Ethics of technology

Key people

• Dominik BoeslGerman computer scientist, robotics executive, epistemologist, professor, manager, academic, expert on robotics and AI governance
• Steven UmbrelloResearcher (ORCID 0000-0003-2594-6313)
• Adam D. MooreAmerican philosopher and professor of information science

Timeline

• 1940Beginning in the 1940s influenced by the British eugenic movement, the Nazis conduct "racial hygiene" experiments causing widespread, global anti-eugenic sentiment.
• 1960Environmental and engineering technoethics Environmental technoethics originate from the 1960s and 1970s' interest in environment and nature.
• 1977Heidegger, M., 1977, The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays, New York: Harper Torchbooks.
• 19901990, Technology and the Lifeworld: From garden to earth.
• 1991Levinas, E., 1991, Otherwise than Being or Beyond Essence, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Read

• Course ILTCourse Technology · 2000Book
• Ethics and technologyHerman T. Tavani · 2003Book
• The ethics of technological riskLotte Asveld · 2008Book
• Gray Hat HackingShon Harris · 2004Book

Watch

• What is Technology Ethics?Markkula Center for Applied EthicsVideo
• How ethics will change the future of technology | Olivia Gambelin | TEDxPatrasTEDx TalksVideo
• AI’s Oppenheimer moment: the ethics of technology | Nadia Lee | TEDxSydney SalonTEDx TalksVideo

Listen

• Ethics of TechnologyMercy ZvakayiPodcast
• Ethics of Socially Disruptive TechnologiesESDiTPodcast
• AI and the Future of Work: Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace, Business, Ethics, HR, and IT for AI Enthusiasts, LeadersDan TurchinPodcast
• Accelerating AI EthicsAccelerator Fellowship Programme, University of OxfordPodcast

Voices to follow

• Dominik Boesl@nickboesl · XGerman computer scientist, robotics executive, epistemologist, professor, manager, academic, expert on robotics and AI governance
• Steven Umbrello@stevenumbro · XResearcher (ORCID 0000-0003-2594-6313)

By the numbers

• 73.6Internet users (%) — global, 2025 (World Bank)
• 111.5Mobile subs / 100 — global, 2025 (World Bank)

Debates

• Should AI systems be granted full autonomy in critical decision-making?One view: AI can process vast data and make unbiased decisions faster than humans, potentially leading to more optimal outcomes. · Another: Human accountability and moral reasoning are essential in critical situations, and full delegation to machines removes ethical responsibility.Open question
• Is extensive user data collection by tech companies ethically justifiable for personalized services?One view: Data collection enables tailored experiences, improved products, and often free services, benefiting users and driving innovation. · Another: Extensive data collection without clear consent or control infringes on individual privacy and can lead to misuse or discrimination.Open question
• Should algorithms be strictly regulated to prevent unintended discrimination and bias?One view: Regulation is necessary to ensure fairness and prevent algorithms from perpetuating or amplifying existing societal biases. · Another: Over-regulation could stifle innovation and make it harder to develop effective AI systems, as bias is complex to define and mitigate perfectly.Open question

Glossary

• AI EthicsThe study of moral principles and values that guide the design, development, and use of artificial intelligence.
• Data PrivacyThe right of individuals to control how their personal information is collected, stored, and used by others.
• Algorithmic BiasSystematic and unfair prejudice embedded in an algorithm's output, often due to biased training data or design choices.
• Digital DivideThe gap between those who have access to modern information and communication technology and those who do not.
• Informed ConsentThe principle that individuals must be fully aware of and agree to the terms of data collection or technological interaction.
• Surveillance CapitalismAn economic system where personal data is collected and commodified to predict and modify human behavior for profit.

Careers

Roles this can lead toward

Student research

Published policy papers by One Young India delegates — every delegate leaves published under their own name.

• The Plasticity Paradox: Technology’s Impact on The Adolescent BrainNeeti Singh
• EGO: The Ethics and Governance OrganisationSanyam Patel
• Rethinking Education in the Digital Age: Bridging the Gap Between Technology and AccessGovind Mehra
• Untangling The Threads of the TikTok Ban's Impact On Global Trade via Trade, Technology, and DiplomacyAanya Menon

Threads 6

Where this connects to other fields — and why it's worth knowing.

• Concepts of God Religion

  Long ago, humans heard thunder and felt sure an angry god was behind it. Today we chat with an AI and can't shake the feeling a real mind is in there talking back. It's the same old wiring, our habit of seeing a 'someone' behind things, just pointed at a new target.

• Consciousness and the Mind Philosophy

  Should an AI ever get rights? We honestly can't say, because first we'd need to know if it actually feels anything, and nobody has cracked how feelings even arise from matter, even in humans. So one giant unsolved puzzle in philosophy is standing in the doorway, blocking us from answering whether a machine could ever deserve to be treated as a someone.

• Theories of Justice Law

  People argued forever about what 'fair' means, then math ended the debate badly. You provably cannot build a risk score that is equally accurate and equally error-prone for every group at the same time; you must sacrifice one. A dorm-room philosophy fight became a cold theorem that no clever coder can dodge.

• How Habits Form and Break Psychology

  A psychologist named Skinner put rats in a box where a lever sometimes gave a treat, and the unpredictable reward hooked them hard. That's exactly why you can't stop pulling to refresh your feed, you never know if the next scroll brings something good. The same random-reward trick that makes slot machines addictive is engineered right into your phone.

• Religion and Morality Religion

  A thinker named Bentham imagined a prison where one guard could watch any cell, but prisoners never knew when, so they behaved all the time, just in case. That's basically an all-seeing God who might be watching your every move. Modern surveillance runs on the same trick: you can't see the watcher, so you assume they're always there and police yourself.

• Power, Status & Authority Sociology

  'If you're not paying, you're the product' flips how you thought a business works. On a free app you're not the customer, you're the goods being sold to advertisers. That power gap, where you think you're getting a gift but you're actually the merchandise, is as old as sharecropping, just wearing a shiny new interface.