CSU Long Beach
ENGR 350
Computers, Ethics, and Society

Syllabus
Schedule
Grading
Portfolio
Homework:
  Guidelines
  Standards
  1 - Images
  2 - Risks
    -- example
  3 - Infobahn
    -- example
  4 - Dataveillance
    -- example
  5 - Worklife
    -- example
  6 - Killer Robot
Term project

Latest Update: Sat 23 Jan 99

Your reading packet contains a large portion of the case study of the "Killer Robot." First read through it quickly to get a general idea of what is going on. Then re-read carefully in as much detail as necessary to do this assignment.

Your report should evaluate the ethical aspects of the behavior of two key players in the case scenario, Randy Samuels and Cindy Yardley.

By "evaulate," I mean for you to discuss how they acted, what their motivations were, and what ethical arguments they might have used to justify their actions. Then give your own view of their actions, with specific recommendations for how they should have acted. You must justify your analysis with specific ethical theories that we have discussed in class, specific sections of the ACM Code (in Computerization and Controversy), and specific sections of the IEEE/ACM Software Engineering Code (in the reading packet). Be sure to discuss what their responsibilities were with respect to co-workers, clients, the organization, etc. -- including responsibilities that were described in the Collins/Miller article, "How Good is Good Enough." Identify any "right-versus-right" or "right-versus-wrong" decisions that they made (correctly or incorrectly).

Try to be concise but as complete as you can. Do not "pad" your paper with quotes from any of the case study articles. Please remember that this is an ethical analysis, not a trial. You are trying to determine responsible or irresponsible behavior, not guilt or innocence.

On the day that the paper is due, we will role-play the ACM Board investigation into this case. Be prepared to be a member of the Board, or either of the two individuals that you wrote about.