IDSC 3001 Test G (UMN)

prompt-injection

Compromising generated AI by entering prompts that cause it to behave in unintended ways

data poisoning

Deliberately feeding incorrect data to an AI so that it generates incorrect results

Red Teaming

A term, taken from the military, where a trained team, unaffiliated with development staff, play the role of adversaries and try to deliberately compromise systems. Red team reports are then shared with IS staff so that systems can be hardened, or secured against attack and misuse

ITIL

IT Infrastructure Library, which covers best practices for delivering IT services.

COBIT

(Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies) A continually-evolving best-practices framework for IT governance that includes guidance on implementation, monitoring, and improving IT systems and organizations.

E-waste

Discarded, often obsolete technology; also known as electronic waste.

Moore's Law

Chip performance per dollar doubles every eighteen months.

Microprocessor

Part of the computer that executes the instructions of a computer program.

random-access memory (RAM)

The fast, chip-based volatile storage in a computing device.

volatile memory

Storage that is wiped clean when power is cut off from a device. (such as RAM chips)

nonvolatile memory

Storage that retains data even when powered down. (such as flash memory, hard disc, or DVD storage).

flash memory

Nonvolatile, chip-based storage, often used in mobile phones, cameras, and MP3 players. Sometimes called flash RAM, flash memory is slower than conventional RAM but holds its charge even when the power goes out.

solid state electronics

Semiconductor-based devices. Solid state components often suffer fewer failures and require less energy than mechanical counterparts because they have no moving parts. RAM, flash memory, and microprocessors are solid state devices. Hard drives are not.

SSD

Solid state drive—a chip-based, nonvolatile storage device.

Semiconductor

A substance such as silicon dioxide used inside most computer chips that is capable of enabling and inhibiting the flow of electricity.

optical fiber line

High-speed glass or plastic-lined networking cable used in telecommunications.

price elasticity

Rate at which the demand for a product or service fluctuates with price change.

Microcontrollers

Special-purpose computing devices that don't have an operating system and can't do as much as general purpose computers or smartphones.

Internet of Things (loT)

A vision where low-cost sensors, processors, and communication are embedded into a wide array of products and our environment, allowing a vast network to collect data, analyze input, and automatically coordinate collective action.

Fabs

Semiconductor fabrication facilities; the multibillion-dollar plants used to manufacture semiconductors.

multicore microprocessors

Microprocessors with two or more (typically lower power) calculating processor cores on the same piece of silicon.

Emulator

A software-based interpreter that allows programs designed to run on one standard to be run on devices using a different standard. Using an emulator will be slower than executing code on the native, new standard, since this translation adds a step to accomplish before instructions can be run.

Compiler

A program that turns the code that a software developer writes into the instruction sets that a processor understands.

Latency

In computing, latency means delay. Low-latency tasks have less delay, so they are faster.

silicon wafers

A thin, circular slice of material used to create semiconductor devices. Hundreds of chips may be etched on a single wafer, where they are eventually cut out for individual packaging.

Examples of conflict

Interests, funding bias, favoritism, regulation bias.

Societal issues bias creates

Bias shows up as societal issues such as favoritism, sexism, racism, and ageism.

How do we confront bias as humans?

We confront bias by recognizing our assumptions, slowing down our judgments, and intentionally seeking diverse perspectives to challenge our thinking.

How do companies deal with bias?

Scientific Control, Experimental Design/Research Design, Positive Controls - compared to well-established test, Negative Controls - e.g., Placebo, Randomization, Statistical Replication, Blind, Double Blind, peer reviews.

Obsolete tech certification

The Basel Action Network e-Stewards program certifies firms via a third-party audit. The International Association of Electronics Recyclers (IAER) also offers audited electronics recycler certification. Firms certified as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 compliant attest to quality management and environmental processes.

Skinner box

Operant Conditioning Chamber, also known as the Skinner box. Random rewards were more effective than consistent rewards. This led to the discovery that it's the anticipation of a reward, not the reward itself that triggers the brain

Loot box

Rewards with random values 'Loot Boxes' combined with other Human Bias such as Loss Aversion, Gambler's Fallacy, Sunk Cost Fallacy, and Illusion of Control can create powerful motivation. Incentives, Randomness, Scarcity, Collections

Heuristics

The way humans use bias, tendencies, and shortcuts to make decisions. Understanding these shortcuts can aid in design. Heuristic Design can apply to physical product design, store layout, point of sale/kiosk devices, website design, etc.

E-waste facts

E-waste is a global ecological issue. It raises concern about: air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, information security, even human exploitation, toxic, labor issues. 40 million tons of electronic waste annually worldwide. That's like throwing away 800 laptops every second. 4 phones / second

Green IT

Using computing resources in ways that help reduce energy and operating costs and reduce environmental impact. The manufacture, use and disposal of technology hardware in a way that minimizes damage to the environment.

Measuring telecommunication bandwidth

While storage is most often listed in bytes, telecommunication capacity (bandwidth) is often listed in bits per second (bps).