CSE 390HB - 123 Honors Seminar
Instructors: Zorah Fung (zorahf [at] cs [dot] washington [dot] edu) and Riley Porter (rileymp2 [at] washington [dot] edu)
Welcome to CSE 390HB, the Honors section for CSE 123!
Each week, we will discuss various topics related to computer science. Our sessions will mostly relate to the societal and cultural impacts of technology and CS, and some exploration of some technical concepts. This course is NOT an opportunity to learn more programming or add more "rigor" to 123, nor is any background or familiarity with computer science required outside of what is necessary for CSE 123. This is an opportunity to think about computer science and other related topics in a broader context.
Required Book: The Ethical Algorithm
Some Purchasing Options: Third Place Books, Powell's Books, Amazon (eBook cheaper)
The book can also be found at Seattle Public Library (Note: you may not be able to keep the book for the full quarter if someone else puts it on hold while you have it checked out)
Author: Michael Kearns & Aaron Roth
Michael Kearns is Professor and the National Center Chair in the Computer and Information Science department of the University of Pennsylvania, where he has secondary appointments in Economics and the Wharton School. He is also the Founding Director of Penn's Warren Center for Network and Data Sciences. Kearns has published widely in machine learning, artificial intelligence, algorithmic game theory and quantitative finance. He has worked extensively in the finance and technology industries, and consulted on various legal and regulatory matters involving algorithms, data, and machine learning. Together with U.V. Vazirani, he is the author of An Introduction to Computational Learning Theory.
Aaron Roth is the class of 1940 Bicentennial Term Associate Professor in the Computer and Information Science department at the University of Pennsylvania, where he co-directs Penn's program in Networked and Social Systems Engineering. Roth has published widely in algorithms, machine learning, data privacy, and algorithmic game theory, and has consulted extensively about algorithmic privacy. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) awarded by President Obama in 2016. Together with Cynthia Dwork, he is the author of The Algorithmic Foundations of Differential Privacy.
Please contact Zorah and/or Riley if you are have concerns about getting a copy of this book.
Credit
This is a 1-credit, discussion-based course. To earn credit for this course, you need to "complete" 7 weeks of discussion activities and the culminating project.
To "complete" a weekly discussion activity , you need to complete all of the following 3 things that week:
- Do the assigned reading
- Complete the required post-reading reflection (requires some effort for completion)
- Attend the discussion for that week
If you finish all the tasks and attend for a week, it's "completed". There are 9 weeks that we will be meeting so that means you are able to miss 2 and still receive credit for the class!
Details about the culminating activity will be posted towards the end of the quarter. It will involve researching and writing a paper on a new topic based on our discussions throughout the quarter.
The readings and activities for this class are not meant to take up a lot of time and you are not being tested on your understanding of the material. The exercises are there to get you thinking about computer science, how you can apply it to your own areas of interest, and how it impacts your day to day life.
Meetings
Our class meets on Tuesdays from 3:30 pm - 4:50 pm in LOW 106.
Course Content
| Date | Info |
|---|---|
| 3/28 |
|
| 4/4 |
In this section, we will all meet and get to know each other and have a broad overview of what we want the discussion to look like this quarter. We discussed the high level goals of this course:
Assignment Due Today:
Assignment Due Next Tuesday @ 3:00 pm:
|
| 4/11 |
In this class, we will discuss some of the background context for The Ethical Algorithm. We will discuss what the authors meant by algorithms, models, and meta-algorithms (learning algorithms). Here are some links related to our discussion today:
Assignment Due Today @ 3:00 pm:
Assignment Due Next Tuesday @ 3:00 pm:
|
| 4/18 |
In this section, we will talk about privacy. We discussed two notions of privacy the authors presented: k-anonymity and differential privacy. We talked a bit about the implications of these privacy definitions and a bit about the role of privacy in our society. Interesting Links
Extra supplemental reading links (not required for the homework reflection)
Assignment Due Today @ 3:00 pm:
For next time A little different than our usual schedule, next week our discussion will be replaced with a talk on AI that is part of the Distinguished Lecturer Series in the Paul G. Allen School.
|
| 4/25 |
Instead of our typical discussion section, we wanted to give you the opportunity to attend a talk on AI being held as part of the Paul G. Allen School Distinguished Lecture Series. The abstract for the talk is: "The new wave of AI systems, ChatGPT and its more powerful successors, exhibit extraordinary capabilities across a broad swath of domains. In light of this, we will discuss whether artificial INTELLIGENCE has arrived."
For this week
Assignments Due Next Tuesday @ 3:00 pm: |
| 5/2 |
In this section, we will talk about algorithmic fairness and the implications of what world views we take. We'll also spend some time discussing the AI talk from last week. Interesting Links
Assignments Due Today @ 3:00 pm (Note: there are two!):
Assignment Due Next Tuesday @ 3:00 pm:
|
| 5/9 |
This week we will talk about how to reason about systems where individuals might acting according to their self-interests Assignment Due Today @ 3:00 pm:
|
| 5/16 | |
| 5/23 |
We will discuss some of the next steps in one of the final chapters of the book, trying to think about what might happen with technology in the future. Interesting Links
Assignment Due Today @ 3:00 pm:
Assignment Due Next Tuesday @ 3:00 pm:
|
| 5/30 |
This week we will discuss the conclusion of the book, which poses questions about the role of the ethical algorithm and how we will think about them moving forward. We will also speak with a panel of upperclassmen students. Assignment Due Today @ 3:00 pm:
Assignment Due Next Friday @ 11:59 pm:
|
| 6/9 |
The last requirement for earning credit for the class is earning credit for the final paper. You can read more about the final paper and submit it here. Due Friday, June 9 at 11:59 pm, on Canvas |