DP Digital Society Questionbank

King Robotics is planning to use social robots in schools. The robots will use a unique approach called care receiving. In this approach to teaching, the robot does not directly instruct the student; instead, the robot makes mistakes and asks the student for help to correct them. Early studies have found that children respond very positively to this approach. The robots will also be able to carry out direct teaching activities.

Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using social robots such as Pepper to support the care-receiving teaching approach as well as carry out direct teaching activities.

A cashless society

In the near future, it is possible that cash will not be accepted as a means of payment in Sweden. People are already using alternative ways of paying, such as mobile payment, card payment and internet payment. Currently, over 95% of citizens in Sweden have internet access.

Many people in Sweden claim there are advantages of using an app developed by Swish. The Swish app allows friends to share a restaurant bill, pay where credit or debit cards are not accepted, for babysitting or parking tickets, or make a donation at church.

However, other people in Sweden claim that making the Swish app the only means of payment may increase inequalities within the country.

Discuss whether countries should pass legislation making apps such as Swish the only means of payment.

Discuss whether Daniela should make every teacher at Orams Academy use the same learning platform or allow each teacher to choose their own preferred learning management approach.

To what extent are the benefits of employees’ improved access to company resources outweighed by their concerns about the level of surveillance by the company?

To what extent do the benefits of collecting students’ academic progress data outweigh the concerns of the students, teachers and parents?

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

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.

To what extent do you agree that the advantages of implanting microchips in humans outweigh the concerns? Use all the sources and your own knowledge.

With reference to the stimulus material and your own inquiries, recommend whether Tayton School should use social robots and/or assistive technologies to ensure students with SEND can be further integrated into the school.

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.

Using a Segway with machine learning capabilities?

The Segway Patroller is a two-wheeled, battery-powered electric vehicle. Recently, Segway Patrollers have been used for security purposes in cities as well as in public spaces such as concerts, railway stations and shopping malls.

The Segway Patroller can travel up to a speed of 20 kilometres per hour (about 12 miles per hour) and travel about 40 kilometres (25 miles) in distance before the battery needs to be recharged.

Figure 3: A Segway Patroller

Robbi’s website claims that, “Robbi is friendly, helpful and intelligent. He can sense and respond, and learns as you engage with him”. Some of the customers who own Robbi are considering whether they could extend the range of tasks Robbi could perform, or whether they should allow Robbi to make decisions for them.

To what extent should individuals rely on social robots like Robbi to act as decision-makers for them?

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.

The Okavango Medical Centre has received additional funding from the local authority. The centre is investigating the possibility of using these funds to purchase IT equipment that would allow surgeons in Gaborone to carry out surgery remotely.

Evaluate the impact of the purchase of this IT equipment on the medical centre and its patients.

Other than for the prevention of injuries, discuss the impacts on workers and employers of the use of exoskeletons in the workplace.

Bitcoin transactions are made between individuals without the knowledge of banks, governments, or credit card companies. Some governments are investigating whether they should regulate digital transactions, such as those made using bitcoins.

To what extent is it appropriate for governments to regulate digital transactions, such as those made using bitcoins?

Can digital technologies be used sustainably?

Many organizations claim that the most efficient use of information technology (IT) equipment, such as laptops and printers, is to replace them on a regular basis. For example, an organization’s strategy may be to do this every three years.

Other organizations purchase IT equipment that can easily be upgraded by increasing the storage and memory or upgrading the processing capabilities only when required. They claim they do not need to replace their IT equipment on such a regular basis and believe this is a more sustainable practice.

Evaluate the sustainability of these two strategies.

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

Some people feel uncomfortable about having their photographs taken and posted on a public website.

To what extent is it acceptable for ACP to take photographs of participants, post them online, and sell them without asking their permission?

App or intuition?

Apps have been developed that allow a customer to submit a trip request to a taxi company on their smartphone. These apps allow the customer to select the starting point and final destination of the journey as well as add other information, such as the time of journey and number of passengers.

The developers of the taxi journey app claim it can capture the real-time details of a journey, including the starting point, route, distance travelled, the speed of the car and the final destination. The app integrates this information with real-time traffic information, such as closed roads or accidents. Fares can be estimated before the journey, and the customer can pay digitally with their credit card or by PayPal.

Some traditional taxi drivers in cities such as Paris and Rio de Janeiro have campaigned against the introduction of these apps in taxi companies. Based on previous journeys recorded by the app, the taxi company recommends that their taxi drivers rely on the taxi journey app rather than their own knowledge of the city when determining the best route.

Discuss whether the taxi driver should rely on the taxi journey app, rather than their own knowledge of the city, when determining the best route.

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.

To what extent should the decisions of judges be based on algorithms rather than their knowledge and experience?