Active participation, student led session, and term paper

This seminar develops ethical reasoning skills for future computer scientists and media informatics professionals. Students learn to analyze and discuss ethical dilemmas that arise when designing, implementing, and deploying computing systems. The course connects technical decisions to impacts on individuals and society, and emphasizes that “can we build it” is different from “should we build it.”
Topics vary by year but typically include values in design, privacy, fairness in machine learning, manipulation and dark patterns, digital wellbeing, discrimination on intimate platforms, deepfakes and deception, labor and automation at work, and platform governance and content moderation.

After completing the seminar, students can identify ethical issues in computing practice and explain why they matter. They can map stakeholders and reason about benefits, harms, rights, and value conflicts. They can argue for and against design decisions in a structured and respectful way, and propose concrete mitigations such as alternative designs, safeguards, and process changes. They can critically read academic and professional texts, summarize arguments accurately, and extend them through application, comparison, or critique in writing.

Teilnahmevoraussetzungen:
Kein formalen Voraussetzungen. Erfahrung in der Programmierung und im Bereich Mensch-Computer-Interaktion ist erwünscht.

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Prerequisites:
No formal prerequisites. Experience with programming and HCI is helpful.