Previously, technology has been considered an inherently neutral tool that has benefits and drawbacks that can be leveraged for better or for worse by the user or creator. Yet, many scholars – including Ruha Benjamin (2019), Safiya Noble (2018), and Joy Buolamwini (2017) – have cataloged the ways in which computing technologies have embedded and extended biases. In Ethics of Computing, students explore the implications, and potential harm, for users and nonusers. Further, students consider how this knowledge translates into being a critical consumer and responsible creator of technology, weighing pros and cons and recognizing intended and unintended consequences. Note that offering this course is not a replacement for including ethics and impacts throughout all CS courses/instruction. Ethics of Computing simply provides an opportunity for deep, sustained, and focused learning specifically around ethics.
