Author: Stilgherrian
Publisher: ZDNet
Publication Year: 2019
Summary: The following article covers 5 ethical smokescreens working against the consideration of ethical behavior: 1). Techno-logic: we use technology as a way to “reduce the world to something we can control”, but lots of things, especially human behavior, cannot be clearly measured in this way; 2). Value neutrality: the mindset that technology doesn’t do bad, people do. This is ignoring that technology does, in fact, frame our choices. Looking through binoculars is different from looking through the scope of a gun, so designing a gun is inherently saying that sometimes killing is okay; 3). Dilution of responsibility: the view that if something goes wrong, we can blame the technology rather than the people who made it; 4). Inevitability: the belief that technology is inevitable, so there is no reason to hold back. Additionally, if someone is going to make it, then it might as well be us; and 5). Progress thesis: the idea that the most important thing is technological advancement, and any potential problems caused by it can be dealt with after. He also references the great statement “Technology systems and processes will only reflect your good intentions…as much as you put them in there explicitly”.