Ethics and Professional Practice

1. Ethics and Professional Practice Topic 9: Ethical challenges and future directions

2. Overview • It is hard to predict exactly how computers will affect us in the future, but we can be pretty sure that it will be to an even greater extent than they do now. As the technology develops, almost certainly there will be more questioning of at least some of those developments. In a famous article in 2000, Bill Joy argued that some research and development should be halted because it is just too dangerous. But he was not the first person from within the computer industry to have concerns. • In 1996, Joseph Weisenbaum, one of the pioneers of Artificial Intelligence, argued against the use of computers for military purposes. Essentially his question was whether computers should be used to help kill people more effectively. He comes out strongly against this use and says that computer professionals have a responsibility here: • This time has come for computer professionals. We now have the power to alter the state of the world fundamentally and in a way conducive for life. • It is a prosaic truth that none of the weapon systems which today threaten murder on a genocidal scale, and whose design, manufacture and sale condemns countless people, especially children, to poverty and starvation, that none of these devices could be developed without the earnest, even enthusiastic cooperation of computer professionals. It cannot go on without us! Without us the arms race, especially the qualitative arms race, could not advance another step. Weizenbaum, J. (1996, Summer/Fall). Not without us. Computers and Society, (16)

3. Cybertechnology and Our Sense of “Self” • Cybertechnology has had an impact on our sense of self, especially as it regards our relation to nature. • Social scientists often describe three major epochs in human civilization as the: • 1. Agricultural Age; • 2. Industrial Age; • 3. Information Age. • Each age has been characterized by revolutionary technological breakthroughs in gaining control over nature.

4. Our Sense of Self in the Cyber Era (Continued) • Mary B. Williams (1997) describes the impacts of three important technological discoveries: The first such milestone, a great (and greatly humbling) challenge to our sense of human beings as uniquely important, came when the Copernican revolution established that Earth, the human home, was not at the center of the universe. The second milestone was Charles Darwin's conclusion that emergence of Homo sapiens was...the result of evolution from lower species by the process of natural selection. The third milestone resulted from the work of Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud, which showed intellectual, social, and individual creativity to be the result of non-rational (unconscious) libidinal or economic forces – not as has been believed, the products of the almost god-like powers of the human mind.

5. Cyber-technology as a "Defining Technology“ • J. David Bolter (1984) claims that in Western cultures, we have come to see ourselves via a defining technology, which: develops links, metaphorical or otherwise, with a culture’s science, philosophy, or literature. • “Defining technologies” have been used by philosophers and humanists to describe how human beings view themselves in a particular age or time period.

6. Cybertechnology as a "Defining Technology“ (Continued) • 20th-century computer science pioneer Alan Turing articulated some of the interesting connections between the computer and the human mind. • Bolter uses the phrase “Turing’s man” to describe those who see the computer as the defining metaphor of our age. • “Turing’s man” sees nature as information, and humans (or human brains) as information processing engines.

7. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

8. Artificial Intelligence (AI) • The view that only humans are rational is currently challenged on two separate fronts: • 1. research in animal intelligence suggests that many primates, dolphins, and whales are capable of demonstrating skills we typically count as rational; • 2. developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have shown that certain forms of "rational activity" can also be attributed to computers.

9. AI (Continued) • Questions arising in AI research have caused some philosophers and scientists to reconsider our traditional definitions of notions such as: • rationality; • intelligence; • knowledge; • learning.

10. Do Computers Possess Intelligence? • 1950, Alan Turing posed a question that has come to be known as the Turing Test: If you were using a computer to communicate with an entity in a different room and you couldn’t be sure whether it was a human or a computer, we would have to concede that the computer had some intelligence. • Turing predicted that a computer would pass this test by 2000.

