Although it’s been posed many times, many ways, here’s a big philosophical question for information technology professionals to ponder this holiday season. Have another eggnog and ask yourself this: In our unrelenting march called progress, are we responsible for the negative effects of our work that follow in our creative wake?
Is Einstein morally or ethically responsible for Hiroshima? Before you answer yes or no, factor in the benefits of nuclear energy. Consider also that someone else would have formulated E=mc2 eventually and named it something similar—relativité or относительности.
More down to Earth, is the IT inventor liable for the downside of information technology? A handful of recent news items prompt me to raise this issue of IT moral responsibility.
Φ “Study shows texting while driving makes drivers six times more likely to crash”
“Based on studying behaviors in a driving simulator, University of Utah researchers used a high-fidelity driving simulator to find that texting drivers had more crashes, responded more slowly to brake lights on vehicles in front of them, and showed worse forward and lateral control than drivers who either talked on cell phones or drove without doing either.”
Texting drivers are more dangerous than talkers, eh? Who woulda thought?
Φ Here’s an old bugaboo that I thought had been put to rest. Apparently not.
“Cell phone cancer warning proposed by Maine state legislator”
“A Maine state legislator wants cell phones in the state to carry labels warning of brain cancer risks due to electromagnetic radiation.”
Well that should settle it. I’m sure such a label will do as much good as cigaret-pack warnings.
Φ It looks as though Facebook and social media will always be fighting the privacy battle.
“Privacy Groups File FTC Complaint Over Changes to Facebook”
“A coalition of consumer and privacy advocates has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over Facebook’s recent changes to its privacy settings, arguing that consumers are now by default sharing more information publicly than they were before the switch.”
Sort of like when phone books were published for the first time.
Φ The ability to reproduce the work of artists, writers, and other creative people has opened the door to copyright concerns ever since Gutenberg.
“French Court Says Google Violating Book Publishers’ Copyrights”
“A French court has found Google liable for copyright infringement, for including works from French writers in its book-scanning project without prior permission.”
Φ Corporations may be guilty of pirating but so are individuals. Technology tempts us all to break copyright law and steal from creative people.
“Star Trek is Most-Pirated Movie of 2009″
Do we see a correlation between what’s pirated and who has the ability to pirate?
The big question of IT moral responsibility may never be answered to any inventor’s satisfaction but we would be remiss not to think about it.
