BTW, Charles, do you have any of the syllabi for the courses you mentioned? If so, could you share them with the list?
Thanks, Yosem On Sat, Feb 2, 2019 at 9:10 PM Charles M. Ess <c.m....@media.uio.no> wrote: > A fascinating - if deeply depressing - thread: many thanks to all. > > Let me add: the relatively sudden interest among Harvard, Stanford et > al in attempting to introduce some element of ethics into CS (and > related) instruction is also quite striking to many of us who have been > doing this for 30 years or longer. James Moor at Dartmouth, for > example, was pushing in these directions in the 1980s - and enough > U.S.-based philosophers and CS (and related) folk were interested to > begin the Computing and Philosophy (CAP) conferences in the late 1980s, > based in Carnegie Mellon and whose venues included Stanford. The topics > included AI, logic, hypertext/hypermedia - and ethics, both in > application and teaching. > Very briefly: those of us who have thus been engaged in these domains > for quite some time see information and computing ethics (ICE) as > grounded in Norbert Wiener's _The Human Use of Human Beings_ > (1950/1954): "cybernetics" is from _kybernetes_, the steersman or pilot > which in Plato stands as the exemplar of _ethical_ judgment and the > capacity for _ethical_ self-correction. (Admittedly, there are > strikingly few people, even in the ICE communities, seem to be aware of > this.) > Especially as CAP morphed into the International Association of CAP > (IACAP) in the early 2000s, all of this blossomed in many and various > ways - including three additional professional organizations and > conference series devoted to various dimensions of ethics vis-a-vis > computational and computer-mediated communication technologies (the > latter with roots back to the 1980s, if not earlier, as well). Namely, > the CEPE (computer ethics: professional inquiries) series begun by Simon > Rogerson in the UK and INSEIT (International Society for Ethics and > Information Technology), both starting up in the late 1990s. Likewise, > the Society for Philosophy of Technology (SPT) started up in 1995, > beginning with its now flagship journal, _techné_. > > From my perspective, the most remarkable developments have emerged over > the last four or five years, as our colleagues in CS and related fields, > including network engineering, for example, have themselves begun to > argue for and exemplify the importance of ethical reflection in their > work. There are some striking examples - at least on this side of the > pond - and I'd be happy to share references if anyone's interested. > Most remarkably in these directions: the IEEE project to develop ethical > standards for the design of Autonomous & Intelligent Systems, now > concluding its second phase, draws centrally on the virtue ethics > tradition first staked out by Norbert Wiener as central to their > frameworks for "ethically-aligned design" ( > https://ethicsinaction.ieee.org/) > In parallel: the most recent philosophical and policy-related documents > on ethical frameworks for AI in the EU centrally stress virtue ethics as > well as Kantian deontology (autonomy / dignity) as core pillars. (The > most prominent and influential work is connected with Luciano Floridi at > the OII, who is also a member of the European Data Protection > Supervisor's Ethics Advisory Group: > < > https://edps.europa.eu/data-protection/our-work/our-work-by-type/ethical-framework_fr > >) > > The EU folk recognize that these ethical emphases distinguish them from > both the US and China in a number of critical ways. Vis-a-vis this > thread: given the significance of both the IEEE project and developing > EU policy on ethics in conjunction with the development of AI, the IoT, > etc. - the, um, indifference, if not hostility towards ethics in > primarily the US context, as represented in this thread, is at best > startling and at worst deeply disturbing. (Think: the US version of the > Chinese Social Credit System, in which any notion of human dignity and > rights take a distinctive back seat to utilitarian emphases on economic > efficiencies and benefits - where utilitarianism tends to be the default > ethical framework in the US in any case, as the focus on the Trolley > Problem in conjunction with autonomous vehicles exemplifies.) > At the same time, both this history and these recent developments make > the current "discovery" of ethics and computation by Harvard, Stanford, > MIT (e.g., "the moral machine") seem woefully ill-informed and > ethnocentric. > Correct me if / where I'm wrong. > > On the other hand, perhaps better late than never and everything should > be done to encourage further developments in the US context especially. > Those of us engaged in these domains have some strategies for doing so - > but suggestions and comments in these directions would be greatly welcomed. > > Many thanks for reading this far - > charles ess > > > On 01/02/2019 20:02, Yosem Companys wrote: > > My comments inline below in blue... > > > > On Fri, Feb 1, 2019 at 10:49 AM Richard Brooks <r...@g.clemson.edu > > <mailto:r...@g.clemson.edu>> wrote: > > > > Reminds me of a proposal I wrote for an ethics course to NSF. > > My proposed course looked at the economics of the industry, as > > pointed out by Ross Anderson, that the market rewards bad > > and insecure software. This means that structurally it is > > almost impossible to be ethical and survive. The course included > > finding regulatory and market modifications that would support > > producing secure systems and economic survival. > > > > I find something wrong with a system that supports making > > insecure products. > > > > My course proposal was turned down. My favorite review > > of the proposal said it is wrong to combine ethics and > > economics. > > > > > > That was the question Oliver Williamson asked before his being awarded > > the Nobel Prize in Economics. > > > > Research by Dale Miller > > <https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/dale-t-miller> > > and others shows that students who take economics courses in college > > become more selfish and less altruistic after taking the course. > > > > My Harvard advisor Jeffrey Sachs once told me the story about how the > > President of the University of Chicago -- then an economist -- heard > > Jeff go on and on about the importance of technologies to what was then > > called "developing economies." When Jeff was done, the President turned > > to him and said, "Jeff, you know that there's no such thing as > > technology because we haven't modeled it mathematically yet." > > > > When I came to Stanford and turned to the natural and behavioral > > sciences, one of my professors would introduce me at parties as a > > "recovering economist," which I always found amusing. > > > > We should teach them to do the ethical thing, especially > > when it means that they will go bankrupt. > > > > > > -- > Professor in Media Studies > Department of Media and Communication > University of Oslo > <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html> > > Postboks 1093 > Blindern 0317 > Oslo, Norway > c.m....@media.uio.no > -- > Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable from any major > commercial search engine. 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