STS 9- The Ethical Dilemmas of Robotics

Robotics

a branch of engineering that involves the conception, design, manufacture and operation of
robots.

Robotics have many purposes or can do many things at the same time, while machinery only have 1
purpose

eliminate dangerous jobs for humans because they are capable of working in hazardous
environments. And also eliminate safer jobs because it gets the jobs of employees

DOES THE JOB FOR YOU

Ethical dilemmas of Robotics

• Autonomous things - are devices and machines that work on specific tasks autonomously without
human interaction examples: self-driving cars
• Lethal Autonomous Weapons - independently identify and engage targets based on programmed
constraints and descriptions.

Autonomous things and Lethal Autonomous Weapons:

o Just input data and it will work already

o Problem “sino sisihin” if there will be an accident
o Mahirap ireverse yung pinapagawa because its already PROGRAM
• Unemployment and income inequality
o 18 CENTURY- introduction of machinery- industrialization- 1 ST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
o 19 CENTURY- 2ND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION- more robotics already- 60% BECAME UNEMPLOYED

Misuses of Artificial Intelligence

• Surveillance practices limiting privacy

 For marketing purposes
• Manipulation of human judgment
 Robots are program by a person so, it bases on the who program
• Proliferation of deepfakes
 Manipulating people, example: you edit face of people – EXPREDING FAKE NEWS

Isaac Asimov

American writer specializing in the genre of science fiction. Also, a professor of biochemistry at Boston
University.

Three Laws of Robotics: ( still SUGGESTION only )

1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with
the First Law
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or
Second Law
 Most controversial; robots can’t be aware to it’s own existence, and robot mat detect person as
danger

Problems of the Three Laws of Robotics

• These three laws might seem like a good way to keep robots from harming people. But to a roboticist
they pose more problems than they solve. In fact, programming a real robot to follow the three laws
would itself be very difficult.
• For a start, the robot would need to be able to tell humans apart from similar-looking things such
as chimpanzees, statues and humanoid robots.
• This may be easy for us humans, but it is a very hard problem for robots, as anyone working in
machine vision will tell you.

Robot ‘Rights’

• Asimov's three laws only address the problem of making robots safe, so even if we could find a way to
program robots to follow them, other problems could arise if robots became sentient.
• If robots can feel pain, should they be granted certain rights? If robots develop emotions, as some
experts think they will, should they be allowed to marry humans? Should they be allowed to
own property?
 SOPHIA THE ROBOT- she have 3 citizenship
 Don’t need

Maintenance

Energy -

( for true or false )

• Due to affordability of modern technology, we have become dependent on mobile phones for our everyday
life, the quality of life has become fast-paced, just like mobile phones.

• Everything now needs to run in one click.

• We expect immediate reply when we communicate through email, text, or messaging.

• Can we have the same fate when robots also become affordable?

• The advancement of science and technology may have brought improvement and convenience to our lives,
but it also challenged our human and social values.

• May be losing our sense of humanity to S&T advancements

• The idea that a robot or a gadget becoming “smart” (such as a smart phone) is an indication of a nearing
equality of humans with machines.

• At present, there is an increasing reliance of humans to machines; the life of machines still depends on
humans.

• But in the future, it may be humans who will rely completely on machines.

• When that happens, we may have to redefine what being “human” means.

STS 10- The Information Age

Information Age

The period in which anyone could access information and knowledge easily.

Began around 1970s.

Also known as:

o Computer Age
o Digital Age
o New Media Age

Modern Technology start to GALILEO- his invention of TELESCOPE

Influences of the Past on the Info Age:

RENAISSANCE

 creating the idea of inventions. Basic idea was to develop modern inventions.
 People’s mindset changed. They developed the humanistic (humanism) way of thinking.

THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

 Changed the modern era by introducing important scientists such as Galileo, Copernicus, and Sir Isaac
Newton.
 Their discoveries paved the way for modern tools, inventions and innovations.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
  Brought about major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology.
 This era had a profound effect on the social, economic, and cultural conditions of the world.

