AP Computer Science Principles Big Idea 5: Impact of Computing Practice Questions
Practice questions for AP Computer Science Principles Big Idea 5 (Impact of Computing), covering beneficial and harmful effects of computing, ethics, and privacy, with explanations for every answer.
Questions
What is an unintended consequence of a computing innovation?
- An effect its creators did not plan for
- A feature that was carefully designed and tested before the product launched
- An error message shown to users
- A program's intended output
The World Wide Web was first created to help scientists share research. What does its later use for shopping, entertainment, and social media illustrate?
- Innovations can be used in ways their creators did not intend
- Scientists are not allowed to use the Web for research anymore
- Shopping sites existed before the Web was invented
- The Web works only for business
Which pair correctly gives one benefit and one harm of social media?
- Connects distant friends; can spread misinformation
- Uses binary; stores data in the cloud
- Spreads misinformation; increases isolation
- Helps people stay in touch; helps communities organize events quickly
A computing innovation can be beneficial for some people and harmful for others.
The effects of a computing innovation are fixed when it is first released and do not change over time.
A navigation app routes traffic onto quiet neighborhood streets to save drivers time. Which statement best describes this?
- A benefit to drivers with a harmful side effect for residents
- A purely beneficial effect for everyone
- A syntax error in the navigation app
- An example of the digital divide
Machine learning can help doctors spot diseases in medical images. What is a potential harm?
- It may be less accurate for groups underrepresented in its training data
- It makes every medical image file much larger and slower to send to doctors
- It cannot process any images
- It replaces the need for electricity
Who has a responsibility to consider the potential impacts of a computing innovation?
- Its creators
- Only the government agencies that regulate technology products
- No one, since impacts can't be predicted
- Only the people who buy the product
Some effects of computing innovations are impossible to predict in advance.
Online shopping makes buying easier. Which is a possible harmful effect?
- Local stores may lose business
- Customers can compare prices more easily than they could before
- Products become available to people in remote areas
- People save the time they would have spent traveling to stores
A fitness tracker records heart rate and sleep. Which pair describes one benefit and one risk?
- Benefit: health insight. Risk: sensitive data could be exposed.
- Benefit: less battery use. Risk: the screen is too bright to read outdoors.
- Benefit: faster Internet. Risk: lower bandwidth.
- Benefit: more storage. Risk: fewer apps.
Why might rapid sharing of information on the Internet be harmful as well as helpful?
- False information can spread as quickly as accurate information
- The Internet blocks every piece of accurate information it carries
- Information shared online is always encrypted
- Sharing information requires a special license
Which are possible harmful effects of computing innovations?
- Loss of privacy
- Spread of misinformation
- Job displacement due to automation
- Faster communication
- Wider access to education
A recommendation algorithm shows users more of what they already like. What is a possible harmful effect?
- Users see a narrower range of viewpoints
- Users can no longer find any content that they would enjoy watching
- The algorithm stops working after one use
- Users' devices run out of storage space from too many recommendations
Automation through computing can create new jobs even as it replaces others.
Which statement about the impact of computing innovations is most accurate?
- The same innovation can have different effects in different contexts
- Every innovation helps every person who uses it in the same way
- Innovations have no effect on society
- Only physical devices have social effects
What term describes an effect of a computing innovation that its creators did not plan for?
A ride-share app helps people get around without owning a car. Which is a harmful effect some cities have reported?
- More traffic congestion
- Fewer options for getting around without owning a personal car
- Higher costs for every single trip
- Less use of smartphones
Choose a computing innovation and describe one beneficial effect and one harmful effect it has had.
What is the digital divide?
- Unequal access to computing devices and the Internet
- The difference in processing speed between two models of the same computer
- The gap between binary and decimal numbers
- The boundary between two computer networks
Which factors can contribute to the digital divide?
- Income
- Geographic location, such as rural areas
- Age
- Favorite programming language
- Choice of web browser
A rural area has no high-speed Internet providers. Which factor of the digital divide does this show?
- Geographic
- Socioeconomic, since rural residents always earn less money than city residents
- Demographic
- Linguistic
A family can't afford home Internet, so their child does homework at a fast-food restaurant's Wi-Fi. Which factor of the digital divide does this show?
- Socioeconomic
- Geographic
- Demographic
- Protocol-based
The digital divide exists both within countries and between countries.
The digital divide only concerns whether a person owns a computer.
