Opinion: Ethics should be front and center with technology but isn’t always – The Mercury News

Silicon Valley is justifiably proud of its record of technological innovation. But it is less clear that our ethical reflection has kept up with our technological advances.

We need to think carefully, every day, about how to develop, use, and apply the powerful new inventions coming out of this Valley.

The potential of artificial intelligence, big data, biotech and other breathtaking technologies gives us reasons to cheer. These technologies will help us cure diseases, increase prosperity and live sustainably. But we also need to aggressively address the complicated ethical choices that accompany each breakthrough.

Just in the past few weeks, many of these dilemmas have been on display. Is it the responsibility of social media sites to control the spread of fake news? Will the internet of things and the connected world it promises eviscerate all sense of privacy?

What capabilities and controls should the developers of driverless cars build into their technologies? Should drone manufacturers facilitate or fight restrictions on their products use? How much access should the government have to personal data to maintain national security?

Ethical reflection on technology is not a one-time event. We cant just say, This technology is good and serves society, that is bad and threatens society. Itis an ongoing process that should be applied as new technologies are imagined, developed and promoted. We have to be ready to reassess when a technology produces a problem we did not anticipate, or changes the nature of our day-to-day lives in ways we did not foresee.

Ethical choices include whether to take risks in the development and initial uses of a technology, such as a driverless car, as well as what capabilities to build in so the products will sell but also serve real human needs.

Ethical choices are made at every stage of the Silicon Valley innovation cycle: venture capital, research, design, development, marketing and sales and in executive offices.

Some scientists, engineers, marketers and executives already think deeply about them, but not all. Our monuments to innovation universities, corporate campuses, and, yes, technology museumsought to be places where ethical reflection is taught and takes place routinely.

In our Technology and the Ethical Imagination collaboration, we will try to make ethical reflection as commonplace and familiar as our fascination with the science and engineering behind technologies.

The Techs exhibits will have Ethics Inside. We invite all innovators to join us in ethical reflection.

Our first joint project explores the issues posed in the Techs newest exhibit, Biodesign Studio. Visitors will be provoked with questions about the uses and potential misuses of synthetic DNA and will be given a set of ethics resources on the Tech and the Ethics Center websites. Afree noon talk at The Tech on Feb. 11 called Can We Use Technology to Live Forever And Should We? will introduce the project.

Tens of thousands of creative minds are at work on the next breakthroughs in Silicon Valley. Tens of thousands of young people, the next generation of scientists and engineers, visit The Tech each year. All of them and all of us will benefit from making ethical reflection and ethical imagination a part of the DNA of Silicon Valley.

Tim Ritchie is president and CEO of The Tech Museum of Innovation. Kirk Hanson is executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. They wrote this for The Mercury News.

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Opinion: Ethics should be front and center with technology but isn't always - The Mercury News