DP Digital Society Questionbank

The increasing use of cloud-based applications and online collaborative tools has led to Orams Academy introducing an acceptable use policy for students and teachers.

Explain three reasons why Orams Academy decided to introduce an acceptable use policy.

Fake news

We see and hear news every day and trust that the information provided is accurate. That belief may soon end.

Artificial intelligence (AI) software is now being developed that can produce fake video footage of public figures using recordings of their own voices. Using as little as one minute of user-generated content (data), it can reproduce a particular person’s voice. The developer of this software demonstrated the results by using the voices of Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama in a computer-generated conversation.

Once a person’s voice has been reproduced, a fake video can be created by processing hundreds of videos of the person’s face. Video footage of politicians are often used, as there is so much data available online.

Law professor John Silverman commented that, as humans we tend to believe what we see, and the increased number of tools to make fake media that is unrecognizable from real media is going to prove a major challenge in the future.

Discuss the claim that companies who develop software that can create fake videos of politicians should be accountable for the fake videos posted by users of their software on social media platforms.

Analyse whether it would be appropriate for Lyrebird to release the biometric data of a user to a third party.

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

Sharing dashcam* footage with police

Many police departments have started campaigns to encourage members of the public to upload footage of possible offences committed by drivers to police websites. The police are looking for footage of activities such as dangerous driving and driving whilst talking on a cellphone/mobile phone.

Members of the public can create an account on the police website to upload footage from their dashcam (see Figure 3). They can also upload their dashcam footage anonymously.

The police claim that using dashcam footage uploaded by the public will help reduce the number of accidents caused by dangerous driving.

Figure 3: An example of a dashcam

* dashcam: a video camera mounted in a vehicle to record activity on roads

Discuss whether this dashcam footage should be used by the police as part of their strategy to reduce the number of accidents caused by dangerous driving.

Some states are planning to return to a paper-based voting system, where voters put a cross (X) in the column next to the party of their choice.

Discuss whether these states should retain e-voting or return to a paper-based voting system.

To what extent is it acceptable for Rajesh to use services like a virtual private network (VPN) to access content that may be blocked in the country he is visiting?

Airlines have databases that contain data about passengers when tickets are booked. This data includes travel dates, itineraries, contact details, passport details and passengers’ home addresses. When passengers purchase a ticket online from an airline company, they have to accept the airline’s terms and conditions by clicking “Agree” (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Acceptance of airline terms and conditions

Within these terms and conditions, it states that the airline may receive a request to share this data with the government of the country to which the passenger is flying.

Discuss whether airlines should share passengers’ data with the governments of the countries to which they are flying.

The chief executive officer of MediResearch is considering using cloud-based storage to store the genome data.  

Discuss whether MediResearch should move to cloud-based storage.

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.

Mobile devices provide many benefits for children but can also be used inappropriately. Some groups claim it is the responsibility of parents to ensure their children use their mobile devices responsibly, while other groups claim that responsibility lies with other stakeholders, such as schools.

With reference to all the sources and your own knowledge, to what extent do you agree that parents should be responsible for ensuring their children develop safe and healthy habits for mobile device usage?

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.

It was recently reported that an autonomous vehicle had collided with an elderly person in a wheelchair that had rolled into the road. The autonomous vehicle chose to run over the wheelchair rather than avoid it, as swerving would have put two children at risk. This incident led to a discussion in the council about the ethical decision-making process used by the autonomous vehicle.

Discuss who should be accountable for an accident in the town involving an autonomous vehicle.

Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of e-voting.

Elections using e-voting in countries such as Finland will create significant amounts of personal data. The government of Finland will have to ensure it has appropriate policies for the collection, storage and sharing of the data.

Explain why it is important to have an appropriate policy for the collection, storage and sharing of the data from elections that use e-voting.

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.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of CBR Bank, Alice McEwan, said in a recent interview, “CBR Bank will be replacing all passwords, PINs and personal verification questions for our online banking and mobile banking with voice biometrics recognition.”

To what extent are the changes proposed by Alice beneficial for both CBR Bank’s customers and CBR Bank’s IT support?

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

Many citizens have raised concerns about the surveillance of their web browsing history or the censorship of selected websites by their national government.

To what extent is it appropriate for national governments to use surveillance and censorship to control citizens’ access to websites?

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

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?

The European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) governs data protection and privacy in the EU. Its regulations give users certain rights in terms of their data.

Explain three principles that should be included in data protection regulations such as GDPR.

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.

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