The Ethical Technologist

Technologists today create computer hardware and software with capabilities that were unimaginable a generation ago. Just think of all the things that your phone can do. But with so much power at our fingertips how do we build trust in this technology and the people who invent it? 

We are living in a period like the Italian Renaissance when the world took a quantum leap forward. Hundreds of years from now, the technological advances of the 21st Century will be recognised as being pivotal in human history. Now is when exponential change began its rapid acceleration.

Throughout history, humanity has invented technology with the simultaneous potential for benefit and harm. Since recognising the value of fire 2 million years ago, humanity has been harnessing useful but potentially dangerous technologies. Fire is excellent for cooking, keeping warm and defending against predators but it can also burn down the village. Then in the 1940’s a new kind of fire in the form of nuclear technology created devastating weapons but also generates inexpensive electricity to power nations. Today there is concern over advances in Artificial Intelligence. How can we make sure AI is developed ethically so that it does no harm?

So it is that the creators of technology must have a sense of the ethical dimensions of what they create and take responsibility for the consequences of their work. There is an obligation to current and future generations to ensure that the technology is beneficial, or at least does no harm. As far as skills go, knowing this is as important as knowing how to code.

Helping people reach their potential

The best and most desirable kind of technology is that which helps people to achieve their human potential. In humanistic terms, technology should help a person to become ‘self-actualized’ or the best version of themselves.

On the other hand, the least desirable kind of technology is that which dehumanises people through poor design, or by intentionally reducing the user to a functional cog, rendering them powerless. This is the kind of technology that forces the user to adapt to it, rather than it adapting to the needs of the user. There is still too much of this kind of technology in the world. The ethical technologist knows not to do this.

A simple two-part proposition

If you work in technology development, a key skill to possess is being able to analyse the ethics of your activity. It comes down to a simple, two-part proposition;

People must be told what the consequences of using a technology will be and must give their informed consent,

and that

The user must not be harmed by using the technology.

The ethical technologist has integrity. They behave the same way regardless of who they are with. They are not a social chameleon who changes their behaviour to be liked by the people they are with. They live by the principle that ethics is what you do when no-one is watching.

The consummate skill of the ethical technologist is to be autonomous in the sense that they do not need to look outside of themselves to know how to behave; they already know. And this can only come from the self-awareness and understanding of one who has learned ethical principles, reflects on them and applies them in daily life and work.

Why do we need ethics as a skill?

Ethics permits us to live in harmony and cooperation with others. When people are ethical, it is possible to trust one another, to bring projects to fruition and build communities and organisations to achieve what a person alone would not be able to do.

Without ethics, we would not be able to come together in cooperative communities of interest. Long-term relationships would be difficult if not impossible. We could not have the economies that now exist in the developed world where wealth and a high standard of living are enjoyed by an increasing number. Life without ethics would be nasty, short and brutish.

In the words of Émile Durkheim, ‘When morals are sufficient, laws are unnecessary; when morals are insufficient, laws are unenforceable.’

Levels of ethics

In approaching work and the act of creation technologists can find it useful to think of ethics existing on three levels.

Personal ethics for the technologist guides how you do your work, and how you interact with colleagues and users. It helps develop a sense of personal responsibility by making you think, both before and after you act. It considers how your behaviour impacts others. As a rational being with free will, you choose how you behave on a day-to-day basis with full awareness of the consequences of your actions.

Organisational ethics is an aspect of organisational culture. It is how the organisation behaves and how it interacts with people. This level has explicit and implicit components. The explicit is clearly stated by management, written down and understood to be ‘correct’ behaviour. The implicit is not written down but is nonetheless understood to be the way things are done.

System ethics is concerned with how the overall economic and social systems behave, how it interacts with its constituents. Ethics at this level is codified into laws and codes of acceptable conduct; cultural practices that by consensus are widely understood and practiced. As with the previous two levels, systems ethics cultivates a sense of responsibility for how the system impacts on the world in general. System ethics tries to create a system that best serves the interests of the greatest number of people.

Solving ethical dilemmas

Learning the principles of ethical technology practice is knowledge with no ‘use-by date’. Some of the time, even most of the time, it will not be too difficult to know what is the ‘right’ or ethical course of action. But there will be times when the right course is not obvious. Perhaps you have two or more competing obligations, or it is a no-win situation where all outcomes are undesirable. Or maybe you know what the right thing to do is, but the cost of doing it is unacceptably high. This is when having a basic appreciation of the ethical dimensions of your work, and the social context of your work, is critical.

Dr. David Tuffley is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & Cybersecurity in the School of ICT at Griffith University. David is one of the university's most prolific contributors to mainstream media, including print, radio and television. His articles have been republished in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and many others, including foreign language publications (German, Chinese and Japanese). Before academia David was an IT Consultant in Australia and the United Kingdom working for large public and private sector clients, a role he continues to perform when not educating the next generation of IT professionals.