DP Digital Society Questionbank

A computer program uses data provided by a rain sensor to decide whether to water the trees. Identify three ways how the algorithm may be represented.

The farmers of Chacra Province are concerned about the provincial government using a computer model to determine the amount of water they will be allowed to use to water their fruit trees.

To what extent should the farmers of Chacra Province rely on their knowledge and experience, rather than the computer-based solution provided by the provincial government, to manage the watering of the fruit trees?

Evaluate Kinakora National Park’s decision to use computer modelling to develop strategies for dealing with wildfires.  

To what extent should pattern recognition in AI systems be trusted to make decisions about sending real-time alerts to the police?

Identify the steps used by speech-to-text software.

Identify the steps that the GPS receiver in Jaime’s sports watch uses to show the routes of his training runs.

The development of mobile health apps has changed the way citizens manage their own health and well-being.

Discuss whether citizens like Jaime should rely only on the advice of a health app to manage their own health and well-being.

Matt Earle, the CEO of SBE Cruise Lines, has been investigating using artificial intelligence (AI) systems to track passengers and suggest activities they may wish to take part in when they interact with the touch screens on the ship. Some of his colleagues have concerns about taking this approach.

To what extent should Matt rely on the recommendations from the AI system to suggest activities to passengers?

Identify the steps taken by the luggage control system to decide which conveyor belt to choose when a bag reaches a junction between two conveyor belts.

Identify two characteristics of an algorithm.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using machine learning to predict natural disasters like earthquakes.

Smart warehouse

Greenwood Industries’ warehouse uses a smart storage solution for the picking of products from the shelves of the warehouse. Robots are used in this automated picking process.

Currently, these robots are programmed to access a knowledge base* that enables these robots to use the most efficient route for the picking of products.

Greenwood Industries claims the picking process would be improved if the expert system was replaced by an artificial neural network (ANN).

Discuss whether Greenwood Industries should replace the existing system with one that uses an artificial neural network (ANN).

* knowledge base: a set of rules that are manually input into an expert system.

Explain why an autonomous vehicle may not choose the best route from Miketon to Towbro, the regional centre.

With reference to the stimulus material above and to your own inquiries, recommend the digital intervention(s) that the council should choose to address the challenge of ensuring mobility associated with living in towns such as Miketon.

Identify two ways how Umair could have represented the algorithms prior to writing his software code.

Outline one reason why Umair used these representations of the algorithms prior to writing the software code.

Outline one problem that may arise if proprietary software rather than open-source software is used to develop algorithms.

Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of e-voting.

Companies such as Panasonic will not make the data in computer models available to governments, as they are concerned that doing so would compromise their commercial interests.

Discuss whether governments should be able to make private companies such as Panasonic share their data.

Should we completely automate journalism?

Some of the news articles that you read are written by automated journalism software. This software uses algorithms and natural language generators to turn facts and trends into news stories.

Narrative Science, a company that produces automated journalism software, predicts that by 2026 up to 90 % of news articles could be generated by machine learning algorithms.

Discuss whether it is acceptable for news articles to be generated by automated journalism software.

At the start of each lesson, the student is asked to set their maximum heart rate on the watch to 220 bpm - their age; so in the case of a 15-year-old, it would be 220 bpm − 15 = 205 bpm.

Identify the steps used by the software in the sports watch to encourage students not to exceed their maximum heart rate.

Identify the steps Robbi would take in order to turn the air conditioning on and off.

The human face of student counselling

Many Diploma Programme (DP) coordinators are finding they do not have enough time to interview every student before they choose their DP subjects. They are considering purchasing the Student Counselling System, a proprietary management information system (MIS).

The developers of the Student Counselling System claim that, if students complete online questionnaires to determine their interests, abilities and future goals, the system can give them very accurate results, resulting in less than 5% of students changing their diploma subjects. They also claim the Student Counselling System will allow DP coordinators to be able to interview every student, something they cannot do now.

Some DP coordinators have concerns about the automation of this process and believe that advising students is something that is best done by relying on their own professional judgement and intuition.

Discuss whether DP coordinators should rely on the recommendations of the Student Counselling System rather than their own professional judgement and intuition when advising students about what DP subjects to study.

Google may use a range of representations of the algorithms during their development.

Identify two ways how these algorithms may be represented.

It is claimed that the NHS’s partnership with Google is beneficial for both stakeholders. However, concerns have been raised about the ethical implications of this data-sharing agreement.

To what extent is it ethical for the NHS to share patient information about eye scans from Moorfields Eye Hospital with Google?

Identify two characteristics of an algorithm.

Policing as a human activity?

Toby Walsh, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales, Australia, notes that the use of police robots raises “many important questions that we, as a society, have to think about”.

Singapore has started testing patrol robots that survey pedestrian areas in the city-state. Xavier, the mall-cop robot, will be autonomously rolling through the Toa Payoh central district for three weeks scanning for “undesirable social behaviours”.

Figure 4 shows an example of a patrol robot.

Figure 4: An example of a patrol robot

Selecting candidates for political parties

Political parties often have large numbers of applicants who wish to act as representatives in their various governing bodies. A senior party official must make the final decision about which applicants should be offered which roles. Many roles receive as many as 15 applications, and it is not possible to interview each applicant.

In an attempt to streamline the application process, a prospective representative will need to complete two tasks:

1. Completing an online questionnaire.
2. Submitting a video where they explain the reasons behind their application.

Neither task will involve the team in the political party.

The applicants will be directed to a link provided by the software developer where they can complete both tasks. The responses to the questionnaires and the videos will be analysed using artificial intelligence (AI).

The software will score the questionnaire and video for each applicant and send it to the senior party official’s team. The applicants with the highest scores will then be invited by the political party for an interview.

The software developers claim this will reduce the number of applications the senior party official needs to process and lead to the most appropriate applicants being selected for an interview.

Discuss whether the political party should introduce the digital system to assist the senior party official when deciding which applicants should be offered roles as representatives.

Explain why the developers of software products such as the smartwatch app have an ethical obligation to potential users.

Many people use smartwatches to monitor their vital signs and manage their health.

To what extent should an individual use a smartwatch to manage their health?

Explain why end-users should be involved in the development of software products such as the smartwatch app.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a government using a facial recognition system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor the behaviour of its citizens.

Cameras in school

The principal at Flynn School has received requests from parents saying that they would like to monitor their children’s performance in school more closely. He is considering extending the school’s IT system by installing cameras linked to facial recognition software that can record student behaviour in lessons.

The facial recognition software can determine a student’s attention level and behaviour, such as identifying if they are listening, answering questions, talking with other students, or sleeping. The software uses machine learning to analyse each student’s behaviour and gives them a weekly score that is automatically emailed to their parents.

The principal claims that monitoring students’ behaviour more closely will improve the teaching and learning that takes place.

Discuss whether Flynn School should introduce a facial recognition system that uses machine learning to analyse each student’s behaviour and give them a score that is automatically emailed to their parents.

To what extent can the use of models and simulations like the MADAS system help prevent future accidents?