Ethics and the Information Revolution Terrell Ward Bynum Page 13

Introduction Computer is a universal tool because it is logically malleable Can be shaped and molded to perform nearly any task Term: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) ICT now affects (in both good and bad ways) community life, family life, human relationships, education, freedom, democracy, and so on Let’s talk about this – make a list of good and bad for each of the above categories

Computer Ethics – Historical Milestones Field of study founded by Norbert Wiener, MIT professor in early 1940’s during WWII while helping to develop an antiaircraft cannon capable of shooting down warplanes Read excerpt from his book on page 15 – don’t say what year it was written until next slide…. In 1950 Wiener published, The Human Use of Human Beings, established himself as founder of Computer Ethics Ahead of his time, his foundation for the field was virtually ignored for decades.

More Wiener Felt integration of computer technology into society would constitute remaking of society, a second industrial revolution Would take decades of effort and would radically change everything Workers must adjust to radical changes in the workplace – read story p. 118 old book Governments must establish new laws and regulations Industry and businesses must create new policies and practices Professional organizations must develop new codes of conduct for their members

The 60’s Donn Parker, SRI International, began to examine unethical and illegal uses of computers by computer professionals Parker wrote: “It seemed that when people entered the computer center they left their ethics at the door.” Published Rules of Ethics in Information Processing in CACM in 1968 Published a great deal and gave lectures re-launched the field, a second founder of computer ethics

The 1970’s Joseph Weizenbaum, MIT CS professor developed ELIZA A crude imitation of a psychotherapist Joseph was shocked at others reactions Growing tendency among scientists and general public to see humans as mere machines Why did this bother him? What are the ethical issues which arise if a human is viewed more as a machine? He authored Computer Power and Human Reason, a classic in Computer Ethics and is considered a key person in the formative history of the area Show a crude imitation…..Frank

70’s Continued Walter Maner (mid 70’s) at Old Dominion and now Bowling Green State Univ began to user term “Computer Ethics” to refer to that field of applied professional ethics dealing with ethical problems aggravated, transformed, or created by computer technology. Really focused on the teaching of the field, even prepared a starter kit

1980’s Growth in number of social and ethical consequences of information technology Becoming public issues in U.S. Deborah Johnson published her first text book in the field – the defining textbook for more than a decade Terrell Bynum began work in the field planning with Maner conferences that led to publications, videos, teaching materials in the field More and more universities began to incorporate computer ethics into their curricula as portions of courses or complete courses Developed Research Center on Computing & Society AT Southern Connecticut State Univ

1990’s Development of the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility More development of conferences Feeling that there was a need for a “second generation” of Computer Ethics developments

Defining and Redefining the Field of Computer Ethics Walter Maner – defined the discipline as one that examines “ethical problems aggravated, transformed, or created by computer technology.” Some old ethical problems are made worse by computers while others are wholly new because of information technology

Defining – Deborah Johnson Defines the field as: “one that studies the way in which computers pose new versions of standard moral problems and moral dilemmas, exacerbating the old problems and forcing us to apply ordinary moral norms in uncharted realms She didn’t believe that computers created wholly new moral problems She felt computes gave a new twist to ethical issues already known

Defining – James Moor Defines computer ethics as a field concerned with policy vacuums and conceptual muddles A Key task of the field is to determine what we should do in such cases, formulate policies to guide our actions He also describes the technology as revolutionary because it is logically malleable Describes the computer revolution occurring in two phases – see pg. 19

Defining Terrell Ward Bynum Elaborates on Moor so that Computer Ethics identifies and analyzes the impacts of information technology on social and human values like health, wealth, work, opportunity, freedom, democracy, knowledge, privacy, security, and self-fulfillment, etc. A broad view embracing technology assessment, computer law, sociology of computing, etc. Motivated by belief that IT will profoundly affect everything that human beings hold dear – discuss!

Donald Gotterbarn A different view – Computer Ethics should be viewed as a branch of professional ethics which is concerned primarily with standards of practice and codes of conduct of computing professionals Is a co-author of latest version of the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and is working to establish licensing standards for SW Engineers Who was listed earlier in this chapter as working on the first ACM guides of professional conduct What state licenses software engineers?

Sample Topics in Computer Ethics Computers in the workplace Lost jobs, lost skills – human working robots, loss of human knowledge Physical ailments – health issues because of work with computing devices Computer Security Viruses, privacy concerns, data integrity More to the point of logical security than physical security Consistency in service, controlling access to resources, unimpaired service Computer crimes, hackers, etc.

Software Owernership Copyrights, trade secrets, patents, Intellectual property Owernship of source code, object code, algorithm, look and feel

Professional Responsibility What types of professional relationships are there? Employer-employee Client – professional Professional – professional Society – professional Any others? Conflicts of interest – try to avoid Professional organizations have published codes of conduct p 626 and p 633 in our text

Global Information Ethics Because of networks the discussion and debate on computer ethics issues will be global Global laws, cyberbusiness, education will all be discussed and debated Global education - online learning goes worldwide, the great universities will offer courses AASU already does Information Rich and Information Poor countries How will cybertechnology impact these issues?

The Future of Computer Ethics Pg. 25 Read selected portions and discuss in class if time permits The end…