11. Should We Continue to Do Research in AI? • Will AI entities of the future exhibit, or possibly exceed, human intelligence? • If so, should we continue to do AI research? • John Weckert (2004) asks: Can we, or do we want to, live with artificial intelligences? We can happily live with fish that swim better than we do, hawks that see and fly better, and so on, but do we want things that can reason better to be in a different and altogether more worrying category….What would such [developments mean for] our view of what it is to be human?

12. AI and Controversies Involving Bionic Chip Implants • Future chip plants made possible by AI could be designed to make a normal person “super human.” • Weckert notes that “conventional” implants designed to “correct” deficiencies have been around and used for some time. • The purpose of these “therapeutic implants” has been to assist patients in their goal of achieving “normal” states of vision, hearing, heartbeat, etc.

13. AI and Implants (Continued) • According to Moor: • therapeutic chip implants such as pacemakers, defibulators, and bionic eyes that maintain and restore natural bodily functions will most likely be accepted; • enhancement implants, such as giving patients added arms or infrared vision, will most likely be prohibited.

14. AI and Implants (Continued) • We need to assess now some of the advantages and disadvantages of bionic implants that AI will make possible. • Weckert (2006) asks us whether we: want to be ‘superhuman’ relative to our current abilities with implants that enhance our senses, our memories, and our reasoning ability? What would such implants do to our view of what it is to be human?

15. AI and Cyborgs • Some now worry that with bionic parts, humans and machines could soon begin to merge into cyborgs. • Ray Kurzweill (1999) suggests that the distinction between machines and humans may no longer be useful. • Moor believes the question we must continually reevaluate is not whether we should become cyborgs, but rather: What sort of cyborgs should we become?

16. AI and Issues of Moral Responsibility • AI research and development raises two questions about moral responsibility: • (1) should we continue to develop artificial-intelligent entities? • (2) if we do, what are our moral responsibilities to them?

17. Nanotechnology

18. Nanotechnology • Rosalyn Berne (2005) defines nanotechnology as: the study, design, and manipulation of natural phenomena, artificial phenomena, and technological phenomena at the nanometer level. • K. Eric Drexler, who coined the term nanotechnology in the 1980s, describes the field as: a branch of engineering dedicated to the development of extremely small electronic circuits and mechanical devices built at the molecular level of matter.

19. Nanotechnology and Nanocomputing • Drexler (1991) predicted that developments in nanotechnology will result in computers at the nano-scale, no bigger in size than bacteria, called nanocomputers. • Nanocomputers can be designed using various types of architectures. • An electronic nanocomputer would operate in a manner similar to present-day computers, differing primarily in terms of size and scale.

20. Nanotechnology and Nanocomputers (continued) • To appreciate the scale of future nanocomputers, imagine a mechanical or electronic device whose dimensions are measured in nanometers (billionths of a meter, or units of 10-9 meter). • Ralph Merkle (2001) predicts that nano-scale computers will be able to deliver a billion billion instructions per second – i.e., a billion times faster than today’s desktop computers.

21. Nanotechnology and Nanocomputing (continued) • Although still in its early stages of development, some primitive nanocomputing devices have already been tested. • At Hewlett Packard, computer memory devices with eight platinum wires that are 40 nanometers wide on a silicon wafer have been developed. • James Moor and John Weckert (2004) note that it would take more than one thousand of these chips to be the width of a human hair.

22. Optimistic View of Nanotechnology • Bert Gordijn (2003) considers a “utopian dream,” where nanotechnology would: • be self-sufficient and “dirt free”; • create unprecedented objects and materials; • enable the production of inexpensive high quality products; • be used to fabricate food rather than having to grow it; • provide low priced and superior equipment for healthcare; • enable us to enhance our human capabilities and properties.

23. Pros of Nanotechnology • Nanites could be used to clean up toxic spills and to eliminate other kinds of environmental hazards. • Nanites could also dismantle or "disassemble" garbage at the molecular level and recycle it again as food.

