Ethical Tech: Acknowledgement Before Progress

By Ruby Martinez

I believe that the rise of ethics in technology as a new field in the industry is important to introducing new technologies that are legal, just, and considerate of the consumers. In the podcast with Professor Jeff Ward, the conversation about the relationship between ethics, law, and sociotech emphasizes the importance of a humanist mind-set in the tech sphere.

The imperceptible issues that have risen since the emergence of digital technologies demonstrate the difficulty of detecting possible and unintended consequences that may cause harm to certain groups of people. Thus, the need for trained professionals that are sophisticated in the topic of legal issues, policies, and practices is important for promoting and ensuring human well-being. For example, Professor Ward briefly mentions the creation of a program which commissions human-centered design thinkers to create tools that increase access to legal services. I believe this aligns with the good and happiness Nicomachean ethics discusses. Humanist-approached designers are trying to promote good by creating different means for ensuring happiness.

The issue is not technology itself, but those who are culpable for the destructive consequences of technology. I believe most of these individuals are ambitious, which is why they tend to commit unethical practices. This situation aligns with Plato’s thoughts from the classical period which express that “the sharper it sees, the more evil it accomplishes.” People that have successfully gotten away with shady practices will most likely do it again. The term I would give these people, based on Aristotle’s text, is incontinence. They know what is good, but they lack the self-control to do good. As I said, if someone was able to get away with something, the chances of them doing it again is very likely. Thus, being skeptical about ambitious groups and individuals is critical.

Stopping ambitious people from continuing their unjust practices is difficult, which is why the creation of a field in sociotechnology is necessary. If the people that enter this field understand the ethics discussed in Plato’s and Aristotle’s texts, they would be more successful at ensuring human well-being and even happiness. Once these people in the sociotech field make a commitment to human well-being, they can then start to use the philosophy as a guide to developing more ethical technologies. People in the tech industry first need to acknowledge the unethical problems there are within existing technologies before they can improve them. However, if design teams continue to ignore the issues that other technologists have failed to address in the past, then their likelihood of addressing any new, possible issues could be impossible. Once technologists can learn to accept their mistakes and learn from them, they can then start to introduce more ethical technologies and ideas that could help us live in a happier place.