Computer Science | Grinnell College

NOTE: This Tuesday we will meet in the CS Commons at noon. Please bring your own lunch; we'll try to have some drinks and snacks, too.

This week in CS Table, we will consider some applications of machine learning that show both potential benefit and great risks: The use of ML algorithms in decisions related to bail, sentencing, and parole. We have two readings:

• Simonite, Tom (2017). How to upgrade judges with machine learning. MIT Technology Review.
• Angwin, Julia, Larson, Jeff, Mattu Surya, and Kirchner, Lauren. Machine bias. Pro Publica.

Several members of the CS department attended the Paris Talks, a one-day conference focused on potential problems that could arise with the development of AI. The conference was targeted at people with a humanities-oriented background, whose perspectives on technology are often not a part of the conversation. Talks ranged from discussion of technological advances in healthcare, urban planning and the internet of things, with an emphasis on potential impact of these on privacy, personal relationships, the relationships between people and technology, culture, art, and broadly our own conception of the above mentioned, and how those conceptions influence meaning of work and relationships in our lives. The students who attended the conference will help to lead a discussion of these issues at CS Table this week.

• The conference website has been taken down, but you can find a snapshot of the site on archive.org.
• This discussion with the organizer of the conference is also informative.

Computer science table (CS Table) is a weekly meeting of Grinnell College community members (students, faculty, staff, etc.) interested in discussing topics related to computing and computer science. CS Table meets Tuesdays from 12:00–12:45pm in JRC 224A (inside the Marketplace). Contact the CS faculty for the weekly reading. Students on meal plans, faculty, and staff are expected to cover the cost of their meals. Visitors to the College and students not on meal plans can charge their meals to the department (sign in at the Marketplace front desk).