24. Pros of Nanotechnology (continued) • Nano-particles inserted into bodies could diagnose diseases and directly treat diseased cells. • Doctors could use nanites to make microscopic repairs on areas of the body that are difficult to operate on with conventional surgical tools. • With nanotechnology tools, the life signs of a patient could be better monitored.

25. Pessimistic View of Nanotechnology • Gordign also considers the pessimistic view, where nanotechnology developments could result in: • severe economic disruption; • premeditated misuse in warfare and terrorism; • surveillance with nano-level tracking devices; • extensive environmental damage; • uncontrolled self replication (sometimes referred to as the “grey goo scenario”); • misuse by criminals and terrorists (sometimes referred to as the “black goo scenario”).

26. Cons of Nanotechnology • All matter (objects and organisms) could theoretically be disassembled and reassembled by nanite assemblers and disassemblers. • Since nanites could be created to be self-replicating, what would happen if strict "limiting mechanisms" were not built into them? • Theoretically, they could multiply endlessly like viruses.

27. Cons of Nanotechnology (continued) • Nanite assemblers and disassemblers could be used to create weapons. • Nanites themselves could be used as weapons. • Andrew Chen (2002) notes that guns, explosives, and electronic components of weapons could all be miniaturized.

28. Nanoethics: Identifying and Analyzing Ethical Issues in Nanotechnology • Moor and Weckert (2004) believe that assessing ethical issues that arise at the nano-scale is important because of the kinds of “policy vacuums” that are raised. • They do not argue that a separate field of applied ethics called nanoethics is necessary. • But they make a strong case for why an analysis of ethical issues at the nano-level is now critical.

29. Nanoethics (Continued) • Moor and Weckert identify three distinct kinds of ethical concerns at the nano-level that warrant analysis: • privacy and control; • longevity; • runaway nanobots.

30. Should Computer Scientists Participate in Nanocomputing Research/Development? • Joseph Weizenbaum (1984) argues that computer science research that can have “irreversible and not entirely unforeseeable side effects” should not be undertaken. • Bill Joy (2000) argues that because developments in nanocomputing are threatening to make us an “endangered species,” the only realistic alternative is to limit its development.

31. Future Nanotechnology Research (Continued) • Ralph Merkle (2001) argues that if research in nanotechnology is prohibited, or even restricted, it will be done underground. • If this happens, nano research would not be regulated by governments and by professional agencies concerned with social responsibility.

32. Should Research Continue in Nanotechnology? • John Weckert (2006) argues that potential disadvantages that can result from research in a particular field are not in themselves sufficient grounds for halting research. • He suggests that there should be a presumption in favor of freedom in research. • But Weckert also argues that it should be permissible to restrict or even forbid research where it can be clearly shown that harm is more likely than not to result from that research.

33. Assessing Nanotechnology Risks: Applying the Precautionary Principle • Questions about how best to proceed in scientific research when there are concerns about harm to the public good are often examined via the precautionary principle. • Weckert and Moor (2004) define the precautionary principle in the following way: If some action has a possibility of causing harm, then that action should not be undertaken or some measure should be put in its place to minimize or eliminate the potential harms.

34. The Need for Clear Ethical Guidelines for Nanocomputing and Nanotechnology • Ray Kurzweill (2005) has suggested that an ELSI-like model should be developed and used to guide researchers working in nanotechnology. • Many consider the ELSI framework to be an ideal model because it is a “proactive” ethics framework.

35. The Need for Ethical Guidelines (Continued) • In most scientific research areas, ethics has had to play “catch up,” because guidelines were developed in response to cases where serious harm had already resulted. • Prior to the ELSI Program, ethics was typically “reactive” in the sense that it has followed scientific developments rather than informing scientific research.

36. Ethical Guidelines (Continued) • Some worry that conflicts of interest involving the military and national defense initiatives can easily arise. • Much of the funding for nanotechnology research has come from government agencies, including the: • National Science Foundation (NSF), • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).