Readings for discussion classes

For reading assignments based on the textbook, please see the overview schedule. Other reading assignments are listed here.

Discussion 5: Social Media Recommendation Algorithms

Required reading/watching:

• 2017 TED talk by Tristan Harris: How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day - watch the first 13 minutes.
• January 2023 Washington Post interview of Aviv Ovadya by Will Oremus: Social media can be polarizing. A new type of algorithm aims to change that.

Discussion 7: Blockchain and cryptocurrency

Required reading:

• Iansiti, M., & Lakhani, K. R. (2017). The truth about blockchain. Harvard business review, 95(1), 118-127. Available on Moodle: Iansiti2017.pdf.
• In addition, find and read one recent news article relevant to cryptocurrency or blockchain. Post a link to your article on Moodle. Be prepared to explain the article in class. No discussion question is required this week. Instead, just post a link to your article.

Discussion 8: DuoLingo and human computing

Required reading/watching:

• 2022 Dickinson College Priestley award lecture by DuoLingo cofounder and CEO, Luis von Ahn.
  • The required portion is the main lecture, which begins at minute 13 and ends at minute 60.
  • Scroll to the bottom of the webpage above to find the video. Also available via Dickinson’s Panopto server, which includes captions.