The secret’s out. The new world we’re embarking into, uncompromisingly requires full-on ethics. From ethical sourcing to ethical AI, technology proves that it can work its ‘magic’ in time of need, and brings wondrous that make our minds in awe with. Try and look at it from the perspective of an Architect. You’re building a world so complicated the lines are faintly criss-crossed you can’t see clearly what you’re drawing upon. The built log is a fading blur you lost track of the sequences. And when you’re puzzlingly done with trial and erroring, it’s time for a realisation the answer that binds the blueprint has been there all along. Ethics.
What are Ethics in the Face of Grand Challenges ?
It means the ability to confirm our personal identity. It’s a sign of what we are – what we’re not, what we do – don’t understand, and what we want to become. This gives an opportunity to question, decide and set values as the basis of our ethics, and sail through using them as our navigation system.
Who set the benchmark for Tech Ethics ?
Leading tech giants pave the way for its standard practice, with impartial global institutions and policy makers overseeing the playground. Like any other transformative global issue, the guidelines are to be as inclusive as possible without sacrificing humanity values. While global consensus might be desirable it should not come at the cost of obliterating cultural and moral pluralism.
When to adhere to a set of Ethical consensus ?
Ethics provides means for reality check and construction, but it would be unwise to not make the choices dialogically, through awareness of and respect of people and other beings. Ethics must be used as guidance at all times but most significantly when advancement has turned into a fierce, or worse, hostile environment.
Global efforts have included initiatives to support technical and non-technical audiences in their understanding of the development of Ethical Tech and its implications. While there are some trying to establish concrete practices around tech ethics, hard lessons are being learned about the wide gap between the practices of doing ethics and what people think of as ethical. No system, whether human or tech or AI powered, will be perfect in a blink of an eye. So give it some time and see how the restoration progresses. And do your own bit. However, optimism is often counterweighted by a concern that when posed as a technical question, ethics becomes somewhat intractable, as if it’s too big of a problem to tackle.
Therefore, the most sensible option is to learn the dynamic and be resilient. Contrary to mainstream belief, it is no longer survival of the fittest. It’s survival of the wittiest.
