Human Values

Q&A (10 minutes)

Q&A about ethics, computing, and logistics of the course.

No question is too silly, naive, controversial, basic, or advanced.

Society?

When we say “social context/society/humans shapes technology,” who is included in “society?”

Critical Consciousness

One of the goals of this course is to develop an awareness of the values, norms, systems, and processes that limit or render possible our reality.

Discussion

How would you define these terms (provide examples):

• values
• norms
• systems
• processes

Human Values

Our activities might reflect our values:

• Do you drink tea or soda? Why?
• Do you prefer to go to a museum or a ball game? Why?

We all carry our personal values, that are shaped by how we were raised, our socioeconomic context, etc.

What is important to people in their lifes, with a focus on ethics and morality. – Friedman & Hendry (2026)

Small Group Activity

I’ll give you some values and their definitions – in your groups:

1. Match the human value name with its description
2. Rank them from most important (at the top) to least important – what are the top 5 most important human values to be taken into account?

Journal Writing

Which of these values are relevant to you?

Stakeholders

• Whose values are to be taken into account?

Stakeholders

• Whose values are to be taken into account?

People, groups of people, neighborhoods, communities, organizations, institutions, societies, past and future generations, nonhuman species (other animals), the Earth, (AI agents?)

In-class activity

In groups, identify which values are present in ACM’s code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

Here’s the list of values that we worked with last week

References

• Paulo Freire (1968). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Bloomsbury Publishing.
• Friedman, B., & Hendry, D. G. (2026). Value sensitive design: Shaping technology with moral imagination. The MIT Press.

Journal Writing

Reflect on what you liked and disliked about this lecture, what you learned, and what you wished you’d learned.

1. What you learned from the lecture and discussion – this can be something that surprised you, something you had not considered before, a new way of thinking about something
2. What you wish you’d learned from the discussion – this can be questions you still have and questions you would like to explore further
3. Anything you liked of disliked (were the discussions helpful? were the contents of the slides clear?)