A hope you have regarding a specific computing technology

Assignment 3 – Hope or Fear

Overview
For this assignment, you may either write a 1000 word paper
For this assignment you have two choices of topic. You can either discuss:
A hope you have regarding a specific computing technology.
A fear you have regarding a specific computing technology.
For example, you might discuss your hope that neural prosthesis will restore bodily function to paraplegic and quadriplegic individuals. Or you might discuss your fear that the spread of fake news on social media will seriously destabilize the political situation in democratic countries.
Your choice of technology can be broad (e.g. social media, machine learning), or it can be narrow (Khan Academy, the CS61A office hours tool). The concerns of your submission do not necessarily have to relate to one of the lecture topics in the course. However, the technology must be a computing technology, e.g. do not write about fusion power or space elevators.
The technology can be something that already exists, or it could be about a technology that does not yet exist and may not arrive for a long time, if ever.
Ideally, you should select something of deep personal interest. The more you care about the issue, the better. Before you select something, please read this entire description to make sure it fits the assignment.
When you’re done, you’ll post your paper or video on our class Ed. You may do so anonymously, though obviously if you post a video you’ll be pretty easy to identify. If you have a topic of deep personal interest, but are concerned about your anonymity, then you can request an exemption from having to post it on Ed by emailing Josh. In the email, include “CS195 opt out” in the subject line.
Your paper should cite at least two sources.
Note: It’s OK if the technology is something that you are working on, e.g. it would be acceptable if your paper is about a research project, startup, or teaching tool that you’re helping to build. Note that we don’t expect your paper to be about your own work, but wanted to explicitly allow this.
There are also some additional requirements:
Fear
If you’re writing about a fear, you must include at least:
1. A description of efforts that are being made (if any) to mitigate the possible harm from this technology. If applicable, who are the entities (governments, corporations, individuals) that are best placed to try to prevent the harm? And if applicable, who are the entities who would benefit from the harm?
2. If applicable, what you can potentially do during your life or career to mitigate this harm. These could be minor efforts like voting in elections or tweeting about it, or major efforts like dedicating your career entirely to the topic.
Hope
If you’re writing about a hope, you must include at least:
1. A description of efforts that are being made to bring about the future you’re hoping for. Who are the entities (governments, corporations, individuals) that are best placed to fulfill this hope? And if applicable, who are the entities who would most benefit from its fulfillment?
2. If applicable, what you can potentially do during your life or career to help bring this about. These could be minor efforts like voting in elections or tweeting about it, or major efforts like dedicating your career entirely to the topic.
Deliverables
The output of the assignment is a paper containing the following parts:
Introduction: A description of the technology and the hope or fear about which you are writing. You should include the reason that you, personally, care about the topic.
Main Body: Your thoughts on the topic, including the required elements above.
Your Role: If applicable, your possible role in the topic.
Citation: Any sources and references used when preparing your paper.
The expected length of your report is about 750-1000 words.
When you’ve completed the assignment, you should:
Fill out this form and upload your submission. Papers MUST BE IN PDF OR PLAIN TEXT FORMAT. Videos may either be uploaded to youtube or vimeo, or may be submitted as a video file via this form: https://forms.gle/JACdMrYVq7TTju3Z6. Submissions must be received by 12/10/2021.
Post a plain text copy of your paper, or a link to a youtube video to Ed. You may post anonymously.

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