Digital Ethics - Course Description
The course will pursue a cross-disciplinary investigation of the socio-ethical implications of digital technologies. We will combine theoretical viewpoints with concrete issues facing people who are implementing digital systems. We will cover a variety of themes, including data ownership and control, digital economics and surveillance capitalism, power and governance of algorithmic decision making, humanization of digital technology, and ethics of robotics and autonomous systems.
The course will entail an intense array of learning and teaching methods. We will take up issues that have recently come into focus and are being approached by a variety of disciplines at different paces. We will discuss examples from various domains, such as health, media, games, retail, manufacturing. The class instructors will include Aalto University researchers and affiliates with various academic backgrounds, as well as experts from the industry.
The students are given pre-material to study before each session in the form of short video lectures, readings and other materials. There will be a mandatory part of writing three short essays on topics related to the course. Short essays will be student peer reviewed.
Participation in lectures and successful completion of short essays is required for passing the course (3 ects). There will be no exam.
Student will also have an option of writing a forth longer essay on a digital ethics related topic that will give additional 2 ects.
Course lectures will be held on Fridays at 8:15-10:00. The first lecture is on 23.4.2021 and course will end on 28.5.2021.
All lectures will be held online in Zoom address https://aalto.zoom.us/j/69719774258
Themes and tentative schedule:
23.4. Introduction to applied ethics and technology ethics
30.4. Data and privacy
7.5. Algorithmic power, decision-making and digital divide
14.5. Digital media
21.5. Digital health
28.5. Autonomous systems and robotics