How can the digital divide affect students?
- Students without reliable access may struggle with online work
- Every student is affected in exactly the same way, regardless of access
- It only affects students who already own laptops
- It improves test scores for all students
Which action would most directly help reduce the digital divide?
- Expanding affordable broadband to underserved areas
- Raising the price of home Internet service in order to fund new features
- Requiring all schoolwork to be online
- Making websites use more bandwidth
Why can the digital divide be affected by government policy?
- Governments can fund infrastructure and access programs
- Governments control the speed of light
- Only governments can build computers
- Policies determine which apps people prefer
A city puts all of its services, such as paying bills and renewing permits, online only. Which group is most likely to be harmed?
- Residents without reliable Internet access
- Residents who already have fast home Internet and know how to use it well
- City employees
- Website designers
Having Internet access but lacking the skills to use it effectively is also part of the digital divide.
Which is an example of a demographic factor in the digital divide?
- Older adults being less likely to use smartphones
- Rural towns having fewer cell towers than cities
- Low-income families being unable to afford Internet service
- Cables being cut during a storm
A library starts lending Wi-Fi hotspots to patrons. What issue does this address?
- The digital divide
- Data compression
- Undecidable problems
- Packet routing
What term describes the gap between people who have access to computing and the Internet and people who do not?
Why might the digital divide grow as more of daily life moves online?
- People without access fall further behind
- Online services automatically provide free devices and Internet to everyone who needs them
- Online services stop requiring any Internet connection at all
- Technology becomes harder for everyone to use equally
Organizations other than governments, such as nonprofits and companies, can help reduce the digital divide.
A school gives every student a laptop, but many students have no home Internet. What is the most accurate conclusion?
- Devices alone don't close the digital divide
- The digital divide has now been completely eliminated for every student at the school
- Students no longer need Internet access
- Laptops work best without the Internet
Describe two factors that contribute to the digital divide and suggest one way to reduce it.
How can bias end up in a computing innovation?
- Through biased data or design choices
- Computers create bias on their own, without any human input
- Bias only appears in programs written in certain languages
- Bias comes from storing data in binary rather than decimal
A facial recognition system was trained mostly on photos of light-skinned adults. What is the most likely result?
- It is less accurate for people unlike its training data
- It works equally well for every person regardless of how they look
- It refuses to recognize any faces
- It becomes faster for all users
A company builds a hiring program using data from its past hires, who were mostly men. What is the main risk?
- The program may favor applicants who resemble past hires
- The program will be unable to read résumés
- The program will hire everyone
- The program will run too slowly
Computing innovations can reflect existing human biases.
Because computers follow instructions exactly, their results are free of bias.
Which action best helps reduce bias in a machine learning model?
- Training and testing it with data that represents all of its users
- Using only the data that is easiest to collect
- Testing it only on the developers
- Removing all documentation
A voice assistant has trouble understanding certain accents. Which is the most likely cause?
- Those accents were underrepresented in its training data
- The assistant's microphone was intentionally designed to block every accent
- Accents cannot be converted into digital data
- Voice assistants work only in one country
Which practices help reduce bias in software?
- Including diverse perspectives on the development team
- Testing with users from many groups
- Reviewing training data for gaps
- Using a single developer's personal preferences as the standard for everyone
- Skipping user testing to save time
A loan algorithm uses ZIP code as a factor. Why might this introduce bias even if it never uses race directly?
- ZIP code can be closely linked to race and income
- ZIP codes are stored in binary, which makes them biased
- ZIP codes change every year for everyone
- Algorithms cannot process ZIP codes
Programmers can take action to reduce bias in the algorithms they write.
An app's sign-up form only offers "Mr." and "Mrs." as title options. What does this best illustrate?
- Design choices can exclude some users
- The app has a runtime error that prevents anyone from signing up
- The app uses lossy compression
- The app has too many features
Why is it important to test software with a diverse group of users?
- Problems affecting only some groups are more likely to be found
- Software tested by diverse users automatically runs faster on all devices
- Testing with one group is illegal
- It removes the need to fix bugs
A crime-prediction program is trained on past arrest data from neighborhoods that were patrolled much more heavily than others. What problem may result?
- It sends more patrols to those same neighborhoods, reinforcing the pattern
- It predicts that crime will occur equally in every neighborhood
- It cannot run without Internet
- It deletes old arrest records