Inventions and Innovations of the Information Age

INTERNET

 Allowed access to information with just the click of a button.

 Developed during the 1970s by the Department of Defense.
 In the early days, the Internet was used mainly by scientists to communicate with other scientists.
 The Internet remained under government control until 1984 (Independence Hall Association in
Philadelphia, 2020).
 Tim Berners-Lee first proposed the idea of a 'web of information' in 1989
 In the early 1990s, the WORLD WIDE WEB was developed, in large part, for commercial purposes
 New forms of communication were introduced. ELECTRONIC MAIL, or EMAIL, was a convenient way
to send a message to associates or friends
 Steve Jobs – created the first effective personal computer called the Apple 1.
 Internet is “very broad” and cannot be create by just 1 person only
 Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn- invented the internet communication protocol
 Radia Perlman- “mother of the internet” she first created internet; during her time COMPUTER ONLY
is what we have
 Military have all access to internet
 we only see the WWW and not the DARK WEB and DEEP WEB

Challenges faced by the Internet:

 Speed- phone lines could only transmit information at a limited rate

 The development of FIBER-OPTIC cables allowed for billions of bits of information to be received
every minute
 Optic fibre are made of glass
 Copper cables are made of metal
 Sensitive to weather it affects its function
 There are copper cables in OCEAN, its our main source of internet
• Satellite is for signal only

Inventions and Innovations of the Information Age

WIRELESS ELECTRICITY

 Rechargeable devices, batteries

 From smartphones, to laptops, to MP3 players, people’s lives are now dominated by technology that
requires power
o and they generally need wires to recharge these devices.
 In 2007, Professor Marin Soljačić from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had the idea
of transferring power from wired infrastructure to devices using magnetic fields.
 Ideas of MARIN are mostly from Michael Faraday

WI-FI (wireless fidelity)

 a wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet
access.
 originated in Hawaii in 1971, where a wireless UHF packet network called ALOHAnet was used to
connect the islands.
 Later protocols developed in 1991 by NCR and AT&T—called WaveLAN
 Vic Hayes “father of WI-FI”

STS 11- Biodiversity and a Healthy Society

Biodiversity

 Short for biological diversity.

 Refers to the variety of living species on Earth (plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi)

3 levels of biodiversity

 Genetic Diversity
 Species Diversity
 Ecosystem Diversity

Genetic diversity

 All the different genes contained in all individual plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms.
 It occurs within a species as well as between species.

Species Diversity
  All the differences within and between populations of species, as well as between different species.

Ecosystem Diversity

 All the different habitats, biological communities, and ecological processes, as well as variation within
individual ecosystems.

• Biodiversity hotspot – a biogeographic region that is both a significant reservoir of biodiversity and is
threatened with destruction.

• Endemic Species – species that are only found in one particular location.

• Everything is connected with one another - all of the Earth’s species work together to survive and
maintain their ecosystems. For example, the grass in pastures feeds cattle. Cattle then produce manure that
returns nutrients to the soil, which helps to grow more grass.

Importance of Biodiversity

• Economic growth – raw materials, livelihood

• Ecological life support – pollination, pest control, natural filter, natural barrier against natural events
• Recreation – birdwatching, hiking, camping, and fishing
• Cultural – rituals including worshipping environment
• Scientific – understanding the function of the natural world from its history up to its future implications

Threats to Biodiversity

• Pollution
• Climate change
• Population growth

POLLUTION

 the introduction of harmful materials into the environment.

 Pollutants
 Harmful materials for the environment
 Can be in natural form such as volcanic materials.
 Can be created by human activity.
 Pollution – a global problem
 Although urban areas are usually more polluted than the countryside, pollution can spread to
remote places where no people live.
 Pesticides and other chemicals have been found in the Antarctic ice sheet.
 In the middle of the northern Pacific Ocean, a huge collection of microscopic plastic particles forms
what is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

3 MAJOR TYPES OF POLLUTION

• Air Pollution
• Water Pollution
• Land Pollution

AIR POLLUTION

 Contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or biological agent that
modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere.
 May be visible or invisible.

