Why Professional

practices course is
required?
Why Professional Practices in BS
Computing Degree Program?
Professional practices in a Bachelor of Science in Computing (CS,
Artificial Intelligence) program is essential for several reasons,
ranging from ethical and legal responsibilities to the practical
integration of AI into real-world systems.

It is important because it helps students learn how to develop

Computing/AI based systems responsibly. It teaches them how
to handle ethical issues, work within legal guidelines, collaborate
with others, and create systems that are safe and reliable.
Why Professional Practices in BS(CS/AI)
Degree Program?
It is crucial because it helps students learn how to develop AI
systems/computing solution, that are not only technically sound
but also ethical, legal, and practical in the real world.

It is important because it teaches students how to use AI

technology responsibly.

It involves learning to create AI systems/computing solution

that are fair, safe, and follow the rules.
Let us discuss examples of few aspects from different domains
Ethical Considerations/Ethical
Responsibility
AI systems often deal with sensitive information and decision-
making processes that can impact people's lives. Understanding
the ethical implications of AI/computing solution is essential to
ensure the technology is used responsibly and fairly.
An e-commerce platform collects large datasets for
AI//computing solution to analyze customer preferences and
improve product recommendations. If this data is shared
with third parties without consent, it could breach customer
privacy and trust. Professional practices ensure that
AI/computing solution developers and e-commerce
businesses maintaining ethical standards in data usage.
Ethical Considerations/Ethical
Responsibility
Imagine an AI/computing solution used in hiring that scans
resumes and picks candidates. Without proper ethical guidelines,
the AI might unfairly reject qualified applicants because it has
been trained on biased data (like giving preference to certain
genders or ethnicities). Professional practices teach students to
spot and remove such biases, making the system fair for everyone.
If an AI/computing solution system is used to decide who gets a
loan from a bank, it should treat everyone fairly, no matter their
gender, race, or background. Professional practices teach you how
to make sure your AI is not biased and doesn’t favor one group of
people over another.
Ethical Considerations/Ethical
Responsibility
An AI-powered drone is designed to autonomously strike enemy
soldiers in a conflict zone. If the system misidentifies civilians as
soldiers or malfunctions, it could lead to unlawful killings and war
crimes. Professional practices ensure that developers incorporate
ethical considerations to minimize the risk of collateral damage
and ensure compliance with international humanitarian laws like
the Geneva Conventions.
Fairness(Merit based) in AI
Decisions
• Imagine an AI/computing solution is used by an online store
to decide which customers get special discounts. Without
fairness, the AI might give discounts only to people in certain
neighborhoods, leaving others out. Professional practices
teach you how to make sure everyone gets an equal chance,
no matter where they live or who they are.
• AI/computing solution is used for diagnosing diseases and
recommending treatments. It is crucial to ensure that these
AI/computing solution systems treat all patients equally,
without any bias based on gender, socioeconomic
background, or location
Fairness(Merit based) in AI
Decisions
• AI is heavily used in social media platforms to curate content,
recommend posts, and connect users with advertisements. These
algorithms must be designed to treat all users fairly and avoid
bias.
• An AI algorithm/computing solution in an online store
recommends products based on previous purchases. If the
algorithm favors products that have higher profit margins for the
company, it might push customers toward these options, rather
than recommending what is genuinely best for them. Professional
practices teach AI developers to create recommendation systems
that are unbiased, ensuring that recommendations are based on
customer preferences, not just the business’s profit goals.
Legal and Regulatory
Compliance
Self-driving cars use AI algorithms/computing solution for
navigation and decision-making. Developers must be aware
of autonomous vehicle regulations in different countries to
ensure the technology operates legally and safely within
traffic laws.
If you’re working on an AI system that handles personal
data, like bank details, you need to follow data protection
laws. Professional practices teach students how to design AI
systems that follow these laws, so they don’t get into legal
trouble.
Legal and Regulatory
Compliance
 If you use a shopping app powered by AI/computing
solution, it learns about your preferences and stores your
purchase history. Professional practices ensure this data isn’t
shared with third parties or leaked, keeping your information
private and secure.
If you’re making an AI app that stores and analyzes people's
health records, you have to follow privacy laws that say you
must keep this information safe and confidential.
Professional practices teach you how to make sure your AI
follows these laws so you don’t accidentally break them.
Accountability for AI Decisions
• If an AI/computing solution recommendation system on a
shopping website suggests the wrong product, leading to a
customer buying something they didn’t want, who is at
fault? Is it the developer, the company, or the system itself?
Professional practices help you track AI decisions so you can
fix problems and know who should take responsibility.
• If an AI in a banking app charges a customer twice for the
same purchase, it’s critical to identify the problem and fix it
fast. Professional practices ensure developers are
responsible for identifying and correcting these types of
errors.
Accountability for AI Decisions
• In autonomous drones, if a drone causes damage during its
operation, professionals must know the process for
determining responsibility—whether it's the AI developer,
the company deploying the drone, or another stakeholder.
Following professional standards in logging, testing, and
