommend discussing the normative theory in a bit of detail, how it works and why we should adopt it. I also recommend NOT discussing other normative theories in detail. However, you may raise them as objections (e.g., "a natural rights libertarian, who only values non-interference with basic protections of life, liberty, and property, might object...").
You must discuss at least one real case-study to ground the discussion, which may be taken from the readings, lectures, or your own research. I recommend focusing on one case-study in detail, and mentioning others as either complimentary or contrast cases. It should be clear how your proposed corporate policy will extend to other cases.
The paper must be a minimum of 7 complete double-spaced pages, and a maximum of 8 complete double-spaced pages. This does not include the works cited, title page, or intro heading. You may use any formatting or citation style (e.g., MLA, APA, footnotes or endnotes, etc.), as long as it is consistent throughout. If you are using LaTex, please only submit the output file (in PDF). Whatever document software you are using, I strongly recommend submitting the file to Canvas as a PDF to preserve all formatting.
I expect you to make use of the class readings as a primary source, as well as relevant secondary sources from academic sources. Sources like Wikipedia and YouTube may be a good starting point, but they are not rigorous and reliable source material for a term paper. For ethics materials, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is an excellent peer-reviewed resource written by experts in the field, which you can cite properly and use as a launching point for bibliographic materials.
Feel free to see me in office hours to talk about outlines and drafts. I do not read drafts that you email me (unless there is a specific question associated with it), I will read through it with you in person and discuss it.
Finally: do not procrastinate!