Words used to be an escape.

I lived romances and adventures through characters in

fictional worlds. The focus was always them and never me, and I preferred it that way, daunted

by my future. When the time came to decide my path, I hesitantly chose computer science and

technology, as my technical skills were strong but there was a creative, thoughtful aspect to the

discipline that other technical disciplines lacked. However, with that choice, I believed the haven

literature once provided me was condemned to become a cage, trapping me in an endless cycle

of analyzing tedious, dense research papers and technical documentation. What I hadn’t realized

then was that reading and writing is the foundation of computer science and extends far beyond

just technical pieces. Through my disciplinary journey, I’ve come to learn that software is all

about communication, as languages are used to communicate with technology in a manner that

other people can understand. Literature within the discipline encourages us to be thoughtful and

purposeful about how we use those languages.

My introduction to reading in the technology field was an article detailing the use of

unmanned robots in searching for earthquake survivors [1]. Though there was limited technical

jargon, this article was the first connection I felt with software in that it demonstrated the purpose

and impact of technology. As I came across this in my first computer science course in high

school, I was incredibly inexperienced, but the world of software seemed accessible and

inspirational due to the article. While I had a lot to learn to be able to program and build such

technology, the technology itself was tangible and comprehensible. I didn’t need to read research

papers written by professionals to understand that the purpose of the software was to assist the

hardware in detecting survivors in the rubble. Reading in my discipline provides me with the

curiosity and purpose to continue building software that will positively impact the lives of others.
 After that initial encounter with the field of computer science, I quickly began to feel as

though I didn’t belong, because I couldn’t seem to understand anything technical, even after

having researched and read almost every resource I could find regarding the topics I was

learning. The simple word “json” had me stumped for months. A class lecture and a multitude of

articles gave me a detailed understanding of its form in technical terms, but I could never

understand its purpose. At this point, reading had brought me as far as it could, but it wasn’t

enough. It was only when I started writing with “json” by incorporating it into my code that I

understood it was merely a language to express data and communicate that data to the computer.

My early stages in the discipline saw endless struggle with comprehension. I spent weeks

researching and rereading articles regarding subjects I didn’t know, but at the end of it, I had no

idea what that subject was useful for. Thus, I discovered the necessity of reading and writing in

conjunction.

My first notable writing experience in my discipline was a paper regarding the social

implications of using predictive technology for policing I wrote in a university philosophy class.

This paper delved a bit deeper into machine learning, where technology is trained to think and

act based on past data. Specifically, predictive policing technology is trained to predict where

crime may happen next based on where crime has been reported and observed in the past. The

main issue with this technology is bias, where predictions have been manipulated or affected by

individual or societal judgement [2]. Past crime reports reflect biases of those who made them,

and training technology on that data would lead the technology to make predictions with the

same biases. Substantial reading and research brought my awareness to this topic, but writing

about it is what allowed me to truly understand the nuances of how the issue came about and

how to mitigate it. This experience also taught me to be critical and insightful about how
technology has social implications. Even with the best intentions, we create unexpected side

effects that need to be addressed. Reading and writing cause us to reflect on what those side

effects may be and how to deal with them if they were to arise, holding us accountable for the

decisions we make and the technology we create.

As I further immersed myself into the discipline of computer science, I found that reading

and writing were essential to my growth and understanding of the field. Much of the reading and

writing in computer science is in the process of programming or communicating with

technology. While programming is incredibly detail-oriented, reading and writing provides the

bigger picture thinking to balance it out. When I’ve been given a task to complete or a feature to

implement, I’ve had to seek out documentation and articles to get an idea on how to complete it.

This process of researching allowed me to think about why I needed to implement the feature,

how to implement the feature in the most effective manner, and how the end user would be

affected by the feature. I gained all the knowledge necessary to execute a task through reading,

but ultimately, it was up to me to decide the best way to compile that knowledge into my own

code. I analyzed what I had learned to transform it into what I needed for my goal. As I had

realized in my earliest reading and writing experiences in this discipline, being reflective and

mindful of my actions would lead me to create more effective, useful software.

