A) In one paragraph, explain your personal opinion about whether or not student loan debt should be forgiven
by the federal government; use persuasive language and personal experience
B) write about a time when you believed that your searches for information were affected by predictive algorithms that suggested results
based on popularity or your own previous usage. Consider questions such as the following: Did you feel like the technologies made undue
assumptions about what results would be best for you? Were you led to advertising sites? Were the best results obscured by paying or
popular companies that rose to the top of the list? Refer to the visual — or provide your own for analysis — in your answer.
C) Do you think that “an algorithm will give you the same answer at both the beginning and end of its shift” (para. 12) proves that algorithms
are better or fairer than humans in making decisions? Can you think of circumstances in which you would rather have a computer make an
important decision and times when you would rather have a human? Why?
D) Gillespie states in paragraph 6 that contrary to popular belief, “children are safer than ever.” He cites a study that shows the decline in
violence against children between 2003 and 2011. What does Gillespie suggest are the reasons that popular perceptions of danger toward
children have increased? Do you agree with his argument? Why, or why not?
E) Gillespie’s final paragraph ends with an implied threat: Children who have been coddled will grow up to be selfish adults who will ignore
the needs of their parents when they reach their senior years. Do you agree with Gillespie’s assessment? Why, or why not?