Abigail Carlson

Project 3: Formal Report Reflection

For thefinal project I had to create a formal report, choosing a topic in my field of study
to conduct research on. I major in Computer Science and with the major boom of Artificial
Intelligence in the news I chose to create a formal recommendation report on whether AI
research should be paused to create safeguards and regulations. I hypothesized that there should
be a pause in research to establish formal safeguards and regulations, as there currently are no
binding, formal regulations for AI technology. I conducted research mainly through scientific
articles found at UNM Library and through a previous course I took called Social and Ethical
Issues in Computer Science. My research led to three main conclusions: 1. That there are many
potentially harmful AI implications, 2. There has been a rapid increase in AI development within
the past few years, and 3. That there are few regulations governing the use of AI. Based on these
conclusions, I recommended that there should be a halt to AI research for at least six months to
establish forma regulations and safeguards governing the use of AI.

My subject, purpose, audience, and the SLO’s outlined for this project guided my
decision-making process while drafting my formal report. My audience included the average
non-expert reader, members in the computer science field, researchers, and policymakers. I
needed to create a report that the general public could understand and that provided further
insight to those within the field. My subject and purpose were in AI research, and I needed to
provided research and evidence to the conclusion of halting AI research for development of
regulations. The SLO’s for this project included project planning, organizational design, and
written communication. These SLO’s gave me an overall meaning for the final project and
allowed me to focus on what I should get out of completing my formal report. These guidelines
helped me draft, outline, and compose a formal report that met the requirements for the project.

Overall, my report met the specifications of the final project. I have included the
appropriate front matter (letter of memo, title page, table of contents, and abstract) and
appropriate back matter (glossary of terms and references). I also included an introduction that
outlines the research question, hypothesis, and why this subject is important. My methodology
outlined how I conducted research into different “sub-questions” through scientific research
articles. My results outlined the major findings in each sub-question, and I further outlined how
they relate to the research question in my discussion section. My conclusion section outlines
three major conclusions developed from my research and I followed with a recommendation
section that proposed my formal recommendations and a look to the future. My outline for the
report was simple and easy to navigate, using font, layout, graphics, and color to enhance the
overall design.

This report took multiple weeks for me to develop and finalize. I enjoyed designing the
layout and outline, but struggled when it came time to include my research and findings. My
primary source was a very large scientific article that encompassed each section of my research.
Because of its size and depth, I struggled pulling out the major and relevant information to
include in my results section without rambling and repeating myself. I also had difficulty
including in-text citation, graphics, and quotes in a seamless manner. For future projects of this
sort, I will make sure to spend more time reading and re-reading the research articles so that I
can include the material in a more seamless manner.

Overall, I enjoyed creating a formal report for our final project. It was time consuming,
but it was a great skill to learn that I can see myself using in the professional and technical world.
The topic I chose was one that I am interested in within my field, so I enjoyed conducting
research. I struggled most with integrating my research findings into the results and discussion
sections and will be sure to spend more time on organizing my results on future projects. After
completing this project, I feel I have gained key skills in project planning, organizational design,
and written communication that I can use throughout my professional career.