78274 Just Tech
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Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): (142 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04250 Juris Doctor Master of Business Administration OR 94 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04363 Juris Doctor Master of Intellectual Property OR 94 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04364 Juris Doctor Graduate Certificate Trade Mark Law and Practice OR 94 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04236 Juris Doctor) AND 70106c Principles of Public International Law AND 70107 Principles of Company Law) OR ((70106 Principles of Public International Law OR 94 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04320 Juris Doctor Graduate Certificate Professional Legal Practice)
The lower case 'c' after the subject code indicates that the subject is a corequisite. See definitions for details.
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses. See access conditions.
Description
Technology is of urgent significance to the legal profession and to legal thinkers. Lawyers are uniquely placed to not only apply new technology to legal problems, but to critically think through the implications of emerging technology to questions of social justice. Today’s lawyers need to pre-empt these questions through training in the jurisprudence of technology.
This subject provides students with a robust legal story about technological developments and the significance of justice to tech developments. Classic jurisprudential skills and values such as ethics and justice are vital to ensure that future and ongoing legal engagements with socio-technological developments are framed by legal normative constraints. To date, justice has been put in the background in discussions of technology, with “law” being synonymous with legal technique, rather than legal evaluation.
Rapid changes in technology are of urgent significance to law, and law and legal thinking are uniquely relevant to the future direction of technology. This subject foregrounds law’s roles in producing justice when thinking through technology: law’s roles in protecting rights, protecting people from harm, and in establishing frameworks of responsibility. This subject goes beyond the current terrain of commentary on law and technology, which focuses on the (technical) purposes of specific laws, to a more general question about the purpose of law in this domain. Justice is the central value of our enquiries.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Analyse and evaluate a range of approaches of theoretical constructions of the concepts of justice and ethics. |
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| 2. | An advanced and integrated reflection upon and application of theories of justice to challenges raised by technological developments. |
| 3. | Identify, analyse, evaluate and synthesis research materials, complex scholarly arguments and primary and secondary sources of law. |
| 4. | Construct clear, justifiable, original and persuasive written and oral arguments that are supported by research and textual readings. |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes which reflect the course intended learning outcomes:
- Critical Analysis and Evaluation
A capacity to think critically, strategically and creatively, including an ability to:
a. Identify and articulate complex legal issues in context, including the skill of critical reading and writing;
b. Apply reasoning and research to generate appropriate theoretical and practical responses; and
c. Demonstrate sophisticated cognitive and creative skills in approaching complex legal issues and generating appropriate responses. (3.1) - Research Skills
Specialist cognitive and practical skills necessary to identify, research, evaluate and synthesise relevant factual, legal and policy issues including an ability to:
a. Demonstrate intellectual and practical skills necessary to justify and interpret theoretical propositions, legal methodologies, conclusions and professional decisions; and
b. Apply ethical research practices. (4.1) - Communication
Well-developed professional and appropriate communication skills including:
a. Highly effective use of the English language to convey legal ideas and views to different and diverse audiences and environments;
b. An ability to inform, analyse, report and persuade;
c. An ability to strategically select an appropriate medium and message;
d. A cognisance of advanced communication technologies and willingness to adopt where appropriate; and
e. An ability to respond respectfully. (5.1)
Teaching and learning strategies
Strategy 1 Preparing for class activity
Students read prescribed materials posted on Canvas prior to coming to class. Information about each topic will be provided on Canvas. Prior to some classes, questions are posted on Canvas to focus students’ attention on technological challenges for legal ethics and justice and prepare them for discussion. Students will be required to think about their answers to these questions prior to coming to class. Additional readings are available on Canvas if students wish to pursue particular theories or technological challenges further. Students use the Canvas Discussion Board to ask questions or share ideas prior to the class.
Students are advised to exercise patience when reading the prescribed texts as these readings may contain ideas you have never come across before and may additionally be presented in a style to which you are unaccustomed. Take your time and allow yourself the opportunity to understand what an author is arguing.
Strategy 2 Engaging in seminars
Using their prepared answers as a basis for their understanding, students will build on their understanding of theme and method through active engagement with lectures. Seminars will model critical thinking and argument, including the skills of close textual analysis.
Students discuss the implications of particular theories in response to specific technological issues and critical analysis of theoretical approaches in small groups and as a class. Students demonstrate understanding of the prescribed readings through class discussions, and also seek clarification for difficult issues. Students have the opportunity to ask questions of their peers and of the teacher to assist them in consolidating their own learning. Students also gain depth of understanding through application of theories to specific issues. Each seminar focuses initially on understanding the theories, and then critically analyses the theories in relation to specific technological issues. By engaging in seminar discussion students develop a conceptual and analytical understanding, of philosophy and jurisprudence. Students build on their preparation and engagement in seminars by formulating and debating interpretations of the theories, as well as relevant legal, cultural and historical contexts.
The seminar leader models critical thinking, including the development of argument and close textual analysis. Seminars cover theories and consider how they articulate and/or apply to the law and technological challenges.
The aim is to understand theory sufficiently to apply it to a technological issue, and then to critically evaluate that legal issue and/or the theory. Students are encouraged to offer their opinions and ask questions during seminars, and are asked to answer questions about the theories in order to develop their understanding of the relationship between these theories and technolegal issues. The structure of the seminars models the analytic, critical and methodological skills that students develop throughout the subject by outlining the theory, identifying issues and critically applying the theory to these issues. Students may undertake research in class of a particular issue in order to add depth to class discussion and analysis by sharing available computer resources and texts. Students are encouraged to ask questions and make comments during the seminars, and are also asked to demonstrate their understanding and mastery of key concepts. The class discussions allow students to gauge how successful they have been in their critical reading, by testing their knowledge and learning from others.
