1.5.2: moral and ethical issues

• Give two effects on businesses of computers becoming part of the workforce

  • Higher productivity
  • Lower unit costs
  • Lower costs of renting
  • Lower labour costs
• Give two uses of automated decision-making.

  • Targeted feeds (social media)
  • Application processes (jobs, mortgages, loans)
  • Power distribution systems
  • Driverless cars
  • Stock trading
  • Plant automation systems
• Define artificial intelligence


  The ability of a computer to replicate human intelligence, cognitive ability and grasp abstract concepts.
• Describe how expert systems work.

  Expert systems consist of a knowledge base made up of a set of facts and rules. This is used to build an inference engine which is interrogated to find diagnoses.
• Give two applications of AI.

  • Neural networks
  • Expert systems
  • Voice recognition
• State two negative environmental effects of computers.

  • Toxic e-waste contaminating water.
  • E-waste in third world countries.
  • Greenhouse gases from greater electricity consumption.
  • Reduced biodiversity
  • Impact of climate change on future generation.
• Give two ways in which technology can be used to protect the environment.

  • Smart home systems (sensors)
  • Sleep and Stand-by features on devices
  • Smart engine designs
• Define censorship.


  The act of suppressing the content that people are able to view, publish and access.
• What is the Free Internet?

  The idea of an Internet where nothing is filtered at all, in line with the principle of freedom of speech.
• How is censorship used within schools?

  Pupils may be prevented from accessing unsuitable material. May be used to maintain high productivity and prevent distractions.
• Give arguments in favour of surveillance systems

  Useful for social security purposes and detecting crime.

  Needed to trace and punish criminal activity.
• What is the name given to the process of analysing large data sets to uncover hidden trends?

  Data mining
• Name three things web designers must take into account when designing a website.

  Colour paradigms, layout, character set.