Technology Ethics & the Digital Society

Watch

• The ethical dilemma of self-driving cars - Patrick Lin ↗TED-Ed
• AI Is Dangerous, but Not for the Reasons You Think | Sasha Luccioni | TED ↗TED
• Ethics of AI: Challenges and Governance ↗UNESCO
• The three big ethical concerns with artificial intelligence ↗MaRS Discovery District
• The Social Dilemma | Official Trailer | Netflix ↗Netflix

Read

• Do Artifacts Have Politics?This seminal essay challenges the notion of technological neutrality, arguing that designs inherently embed social and political values, demanding critical scrutiny beyond mere utility.Langdon Winner
• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power ↗A meticulous exposé of the economic logic underpinning today's digital giants, revealing how personal data is extracted and commodified, fundamentally reshaping individual autonomy and democratic norms.Shoshana Zuboff
• Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy ↗An urgent examination of opaque algorithms that perpetuate and amplify social inequalities, demonstrating how mathematical models can encode bias with profound societal consequences.Cathy O'Neil
• Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies ↗This foundational text rigorously explores the existential risks and profound ethical dilemmas posed by the potential emergence of artificial general intelligence, urging proactive strategic thinking.Nick Bostrom
• Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business ↗Though predating the internet, this prescient critique dissects how media forms shape public discourse, offering enduring insights into the cognitive and political implications of a digitally mediated society.Neil Postman

Voices to follow

• Cathy O'Neil ↗Her work dissects the opaque algorithms that govern modern life, exposing their potential for bias and harm.Data scientist, author, and activist
• Shoshana Zuboff ↗She coined 'surveillance capitalism,' meticulously detailing how digital platforms profit from the extraction and commodification of personal data.Professor Emerita, Harvard Business School; author
• Yuval Noah Harari ↗His sweeping analyses of human history and future provide a broad philosophical framework for understanding the ethical dilemmas posed by emerging technologies like AI and biotechnology.Historian, philosopher, and author
• Joy Buolamwini ↗A leading voice in exposing algorithmic bias, particularly in facial recognition, advocating for greater accountability and ethical AI development.Computer scientist, AI ethicist, and founder of the Algorithmic Justice League
• Kate Crawford ↗Her critical examination of artificial intelligence reveals its hidden environmental costs and the power structures embedded within its development.AI researcher, professor, and author

Glossary

• Algorithmic BiasWhen computer programs (algorithms) make unfair or prejudiced decisions because of the data they were trained on or how they were designed. This can lead to certain groups of people being treated differently. For example, if an AI system designed to recommend jobs mostly suggests male candidates for engineering roles because it was trained on historical data where most engineers were men, that's algorithmic bias.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) EthicsThe set of moral principles and values that guide the design, development, and use of artificial intelligence systems. It's about making sure AI is fair, safe, and beneficial for everyone. For example, discussing whether an AI used in self-driving cars should prioritize the safety of the car's occupants or pedestrians in an unavoidable accident is a question of AI ethics.
• CyberbullyingUsing digital technology, like phones or computers, to repeatedly harass, threaten, or embarrass someone online. It's like bullying, but it happens in the digital world. For example, repeatedly sending mean messages to someone through a chat app or spreading rumors about them on social media is cyberbullying.
• Data SecurityThe measures taken to protect digital information from unauthorized access, damage, or theft. It's about keeping your personal data safe from hackers or misuse. For example, using strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and being careful about clicking on suspicious links are all practices for good data security.
• Digital CitizenshipThe responsible, ethical, and safe use of technology and the internet. It means understanding your rights and responsibilities as an online user. For example, thinking before you post, respecting others online, and protecting your personal information are all parts of being a good digital citizen.
• Digital DivideThe gap between those who have easy access to modern information and communication technology, like the internet and computers, and those who do not. This gap can be due to factors like income, location, or age. For example, a student in a rural village without reliable internet access faces a digital divide compared to a student in a city with high-speed broadband.
• Digital FootprintAll the traces you leave behind when you use the internet, like websites you visit, comments you post, and pictures you share. It's like a trail of breadcrumbs showing where you've been online. For example, every time you like a post on social media or search for something on Google, you're adding to your digital footprint.
• MisinformationFalse or inaccurate information that is spread, often unintentionally, through digital platforms. It's information that isn't true, but the person sharing it might not know that. For example, sharing a news article on social media that turns out to have incorrect facts, even if you didn't mean to spread lies, is spreading misinformation.
• NetiquetteThe rules of polite and respectful behavior when communicating or interacting online. It's like etiquette, but specifically for the internet ("net"). For example, not typing in all capital letters because it looks like shouting, or being mindful of your tone in online comments, are examples of good netiquette.
• PrivacyYour right to control what personal information about you is collected, stored, and shared online. It's about deciding who gets to know what about you. For example, setting your social media profile to "private" so only friends can see your posts is an act of protecting your privacy.

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.