WATER POLLUTION

 Occurs when harmful substances—often chemicals or microorganisms—contaminate a stream, river,

lake, ocean, aquifer, or other body of water, degrading water quality and rendering it toxic to humans
or the environment.

LAND POLLUTION

 the destruction or a decline in quality of the earth's surface as a result of human actions. This could
include anything from mining to agriculture to building, and consequences may be intentional or
unintentional.

Philippine Environmental Laws

RA 9003

 The Philippine Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000

 Talks about proper segregation, collection and transport, recycling, and composting of wastes.
 Article 6 of RA 9003 – guidelines for a comprehensive waste management strategy including but not
limited to:

Prohibition of open dumps, Requiring a permit for solid waste management facility construction and expansion,
Guidelines for controlled dumps, and Criteria for siting, establishment, and operations of sanitary landfills in
the country.

RA 9275
  Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004
 This Act requires the acquisition of water pollution permits through the “Wastewater Charge
System” which ensures that there are no unauthorized, undocumented, and unregulated discharges
in any water body in the Philippines.

RA 8749

 Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999

 Sets the emission limits for various types of pollutants both stationary and mobile, including
smoking, fuel and fuel additives, ozone-depleting substances, greenhouse gases, and organic
pollutants among many others.

RA 6969

 Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990
 Importation, manufacturing, processing, sale, distribution, use, and disposal of substances
that pose an unreasonable risk and/or injury to the health of the people and the environment are
prohibited under this Act.

PD No. 979

 Marine Pollution Decree of 1976

 Pursuant to this policy, dumping of wastes and other hazardous matter into the ocean and inland
waters of the Philippines is considered unlawful unless due to unavoidable accidents or otherwise
prescribed by the National Pollution Control Commission or the Philippine Coast Guard.

STS 12- Climate Change

What is Climate Change?

• Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.

• Such shifts can be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions, however, in this
generation, human activities intensify climate change.

Evidence of Climate Change

1. Global temperature rise

2. Warmer ocean
3. Shrinking ice sheets and retreating glaciers
4. Rising sea levels
5. Stronger typhoons, cyclones, and hurricanes
6. Increasing ocean acidification

Causes of Climate Change

Natural Causes

• Volcanic Eruption
• Solar Radiation Fluctuations
• Tectonic shifts

Human-initiated activities

• Greenhouse Gases
o Carbon Dioxide – air that we exhale
o Methane – animal agriculture, compostable materials
o Nitrous Oxide – fossil fuel and solid waste combustion
o Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) – air-conditioning, refrigeration, aerosol cans
• Agriculture
• Deforestation
• Generating power / electricity

Global Warming

 Climate change describes global warming.

 Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth's surface observed since the preindustrial period
(between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases
heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth's atmosphere.
 El Niño - increased heat and drought conditions in one part of the world; but on the other side, it
triggers increased rainfall in parts of southern South America, the southern United States, the Horn of
Africa and central Asia.
 La Niña - characterized by lower-than-normal air pressure over the western Pacific. These low-
pressure zones contribute to increased rainfall causing floods and landslides.

International Movements against Climate Change

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

 established under the United Nations to provide a scientific view of climate change and its political and
economic impacts.

Kyoto Protocol

 first global agreement to reduce greenhouse gases. Adopted in 1997.

 signed by President Bill Clinton, called for reducing the emission of six greenhouse gases in 41
countries plus the European Union to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels during the target period of 2008 to
2012. However, in March 2001, shortly after taking office, President George W. Bush announced the
United States would not implement the Kyoto Protocol.

Change Paris Climate Agreement

 The United States, under President Barack Obama, would sign onto another milestone treaty on
climate change, the Paris Climate Agreement, in 2015. In that agreement, 197 countries pledged to set
targets for their own greenhouse gas cuts and to report their progress.
 It is a declaration to prevent a global temperature rise of 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F).