Stretch tasks Issues and Impact of Technology

Round 1: Quiz Blitz

1. To run the servers and to cool them Demand grows every year as more services move online.
2. Toxic metals such as lead and mercury They contaminate the ground and harm the people doing the work.
3. Route optimisation for delivery fleets Smart meters and automated building controls do the same.
4. False A balanced answer, weighing costs against savings, is required.
5. Unequal access to technology Cost, connection quality, disability and confidence all play a part.
6. It is applied consistently and at scale, so it is hard to notice The system reproduces whatever bias was in its training data.
7. The cost of devices and data; Disability Connection quality and confidence matter too.
8. New jobs rarely appear in the same place or for the same people A displaced warehouse worker is not simply turned into a robotics engineer.
9. Storing data and running software on a provider's remote servers Convenient and backed up, but someone else controls the data.
10. False It moves your data into someone else's control, perhaps under another country's laws.
11. Who holds it, what may they do with it, what if it leaks Data once released cannot be recalled.
12. A consequence Write 'which means' after every claim.

Round 2: Quick Fire

1. • Making devices needs rare metals, mined at a high cost
   • Data centres use huge amounts of electricity
   • E-waste releases toxic metals when dismantled unsafely
   Model answer

   Manufacturing devices needs rare earth metals, and mining them uses huge amounts of energy and water and causes pollution. Data centres also use very large amounts of electricity to run and cool their servers.

2. • It learns from past data, which may be biased
   • It applies that bias consistently, at scale, where it is hard to notice
   Model answer

   It is trained on past hiring data, so if earlier decisions favoured one group, it learns that bias. It then applies the bias consistently to thousands of applicants, which makes it larger in effect and harder to notice than one person's prejudice.

3. • Some people lack devices, connections, skills or confidence
   • Those least able often depend most on the services
   Model answer

   Some residents cannot afford a device or a good connection, or lack the skills or confidence to use online forms, perhaps because of age or disability. Those people are often the ones who depend most on council services, so they are left out.

4. • A way, such as video calls replacing journeys
   • A consequence, such as less fuel burned and fewer emissions
   Model answer

   Video conferencing lets people meet without travelling, which removes commuting and business flights, so less fuel is burned and carbon emissions fall.

Round 3: Big Think

1. • The company saves on wages
   • Some customers get shorter queues
   • Older or disabled customers lose help, widening the digital divide
   • Staff lose their jobs and are not easily retrained
   • The AI may be biased and wrongly accuse people
   • Cameras raise privacy questions
   • The groups want different things
   • A conclusion that commits
   Model answer

   The supermarket saves on wages, so its costs fall and profits rise, and customers with a few items may find shorter queues and a quicker visit. However, older or disabled customers who struggle with the screens lose the help they relied on, which is a form of the digital divide. The checkout staff lose their jobs, and few will easily be retrained for the technical roles that remain. The AI system may be biased, wrongly accusing certain groups if its training data was unbalanced, and its cameras record every customer, raising privacy questions about who sees the footage and how long it is kept. The groups want different things: the company wants savings, staff want jobs and customers want speed and fairness. On balance, the plan is acceptable only if staffed tills remain for those who need them and every AI alert is checked by a person.

2. • Manufacturing needs rare metals, whose mining pollutes
   • Data centres use electricity to run and cool servers
   • E-waste is toxic and often dismantled unsafely
   • Devices are replaced before they stop working
   • Video calls and remote working remove journeys
   • Digital documents remove paper and distribution
   • Smart meters and route optimisation cut energy use
   • A conclusion that commits
   Model answer

   Computing has real environmental costs. Manufacturing devices needs rare metals, whose mining causes pollution and human harm. Data centres use enormous amounts of electricity to run and cool their servers. Devices are replaced long before they stop working, and much of the e-waste is exported and dismantled unsafely, releasing toxic lead and mercury. On the other hand, video conferencing and remote working remove journeys and flights, digital documents and tickets remove paper and distribution, and smart meters and route optimisation cut energy use by more than they consume. On balance, the benefits can outweigh the costs, but only if devices are kept for longer and recycled safely.

This or That

1. Saving The electricity for a call is tiny compared with the fuel for a flight.
2. No: someone else controls it The data sits on another company's servers, perhaps under another country's laws.
3. Manufacturing devices Phones, laptops and batteries all depend on them.
4. No: it is copied within hours Once released, data is copied and cannot be put back.
5. Harder It applies the bias consistently and at scale, hidden inside the system.
6. No: both sides are needed Evaluate means weighing both sides, then reaching a judgement.
7. Those with the least access The people least able to get online often depend most on the services.
8. A consequence: which means... Develop every point into what it leads to.

Memory Match

• A 4 Electronic waste: Discarded devices, often toxic
• B 5 Digital divide: Unequal access to technology
• C 6 Machine learning: Finds patterns from training data
• D 1 Algorithmic bias: Unfair results learned from biased data
• E 2 Cloud computing: Software and data on a provider's servers
• F 3 Stakeholder: Someone affected by a decision

Sort It

1. Environmental cost E-waste dismantled by hand without protection Toxic metals are released.
2. Environmental cost Mining rare earth metals for new phones Mining uses energy and water and pollutes.
3. Environmental benefit Video meetings instead of flights Journeys removed save fuel and carbon.
4. Environmental benefit Route optimisation for delivery vans Shorter routes burn less fuel.
5. Environmental benefit Building controls switching lights off automatically Automation cuts wasted energy.
6. Environmental benefit Digital tickets instead of paper Less material and distribution.
7. Environmental cost Replacing devices that still work More manufacturing and more waste.
8. Environmental benefit Remote working removing commutes Fewer journeys mean fewer emissions.
9. Environmental cost Data centres running and cooling servers They use very large amounts of electricity.
10. Environmental benefit Smart meters cutting home energy use They save more energy than they use.
11. Environmental cost Making millions of chargers and cables Manufacturing has an environmental cost.