Published By: The New York Times, 2/23/2017

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Summary

Google Alphabet has developed new software called Perspective that will flag potentially problematic user comments, for example so news sites can narrow down which posts require manual review.  A machine-learning algorithm was given thousands of comments rated for toxicity, in order to build a model that could identify the problematic ones.  The developers hope that this system will enable more sharing of thoughts and ideas.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of Article: 13.4 13.413.4

Extended Discussion Questions

• If a forum site offered to let you filter out comments above a chosen level of toxicity, would you use that option? Why or why not?
  • What if the comments were in response to something you yourself had posted?
• Besides promoting healthier discussion between users on websites, are there other benefits that could arise from using software that flags comments above a certain toxicity?
• Are there any potential disadvantages that could arise from using such a system?
  • For the site? For an individual user? For the user community as a whole?
• Dr. Cohen is quoted as stating that the software could give false positives because it is so new, but that it will likely improve with more data.
  • Besides the size of the dataset, are there other factors that could cause the system to produce false positives?
  • What could be the consequences of producing false positives?
• Given the possibility of false positives, do you think sites should ever use this type of system to auto-remove comments? Why or why not?
  • Do you think it should be different for different types of sites? Different topics?
  • What if it never produced false positives (at least according to moderators)?
• What types of websites do you expect Perspective will be used for? What types of websites should it be used for?
  • For example, are there sites that might particularly want to prevent trolling? To prevent cyberbullying?
  • How should different sites balance being fair and open to those who tend to make toxic comments against being fair and open to those who might feel shut out of a discussion because of toxic comments?
• Why are online news sites in particular concerned about getting everyone “in the conversation” in the first place?
  • How is this different from how people consume TV news or newspapers?

Relating This Story to the CSP Curriculum Framework

Global Impact Learning Objectives:

• LO 7.1.1 Explain how computing innovations affect communication, interaction, and cognition.
• LO 7.3.1 Analyze the beneficial and harmful effects of computing.
• LO 7.4.1 Explain the connections between computing and real-world contexts, including economic, social, and cultural contexts.

Global Impact Essential Knowledge:

• EK 7.1.1C Social media continues to evolve and fosters new ways to communicate.
• EK 7.1.1N The Internet and the Web have changed many areas, including e-commerce, health care, access to information and entertainment, and online learning.
• EK 7.3.1E Commercial and governmental censorship of digital information raise legal and ethical concerns.

Other CSP Big Ideas:

• Idea 4 Algorithms

Banner Image: “Network Visualization – Violet – Offset Crop“, derivative work by ICSI. New license: CC BY-SA 4.0. Based on “Social Network Analysis Visualization” by Martin Grandjean. Original license: CC BY-SA 3.0.