Strategy 3 Preparation and support for writing theoretical essays
As part of the assessment students undertake a short and a long essay. The short essay is due early in the semester on a specific question. The aim of the essay is to encourage students to read a technological challenge from a critical theoretical perspective. In week 3, prior to the due date of the assessment, we undertake an application of theory in class. This involves identifying the separate elements of a specific theory, discussing examples of that theory, and then breaking into small groups to apply the theory to a technological issue. This gives students an opportunity to understand how to undertake a theory-based analysis of a technological issue, and to receive oral feedback from the seminar leader and other students about the efficacy of particular strategies and approaches. Students then apply these skills in the written short assessment. This provides the opportunity for feedback on how to write essays using a theoretical framework.
A seminar is devoted to the art of writing a research essay – this includes research approaches and an analysis of the construction of argument. As part of this class students evaluate each others’ abstracts for their research papers, offering a further opportunity for collaborative learning.
The final essay requires in depth analysis of a particular theorist(s) applied to a specific technolegal issue. This requires research of that particular theorist and issue, and also communication of understanding and critical evaluation and application of the theory.
Towards the end of the semester a class is devoted to a contemporary technolegcal issue. Students are expected to have read the prescribed readings prior to coming to class. They break into small groups to collaborate and discuss which theories they think would yield the best critical insights into that contemporary technolegal issue and develop a theoretical analysis of the issue. They then present their analysis to the class. This provides an opportunity to evaluate their engagement with the theory and their critical application of the theory to the technolegal issue. Students provide feedback to each other on which arguments they think work best and whether different examples could be used. Part of using theory effectively is to ensure that it helps ask interesting questions and/or give interesting answers. This seminar provides students with an awareness of how much they have learned in the subject and the ability of theory to provide critical understanding of technolegal issues. These skills can then be applied in the research essay.
Strategy 4 Applying research skills
Students undertake independent research relevant to class discussion and assessment tasks. Class discussion is based on a list of readings, some of which students are required to locate using the UTS Library and databases. The research essay requires students to identify and research a relevant technolegal issue, appropriate theory and secondary material on their own. Being able to use the library and legal databases to find relevant material is a key skill for a legal professional. Critical reading and analysis of judicial and scholarly material are also crucial skills in law. In this way, students develop and refine skills in identifying and synthesising relevant material and deploy it to make reasoned, logical, justifiable and persuasive written and oral arguments. They apply these skills in the written assessment tasks and receive further feedback (see below).
Strategy 5 Feedback
Detailed guidance as to the assessment criteria and the provision of timely feedback are an important part of the learning process. Students receive ongoing feedback in seminars from the seminar leader as well as their peers. Students should be using class participation as a means to test their understanding of theories and their critical application of these theories to various legal examples. This feedback is available to students from week 1 and provides opportunities to develop their capacity to present oral arguments. In week 3 a class is devoted to analysing the component parts of a theory and applying the theory to different technolegal issues. This provides students with oral feedback about their ability to construct an effective argument using theory. Students receive written feedback on the short essay due early in the semester via Canvas. Feedback provides students with the opportunity to reflect upon and develop their ability to construct an effective argument, write clearly and persuasively and communicate complex concepts. Students further develop these skills in the process of writing of the final essay. Students also receive written feedback on their final essays via Canvas to improve their research essay writing for the future.
Subject Delivery
This subject is delivered online for all of Spring session.
Content (topics)
1. Myths and metaphors of Technology
- (Idealism about technology
- Pessimism about technology
- Law is not ‘keeping up’ with technology)
2. Historical examples of law and technology
(– eg the law of theft from the 13th century – development of money; ATMs – analysis of success/failures)
3. Contemporary topics of justice and technology
(Balance of power – governmental and citizen access to technology; governmental and NGO access to technology (eg CLCs)
(Distributive and procedural justice)
4. Models of responsibility
(Artifical intelligence / Blade Runner)
5. Analytics – eg imposition of debt collectors and Centrelink
6. Cambridge Analytica scandal – individual v organisational culpabilty
7. Google – don’t be evil – development of technologies and organisational models
8. Essay writing class
9. Legal theory and encountering bias
Creation of new world – significance of race, gender, class and disability to maximise the potential of machine learning.
10. Encountering bias part 2
11. Conclusions
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Class Participation
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 3 and 4 This task contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes: 3.1, 4.1 and 5.1 |
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| Weight: | 20% |
| Length: | Each week of class: one x 300 word original post plus 2 x 200 word responses |
| Criteria: |
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Assessment task 2: Short Essay
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2 and 4 This task contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes: 3.1 and 5.1 |
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| Weight: | 20% |
| Length: | There is no written component apart from any presentation tools you choose to use (eg Powerpoint). Your presentation should be 5 minutes maximum. |
| Criteria: |
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Assessment task 3: Major Essay
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 3 and 4 This task contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes: 3.1, 4.1 and 5.1 |
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| Weight: | 60% |
| Length: | 4000 words -- Postgraduate students 1800 words -- Undergraduate students |
| Criteria: |
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Required texts
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go (any edition, including Kindle)
Seth Dickinson, The Traitor Baru Cormorant (any edition, including Kindle)
In addition, a number of academic articles and one e-book will be provided through the Canvas site
Recommended texts
Eubanks, Virginia. Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor (Kindle Edition) 2018
Tegmark, Max. Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (Kindle Edition) 2017
Zuboff, Shoshana. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power (Kindle Edition) 2019