Talk:Ethical issues in Digital Assistants

Length

This article is around 2200 words at the moment, meaning the author should attempt to add 700 to 900 more words to fall within the required length range (2,900 to 3,100 words).

Structure

The structure of this article is solid as it includes all three major components that an article should contain. The lead does a good job of introducing the topic and does not contain any information that is not discussed in the body. However, areas for improvement remain, particularly with the conclusion of the lead. I think it reveals too much regarding the ethics of digital assistants. As mentioned in lecture, a lead should not hint at what follows, and that is what this section of the lead currently does. Moreover, I think the author should attempt to more explicitly explain why digital assistants are notable in today’s world.

As for the body, I think the author does a great job of giving a broad overview of digital assistants by including sections on how they have developed over time, how they work, and what functions they can provide to people. For the history section, the author discusses IBM’s digital assistants in great detail but not the digital assistants of Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Because the ethics section focuses on Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft, I would suggest that the author goes into more detail regarding the development of digital assistants by these companies. Furthermore, I like that the section regarding how digital assistants work is written concisely without going into too much technical detail. A diagram or visual could certainly be inserted by the author in this spot. When it comes to the section about the functions of digital assistants, I think that the author appropriately keeps the section brief. Lastly, the “Ethical Concerns” section went into a variety of different ethical issues tied to digital assistants. One suggestion I would make is to avoid being too technical in the “Security” portion. Particularly, I think the part regarding surfing attacks could be less technical.

Additionally, the statements made by the author are, for the most part, backed up by reliable sources. The author makes use of a few peer-reviewed journals, such as Pervasive and Mobile Computing, along with articles from mainstream sources, such as The Washington Post. Nevertheless, there are a few references that might not be reliable. I am wary of https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2019/07/10/google-employees-are-eavesdropping-even-in-flemish-living-rooms/ and https://www.interactions.com/blog/intelligent-virtual-assistant/rise-intelligent-virtual-assistants/. The latter reference appears to be a blog post, so I would be particularly cautious with its use.

Clarity

It is quite clear to me what the ethical issues in digital assistants are and why they are important. One issue that the author exposes is privacy: digital assistants are constantly recording anything they hear. Moreover, issues regarding security are exposed as the author touches on how devices that make sounds can activate digital assistants and how digital assistants can be hacked. Moreover, another ethical issue that is exposed is that digital assistants reinforce gender biases by using female voices. Lastly, issues with data misuse are exposed as the author discusses that data collected by digital assistants is often shared with third parties and used in ways not known to users of digital assistants.

Objective reporting (neutral point of view)

The author does a great job of reporting on the ethical issues in an objective manner. There are no personal opinions stated at any point in the article. There are two main stakeholders in each of the ethical issues exposed by the author: the companies that develop the digital assistants and the users of the digital assistants. For the first two ethical concerns (privacy and security), the author reports on the perspective of both stakeholders. However, in the last two sections (sexism and data misuse), the author fails to incorporate the perspective of companies developing digital assistants. One thing I would recommend adding in the part about digital assistants reinforcing gender biases is that companies have worked to incorporate male voices into their digital assistants recently.