Entering the professional realm of my discipline only further emphasized the importance

and variability of reading and writing in computer science. I was introduced to new forms of

reading and writing in my discipline, yet they all still seemed to converge at one purpose: to

encourage me to be thoughtful about the software that’s being built. At my first cooperative

education experience, I contributed to software used to identify threats in mail. This was my first

experience working in a software team, and the communication required in collaborating

challenged my reading and writing abilities. Now, the code I wrote wasn’t just for me; others

were going to review it and build upon it. Therefore, I needed to be sure of what I was going to

write before I wrote it, so I could check in with others to ensure it would fit into the existing code

base. This meant my reading comprehension was more important than ever. Research took just as

long as before, but now, building prototypes became necessary to fully explain the workflow I

was going to follow. It was assumed that I knew what certain terms were, such as “endpoints”

and “Application Programming Interfaces”, and I was expected to use them when discussing

code with my team. However, I was also expected to be able to provide a high-level explanation

of my work to other coworkers and involved parties who weren’t as knowledgeable about

software through presentations and grant proposals. To present my ideas and my work, I had to

fully understand it all, with and without technical details. More than once, I had scheduled a

meeting with my coworker Pablo to propose my plan of action only to lose confidence when he

asked a single question I couldn’t answer. Along with that, the actual code I wrote had to be

organized and clear, so others could follow my thought process even without me there to explain

it. This allowed me to refine my reading and writing skills, and it made me feel like a part of

something bigger. I knew the technical workings behind the features I built, and I could write and

talk about why I had made the choices I made. Additionally, I developed an ability to read other

peoples’ code and build upon it. In this stage, reading and writing pushed me to understand

software from the ground up, so my work would be maintainable, reusable, and easily explained.

As someone who desires to build software for others, this is essential. Anyone, regardless of their

background, would be able to understand the purpose of my code.

Years after my initial interaction with computer science, I recognize my love for this

discipline stems from its graceful integration of technical thinking and reading and writing.
Through the reflection and thought I’ve gained from reading and writing in my discipline, I’ve

grown a desire to pursue artificial intelligence with my software skills. I’ve always believed the

ultimate purpose of technology is to improve human life, but through my experience, I’ve

discovered there are social implications of said technology. As computer science is utilized in

every industry, it’s particularly important to discuss its impact on society and other industries. In

this discipline, it’s our responsibility to research and discuss the ethics and social effects of the

software we create, and this is especially applicable to new, cutting-edge technologies like

artificial intelligence. A current example is Large Language Models, like Chat GPT, that are

affecting the labor market [3]. This technology was initially created to ease the action of finding

answers to our questions, but now, it has elicited concerns regarding replicating, or even

replacing, human ability and consciousness. Stories like this demonstrate the necessity of

reflection and accountability, both of which reading and writing nurture. Literature, regardless of

the discipline, evokes thought about purpose and societal consequences, which define the reasons

we act and the boundaries we must abide by. Without this and the desire to learn, we would not

be able to progress as a society. Words aren’t an escape or a cage; they’re a confrontation with

reality.
References

[1] E. Guizzo, “Japan earthquake: Robots Help Search for Survivors,” IEEE Spectrum,
https://spectrum.ieee.org/japan-earthquake-robots-help-search-for-survivors (accessed Jul.
14, 2023).

[2] R. Richardson, J. Schultz, and K. Crawford, “Dirty Data, Bad Predictions: How Civil Rights
Violations Impact Police Data, Predictive Policing Systems, and Justice,” New York
University Law Review, vol. 94, pp. 192–233, 2019.

[3] T. Eloundou, S. Manning, P. Mishkin, and D. Rock, “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the
Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models,” dissertation, 2023.