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A Facebook request: Write a code of tech ethics

latimes.com

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Re: A Facebook request: Write a code of tech ethics

#31

Post by redbluegreen »

cbhl wrote: post #24

Here's what I don't want: I don't want ethics exams and accreditation requirements to constrain software development to people with traditional software backgrounds. The cost of a traditional college education in the United States is easily five or six figures, and socioeconomic forces means that black people face systemic barriers to getting access to that education (versus whites, indians, asians, etc.). I want the…

The same could be said for doctors and lawyers though, and I don't think we complain too much about having less unethical doctors.

Re: A Facebook request: Write a code of tech ethics

#33

Post by briandear »

MangezBien wrote: post #9
seibelj wrote: post #5

Doctors protect life, and lawyers keep you out of jail. I guess software engineers can take an oath not to kill people or put people in jail, but after that it's your morals vs. mine, no? And if I work for the Department of Defense making missile guidance software, then it's OK to kill people, I suppose...

Making missile guidance software is wholly unethical and is what we should be striving to prevent engineers from working on.

That’s ridiculous. Letting ISIS exist is unethical. Allowing the North Korean government to exist is unethical. Allowing Nazis to attack Poland was unethical. Germans occupying France was unethical. Letting Somali warlords steal UN food aid was unethical. Saddam Hussein invading Kuwait was unethical. Creating weapons to defend against and prevent such things? Not only ethical, but honorable. Would you have us fight evil with our bare hands? Because you’ve essentially said that all weapons are unethical. The problem is that evil, such as ISIS, the Taliban, Nazis, the Khmer Rouge: they don’t care about ethics. Not doing everything possible to defend against such a scourge is itself unethical. Pacifism is unethical when the failure to act allows evil to prevail.

Re: A Facebook request: Write a code of tech ethics

#34

Post by mieseratte »

cbhl wrote: post #24

Here's what I don't want: I don't want ethics exams and accreditation requirements to constrain software development to people with traditional software backgrounds. The cost of a traditional college education in the United States is easily five or six figures, and socioeconomic forces means that black people face systemic barriers to getting access to that education (versus whites, indians, asians, etc.). I want the…

> and socioeconomic forces means that black people face systemic barriers to getting access to that education (versus whites, indians, asians, etc.)

This is false. Poor, rural whites can and do face the exact same sets of challenges as those from an impoverished black backgrounds, perhaps with the exception of naming but even then I saw a headline last week with a girl named, no joke, Crystal Methany.

Re: A Facebook request: Write a code of tech ethics

#36

Post by maxxxxx »

matz1 wrote: post #30
maxxxxx wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people will think creating weapons for defense is an ethical thing to do. I prefer not to do that but I think the point is valid and there is no clear way to determine what’s ethical and what isn't.

You define what the ethics is. If you think creating weapon for defense is not preferable to you then you better work on convincing or forcing other to follow.

I don’t understand what you are trying to say.

Re: A Facebook request: Write a code of tech ethics

#37

Post by krisrm »

I don't disagree that perhaps software developers should be on board with a code of ethics, but this is a false dichotomy between the decisions of doctors/lawyers when providing services, and the decisions of technology companies on the whole. Companies that exist to make profit, in this case generally by monetizing user data in some (often questionable) form. It seems to me like the ethical responsibility bit lies more with the directorship and management of these companies, and not the Joe Bloe software dev that's working on making emojis display correctly in IE.

Re: A Facebook request: Write a code of tech ethics

#38

Post by randomdata »

Jtsummers wrote: post #14

https://www.acm.org/code-of-ethics https://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html These seem like good starting points to me.

The problem is that unless there is a licensing body that enforces adherence the ethics, they will be ignored. Doctors and lawyers have such licensing requirements, tech does not. The question is not what the ethics should say, but whether or not tech should require licensing to be involved in it.
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