Building an Argument for the Use of Science Fiction in HCI Education

Science fiction literature, comics, cartoons and, in particular, audio-visual materials, such as science fiction movies and shows, can be a valuable addition in Human-computer interaction (HCI) Education. In this paper, we present an overview of research relative to future directions in HCI Education, distinct crossings of science fiction in HCI and Computer Science teaching and the Framework for 21st Century Learning. Next, we provide examples where science fiction can add to the future of HCI Education. In particular, we argue herein first that science fiction, as tangible and intangible cultural artifact, can serve as a trigger for creativity and innovation and thus, support us in exploring the design space. Second, science fiction, as a means to analyze yet-to-come HCI technologies, can assist us in developing an open-minded and reflective dialogue about technological futures, thus creating a singular base for critical thinking and problem solving. Provided that one is cognizant of its potential and limitations, we reason that science fiction can be a meaningful extension of selected aspects of HCI curricula and research.Comment: 6 pages, 1 table, IHSI 2019 accepted submissio

Human computer interaction for international development: past present and future

Recent years have seen a burgeoning interest in research into the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the context of developing regions, particularly into how such ICTs might be appropriately designed to meet the unique user and infrastructural requirements that we encounter in these cross-cultural environments. This emerging field, known to some as HCI4D, is the product of a diverse set of origins. As such, it can often be difficult to navigate prior work, and/or to piece together a broad picture of what the field looks like as a whole. In this paper, we aim to contextualize HCI4D—to give it some historical background, to review its existing literature spanning a number of research traditions, to discuss some of its key issues arising from the work done so far, and to suggest some major research objectives for the future

Ethics and social networking sites: A disclosive analysis of Facebook

Paper has been accepted for publication in Information, Technology and People.Purpose: This paper provides insights into the moral values embodied by a popular social networking site (SNS), Facebook. We adopt the position that technology as well as humans has a moral character in order to disclose ethical concerns that are not transparent to users of the site. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based upon qualitative field work, involving participant observation, conducted over a two year period. Findings: Much research on the ethics of information systems has focused on the way that people deploy particular technologies, and the consequences arising, with a view to making policy recommendations and ethical interventions. By focusing on technology as a moral actor with reach across and beyond the Internet, we reveal the complex and diffuse nature of ethical responsibility in our case and the consequent implications for governance of SNS. Research limitations/implications: We situate our research in a body of work known as disclosive ethics and argue for an ongoing process of evaluating SNS to reveal their moral importance. Along with other authors in the genre, our work is largely descriptive, but we engage with prior research by Brey and Introna to highlight the scope for theory development. Practical implications: Governance measures that require the developers of social networking sites to revise their designs fail to address the diffuse nature of ethical responsibility in this case. Such technologies need to be opened up to scrutiny on a regular basis to increase public awareness of the issues and thereby disclose concerns to a wider audience. We suggest that there is value in studying the development and use of these technologies in their infancy, or if established, in the experiences of novice users. Furthermore, flash points in technological trajectories can prove useful sites of investigation. Originality/value: Existing research on social networking sites either fails to address ethical concerns head on or adopts a tool view of the technologies so that the focus is on the ethical behaviour of users. We focus upon the agency, and hence the moral character, of technology to show both the possibilities for, and limitations of, ethical interventions in such cases

More than just friends? Facebook, disclosive ethics and the morality of technology

Social networking sites have become increasingly popular destinations for people wishing to chat, play games, make new friends or simply stay in touch. Furthermore, many organizations have been quick to grasp the potential they offer for marketing, recruitment and economic activities. Nevertheless, counterclaims depict such spaces as arenas where deception, social grooming and the posting of defamatory content flourish. Much research in this area has focused on the ends to which people deploy the technology, and the consequences arising, with a view to making policy recommendations and ethical interventions. In this paper, we argue that tracing where morality lies is more complex than these efforts suggest. Using the case of a popular social networking site, and concepts about the morality of technology, we disclose the ethics of Facebook as diffuse and multiple. In our conclusions we provide some reflections on the possibilities for action in light of this disclosure

"That's important, but...": How Computer Science Researchers Anticipate Unintended Consequences of Their Research Innovations

Computer science research has led to many breakthrough innovations but has also been scrutinized for enabling technology that has negative, unintended consequences for society. Given the increasing discussions of ethics in the news and among researchers, we interviewed 20 researchers in various CS sub-disciplines to identify whether and how they consider potential unintended consequences of their research innovations. We show that considering unintended consequences is generally seen as important but rarely practiced. Principal barriers are a lack of formal process and strategy as well as the academic practice that prioritizes fast progress and publications. Drawing on these findings, we discuss approaches to support researchers in routinely considering unintended consequences, from bringing diverse perspectives through community participation to increasing incentives to investigate potential consequences. We intend for our work to pave the way for routine explorations of the societal implications of technological innovations before, during, and after the research process.Comment: Corresponding author: Rock Yuren Pang, email provided below. Kimberly Do and Rock Yuren Pang contributed equally to this research. The author order is listed alphabetically. To appear in CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23), April 23-April 28, 2023, Hamburg, Germany. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 16 page

IMPROVE:Identifying Minimal PROfile VEctors for similarity based access control

There is ample evidence which shows that social media users struggle to make appropriate access control decisions while disclosing their information and smarter mechanisms are needed to assist them. Using profile information to ascertain similarity between users and provide suggestions to them during the process of making access control decisions has been put forth as a possible solution to this problem. This paper presents an empirical study aimed at identifying the minimal subset of attributes which are most suitable for being used to create profile vectors for the purpose of predicting access control decisions. We begin with an exhaustive list of 30 profile attributes and identify a subset of 2 profile attributes which are shown to be sufficient in obtaining similarity between profiles and predicting access control decisions with the same accuracy as previous models. We demonstrate that using this pair of attributes will help mitigate the challenges encountered by similarity based access control mechanisms

Total skin self-examination at home for people treated for cutaneous melanoma : development and pilot of a digital intervention

This work was funded by the RCUK Digital Economy award to the dot.rural Digital Economy Hub, University of Aberdeen; award reference: EP/G066051/1. The Experience Laboratory event was supported in part by a separate award from the University of Aberdeen Knowledge Exchange and Transfer Fund; award reference: GP057 UZZ0101.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Internet Research Ethics: A CSCW Community Discussion

Research ethics continues to be an important topic of conversation within the HCI and social computing communities, especially regarding the specific ethical challenges raised by internet research. Developing a shared understanding of ethical norms is complicated by the diverse disciplinary traditions, evolving technologies and methods, and multiple geographic and cultural settings of researchers in these communities. Drawing on experiences of the SIGCHI Research Ethics Committee as well as empirical work towards developing best ethical practices for internet research, this Special Interest Group will discuss current practices and challenges in studying people and data online, covering the full research life-cycle from the crafting of research ideas, through study design, data collection, analysis, and then dissemination. This conversation will benefit from diverse voices and perspectives to help us all learn from each other and critically engage with our research community’s values and ethical commitments