Robots and Society - Discussions Assignment

NOTE: The due date posted on canvas is the due date for the lesson plan. The presentation date is the following class (see Team Assignments)

Assignment Details

This is a pretty open ended assignment - we want to spend time thinking about relevant social/robotics issues and discussing them as a group. We’re hoping this leads to more interesting conversations and help us work towards making robots that make the world a better place.

We’d like you to come up with the lesson plan. It should be 15-20 minutes long and could look something like the the discussion we had on robots and liability (except don’t be like Melinda and forget to share the slides!) E.g. choose an article or video for the class to read ahead of time and come up with some discussion questions or an activity for the class.

Your lesson plan is due by midnight on the night before the class before your presentation (e.g. if you’re Oct. 5th, please have it to us by the morning of the 28th). Please send your plan to us via email (or slack).

Team and Topic Assignments

See Team Assignments

Dates were assigned randomly by picking numbers out of a hat. If you want to trade with another team and they are amenable - that’s fine, just let us know!

Repository for Past and Current Readings:

  • Blame and Liability (Meeting 3)
    • Reading: When Robots Kill
    • Slides: here
  • Legal Liability and Robot Rights (Meeting 8)
    • Readings:
      • Summary on legal issues in robotics
      • Article on liability
      • Video: Do Robots Deserve Rights? What if Machines Become Conscious?
    • Slides: here
  • Fair Access to Robotics - in Education (Meeting 9)
    • Readings:
      • Equal access to STEM
      • Robots in classrooms
      • Automation globally
      • Slides: here
  • Public Perception of Robots (Meeting 13)
    • Slides: here .
  • Environmental Effects of Robots (Meeting 14)
    • Required Reading Materials:
      • Reading #1: If robots take our jobs what will it mean for climate change?
      • Reading #2: What Effect Will Automation Have on the Environment?
    • Optional (but cool) readings:
      • Self-Driving Cars
      • Tree Planting Robots
      • Robots to Fighting Pollution
    • Slides: here
  • Privacy (Monday Nov 2nd, Meeting 15)
    • Slides: here
  • Job Loss and Replacement (Wed Nov 4th, Meeting 16)
    • Reading: Millions of Americans Have Lost Jobs in the Pandemic—And Robots and AI Are Replacing Them Faster Than Ever (Time, 2020)
    • Slides: here
  • Robots in Warfare (Mon Nov 16th)
    • Readings for next Robots and Society discussion: Robots in Warfare
      • Are Killer Robots the Future of War? Parsing the Facts on Autonomous Weapons
      • Ethical Robots in Warefare
    • Slides: here
  • Bias in Algorithms - Part 1 (Wed Nov 18th)
    • Slides: here
  • Bias in Algorithms - Part 2 (Mon Nov 23rd)
    • Readings on slides.
    • Slides: here
  • Security and Safety in Testing (Wed Dec 2nd)
    • Readings on the slides.
    • Slides: here
  • Adding to Economic Inequality (Wed Dec 9th)
    • Readings:
      • How many jobs do robots really replace?
      • Robots help some firms, even while workers across industries struggle
      • Study finds stronger links between automation and inequality
      • Algorithms Are Making Economic Inequality Worse
      • Robots, Growth, and Inequality