Responsible Software: A new course to develop ethical sensitivity

Cécile Hardebolle, a pedagogical advisor with the Center for Digital Education (CEDE), is the driving force behind this course, which she has been teaching since September. This initiative is part of the national “P8” program supported by Swissuniversities to enhance digital competencies.

Following the development of the Digital Ethics Canvas, which was incorporated into several courses at EPFL and the University of Neuchatel last year, Responsible Software introduces an innovative teaching approach combining flipped classroom methods and “problem-solving before instruction.” Through this approach, students begin by tackling programming exercises and progress to analyzing case studies.

Throughout the semester, students hone their ability to identify ethical issues by solving programming exercises designed on the basis of real-world scenarios involving societal and environmental dilemmas. In the process, they come face to face with the risks inherent in the algorithms they design, and are led to question their specifications, the techniques chosen, and the data and variables used, with regard to the potential consequences for the stakeholders at the end of the chain. This grounding in reality not only enables them to take full measure of the responsibility incumbent upon them, but also to draw creativity and motivation from it.

“The idea is to teach in a context that resonates with them. One thing that resonates is software development,” explains Cécile. “As computer scientists, there’s real satisfaction in creating functional programs. But how can they ensure that this is done for the greater good? With this approach, we aim to sensitize them to the idea that even with good objectives and intentions, risks still exist.”

A pragmatic approach and a team effort

The course tackles pressing questions: what kind of equity issues can even very simple algorithms generate? How can one design a university admissions algorithm without reinforcing societal inequalities? How can harmful content on social media be moderated without crossing into censorship—or, conversely, without exposing users to hate speech? And how can the environmental impact of a program be measured, what factors exacerbate it?

So many questions and cautionary tales which, as the lines of code are written, reveal the complexity and importance of developing ethical reflexes and having access to a range of robust methods to anticipate and mitigate risks in diverse application contexts.

“The course is based on a MOOC with Jupyter Notebooks, videos, quizzes and case studies. It's a very pragmatic approach, where we try to get students to question and understand where the ethical dimension lies, to think 'I'm developing my software, what does that mean? What does that entail?” explains Cécile. “These resources were co-developed with student assistants, and as a result, the topics and questions are all very relevant to their peers! I'm really proud of the work they've done alongside my colleague Florian Dufour, who is an expert in instructional design. Everyone has done a fantastic job over the last eighteen months, and this course wouldn't have existed without the enormous effort of the whole team.”

Aligned with EPFL’s “sustainability in education” strategy, which aims to introduce new curriculum offerings to prepare socially and environmentally conscious professionals, Responsible Software is deliberately introduced early on in the curriculum (Bachelor’s years 3 and 5). “This course is intended as an introduction. We don't go into detail on each of the themes that we address here, as these are often the subject of a specialized course at the Master's level. The aim is rather to equip students for the rest of their studies, so that they can take ownership of this responsibility and these concepts.”

The MOOC will be open to the public next year, but many of the resources are already freely available here: videos and Jupyter Notebooks.