Post #2001917

@aburka@hachyderm.io @regehr@mastodon.social FWIW, I think it's easy to say this but consider also the background here. There are also real reasons to teach this in a course context that reduce the harms. There's pretty significant evidence that understanding of how these systems work leads people to use them less. Understanding that these tools have pretty severe limitations leads to reduced reliance in those situations -- especially when most publicly available media suggesting their use is basically just "bet it all every spin". And I'm certain that in his course they thoroughly explored the externalities; the university has a relatively comprehensive ethics programme (which was present in this course, according to the other instructor) that I trust. I'm fully on board with the "do not use these things even held at gunpoint" stance, but that doesn't reflect the average programmer nor the pressures under which people are compelled to use these tools. I find a lot of credibility in the harm reduction approach.