auditing systems can ensure accountability.
• If an AI/computing solution in a hospital incorrectly
diagnoses a patient, who is responsible? The doctor? The AI
developer? Professional practices teach how to track
decisions made by AI, ensuring there’s a clear process to
review and correct mistakes.
User’s/Customer Data Privacy
• A fitness tracker used by professional athletes collects data on
their heart rates, sleep patterns, and physical activity. If this
sensitive data were shared with advertisers without the athletes'
consent, it would violate their privacy. By studying professional
practices, AI developers learn how to implement secure data-
handling procedures and ensure that personal data is only used
for its intended purpose.
• An AI system tracks student performance across different subjects,
identifying areas of improvement. This data is stored on the
platform's servers for further analysis. If the platform is not
secured properly, sensitive information about students could be
accessed by unauthorized parties, leading to data breaches.
User’s/Customer Data Privacy
• An AI system/computing solution personalizes a user’s
shopping experience by showing products they might like
based on previous searches and purchases. If the system
becomes too invasive by tracking every move, including off-
site behavior, it may feel intrusive. Professional practices
guide developers to respect user privacy by giving them
control over the amount of data collected and how it is used
for personalization, ensuring that AI-driven experiences are
helpful rather than overreaching.
Preventing Exploitation,
Misinformation and Harmful
Content
• Twitter uses AI/computing solution to flag and remove posts
that promote hate speech or false news. However, without
clear guidelines, the AI might wrongly censor legitimate
discussions or fail to remove harmful content. Professional
practices teach developers how to design transparent,
accurate AI systems that balance content moderation with
freedom of expression, ensuring fair and effective regulation.
Preventing Exploitation,
Misinformation and Harmful
Content
• An e-commerce platform uses AI/computing solution to
analyze reviews and assign ratings to products. If the system
is used to generate or promote fake positive reviews for a
particular product, it could mislead customers and harm
competitors. Professional practices teach developers to
ensure that AI systems generate and analyze reviews
transparently and ethically, providing authentic, unbiased
feedback to help customers make informed purchasing
decisions.
 Collaboration with
Multidisciplinary Teams (Working
with other Experts)
• If you’re designing an AI/computing solution that helps doctors
diagnose diseases from X-ray images, you need to work closely
with medical experts to ensure the AI understands how to read
these images accurately. Professional practices help developers
work smoothly with professionals in fields like healthcare or law
to create effective solutions.
• If you’re developing an AI tool to help farmers predict the weather
and plan their crops, you need to work with agricultural experts to
make sure the AI meets their needs. Professional practices teach
you how to communicate with non-technical experts and make AI
solutions that work for them.
 Collaboration with
Multidisciplinary Teams
(Working with other Experts)
• When developing an AI system/computing solution for
predictive maintenance in manufacturing, the AI team must
collaborate with mechanical engineers, plant managers, and
data scientists to integrate the system into the existing
infrastructure effectively.
Reducing/Preventing Bias
• A fashion brand uses AI/computing solution to analyze
customer data and suggest new designs based on past
trends. If the AI system is trained primarily on data from a
specific demographic, it may produce designs that are not
appealing or relevant to other groups of customers.
Professional practices guide developers in training AI models
on diverse datasets, ensuring that products are designed to
meet the needs of a broad range of consumers, avoiding
exclusion or bias.
Reducing/Preventing Bias
• An AI system/computing solution is used to grade student
essays based on language, structure, and content. If the AI
model is trained predominantly on essays written by
students from one particular background, it may unfairly
penalize students who write in different styles or use non-
standard English. Professional practices help developers
ensure that AI grading systems are trained on diverse
datasets, minimizing bias and ensuring that students from
various backgrounds are graded fairly
Reducing/Preventing Bias
• An AI surveillance system/computing solution is used to
identify enemy fighters based on facial recognition in a
specific region. If the system is trained on biased datasets
that underrepresent certain ethnic groups, it may
disproportionately target civilians or wrongly identify
innocent people as threats. Professional practices ensure
that AI systems are trained on diverse, high-quality datasets,
reducing bias and ensuring fairness in decision-making.
Lifelong Learning and
Adaptation(Staying Updated)
Technology, especially AI/computing solution, is rapidly
evolving. Professional practices instill a mindset of continuous
learning and adaptation, which is crucial for staying updated
with new technologies, methodologies, and regulations.
 Example:
 AI frameworks like TensorFlow and PyTorch frequently
update with new features. However, these tools get
updates, and new technologies appear. Professional
practices encourage students to keep learning and
improving their skills to stay relevant in the field by
attending workshops/seminars/conferenes, and update
their skills to remain competitive.
Lifelong Learning and
Adaptation(Staying Updated)
Today, AI developers might use tools like Keras or Scikit-
learn. Tomorrow, new tools might become popular.
Professional practices encourage students to keep learning
new things throughout their careers so they don’t fall behind
as technology changes.
 If you work on AI voice recognition today, there might be
new, more accurate tools available next year. Professional
practices ensure that AI developers continue to learn and
adapt to new technologies, improving their systems over
time.
Thanks