Principles of Social Informatics
1. Uses of ICTs lead to multiple and sometimes paradoxical effects.
2. Uses of ICTs shape thought and action in ways that benefit some groups more than others.
3. The differential effects of the design, implementation, and uses of ICTs often have moral and ethical consequences.
4. The design, implementation and uses of ICTs have reciprocal relationships with the larger social context.
5. The phenomenon of interest will vary by the level of analysis.
The fifth principle of social informatics focuses on the degrees of interest that will vary by the level of analysis, which means that each person may or may not approve of the technology depending on how the technology affects their lives.
Whether a customer is an industry or a consumer, the self-driving car faces continuous criticism.
Safety is obviously one of the biggest interest in the self-driving car. Expert engineers designed the car with safety as their number 1 priority, employing special software
and CPUs to allow Google's car to take control of the vehicle.
The software programs and controls the steering, acceleration, brakes, and most importantly, authentication. Authentication allows the car to recognize other cars and objects on the road.
It is been praised by many as one of the safest technologies out there. This level of technology could be considered to difficult to bother with for some individuals who may be reluctant to rely on a technology
that they cannot understand. Furthermore, an innovator or technology guru may find extreme interest in the complexity of the systems used. Designers have attempted to make Google's car attractive to the public as a whole; however,
it is quite clear, based off of the price and intense technology involved, not all parties are going to share similar interests.
Although the software sparks interests in the designer’s eyes, it is irresistible in the eyes of a hacker. The software could be vulnerable to many different cyber attacks; these attacks would allow hackers to steal cars,
eavesdrop on conversations, or even harm passengers by causing vehicles to crash. A group of hackers working for the software company even figured a way to attack the vehicle by putting viruses onto compact discs.
This infects the car through its radio and into other systems. Security analysts fear that criminals, terrorists, and spies will take advantage of this and cause serious damage. IT is possible that governments may
soon share this view as well. It is no doubt that paranoid moms may also reconsider purchasing this for her children with these risks.
In the end, the cars will not hit the road until 2020 and security experts and continuously trying to find loopholes in the system. But there will always be two groups of people interested in the technology,
the people that want to use it for safety and efficient driving, as well as the people who want to use it to cause harm.
Who Are We?
Hello! Our names are Adrian, Dedrick, and Sorab. We are students at Rutgers University, majoring in Information Technology.
This site serves as a project for our Social Informatics course, which is requiring us to examine an emerging technology based off of the 5 Principles of Social Informatics.
The technology that we are assessing is driverless cars: more specifically, Google's Driverless car.
We hope to demonstrate information regarding background and development, the need for the technology, the public's preconceived notions and expectations of the technology,
the social components of the technology, the technological components of the machine,
the possible paradoxical effects that may result from its application in society, and its its moral consequences.
Research Methods
In order to properly depict Google's Driverless car, we shall be providing information regarding
the basics of the machine that we have found from a list of scholarly journals (which are each
listed in the bibliography portion of the website). Furthermore, we shall be analyzing the videos and interviews provided
by Google in order to communicate frst-hand experiences and results from test drives. Lastly, because the goal of driverless
cars s to increase and promote safety, the technology will be investigated mostly by its ability to seemingly provide a safer means of transportation
without stimulating too many negative paradoxical effects.
Discussion Questions
1. How would Neo-Luddites feel about Google's driverless cars?
2. How would you rate your interest in this technology?
3. What types of features can be added/removed to enhance the number of people who may be disinterested in this technology?
