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Ethics on the brain
Three Embedded Ethics Fellows describe what’s top of mind as they work with today’s computer science students—tomorrow’s technologists, innovators, and leaders—and what gives them hope for the future.
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Embedded Ethics Postdoctoral Fellows design, develop, and teach ethics content in partnership with computer science faculty and research and teaching assistants. We recently asked three of them for a glimpse into the ethical perils and promises of emerging technologies, and what gives them hope for the future.
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Daniel Webber
Q: What’s the ethical issue that you think about most?
A: Folks in the technology world have started to think a lot more about the ethical implications of their work, which is great. But I think there’s still this tendency in tech to think that ethical questions are much easier than they really are, and there is often a lot of undue confidence in ethical views that don’t necessarily stand up to scrutiny. So one thing I think about is this sort of higher-order ethical issue: What can go wrong when technologists engage in simplistic thinking about complex ethical issues? Something I hope the Embedded Ethics program is doing in its own small way is getting future technologists to recognize ethical complexity and become more nuanced ethical thinkers.
Q: What gives you hope for the future?
A: There is so much more attention being paid to how technology can harm and so much discussion of our obligation to develop technology safely and responsibly. I think there’s less optimism that tech is an unmitigated force for good in the world, and more recognition that tech is only as good as we make it. That loss of innocent optimism, ironically, makes me more optimistic for the future. We’ve taken the first step, which is recognizing that there’s a problem.
Daniel Webber is an Embedded Ethics Postdoctoral Fellow in the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society.
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Veronica Rivera
Q: What’s the ethical issue that you think about most?
A: I think about how we can best prepare students in computer science and related tech fields to think critically about the impact of their work on society. Technology is constantly changing and with that, so will the ethical considerations we need to be wary of change. That means that the way in which we teach students about ethics and responsibility in computing disciplines needs to prepare them to apply those skills across contexts. Because solving ethical issues often requires an interdisciplinary perspective, I also think about how to equip students with the tools to communicate about ethical issues and potential solutions with people outside computer science.
Q: What gives you hope for the future?
A: Seeing all the great work coming out of academia, industry, and the public sector to guide the design and development of new technologies. I love seeing how educators across many institutions are trying to grow programs to support ethics and responsible computing courses in technical disciplines. I’m also inspired by the work being done in research and policy to understand and mitigate the potential harms arising from the technology that surrounds us.
Veronica Rivera is an Embedded Ethics Postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) and the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society.
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Benjamin Xie
Q: What’s the ethical issue that you think about most?
A: I think a lot about how data and technology reduce and homogenize the diversity of people and their experiences.
For example, I am working with the Embedded Ethics team to compare gender biases in human and AI-generated content in an introductory CS course taken by most Stanford undergraduates. Students will learn about the impact of value-latent normative terms to describe the world. For example, AI tools that determine if images are “racy” are more likely to rate images of women as racy than images of men. Students will explore biases in seemingly objective ratings and how AI reflects and perturbs these biases.
Q: What gives you hope for the future?
A: Students who connect their experiences and expertise with that of others! I have hope when students discuss with their classmates how to design technologies that others can trust and piece together nuanced insights that nobody walked into class with. I have hope when students ask me impossibly difficult questions like how to negotiate value tensions when designing technology. I have hope when students connect their knowledge from their humanities classes to their perspectives on designing technology. These discussions, questions, and connections are what we need because more equitable and just futures with technologies begins with cross-disciplinary, socio-technical thinking to ponder important “should” questions.
Benjamin Xie is an Embedded Ethics Postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) and the Computer Science department.
Ethics, Society & Technology: The impact
Why it matters
Embedded Ethics Postdoctoral Fellows design, develop, and teach ethics in partnership with faculty and research assistants. These diverse scholars share deep expertise in both ethics and science or technology, such as an undergraduate degree in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field and a doctorate in philosophy. During their two-year fellowships, these emerging scholars gain valuable experience as educators, helping to equip students with the understanding and commitment to make challenging decisions in the years ahead—when they are running a company, leading a research lab, or drafting legislation.
The opportunity
Embedded Ethics at Stanford begins with recruiting and training scholars who work at the intersection of technology and ethics. The program is foundational to Stanford’s commitment to advancing ethics curriculum in science and technology disciplines.
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