What is Technology Ethics?
by Brian Patrick Green, Director of Technology Ethics
Today's technological changes present some powerful risks, and we should ask ourselves whether we think such changes are worthwhile – because we do have choices in the technologies we make and live by. We can govern our technologies by laws, regulations, and other agreements. Some fundamentally ethical questions that we should be asking of new technologies include: What should we be doing with these powers now that we have developed them? What are we trying to achieve? How can this technology help or harm people? What does a good, fully human life look like? As we try to navigate this new space, we have to evaluate what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil.
As generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot become more common in classrooms, experts at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics are raising important ethical questions about how these technologies are reshaping education.
A growing list of AI ethics issues and links to relevant materials from the Ethics Center.
A recent article titled “Why dignity is a troubling concept for AI ethics,” suggests that AI ethics not use the word dignity any more. It's wrong.
There is an upside and a downside to technological inventions and advances like AI and it often takes some time and experience with them to fully appreciate both the good and the bad that each one of them unleashes.
Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture (ITEC)
The Institute for Technology, Ethics and Culture (ITEC), housed at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, is a collaboration between the Center and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education. The Institute convenes leaders from business, civil society, academia, government, and all faith and belief traditions, to promote deeper thought on technology’s impact on humanity.
Ethics in the Age of Disruptive Technologies: An Operational Roadmap
By José Roger Flahaux, Brian Patrick Green, and Ann Skeet
"Ethics in the Age of Disruptive Technologies: An Operational Roadmap,” or, more briefly, the “ITEC Handbook,” offers organizations a strategic plan to enhance ethical management practices, empowering them to navigate the complex landscape of disruptive technologies such as AI, machine learning, encryption, tracking, and others while upholding strong ethical standards.
Brian Green, director, technology ethics, quoted by the National Catholic Register.
Brian Green, director, technology ethics, and Irina Raicu, director, internet ethics, quoted by National Catholic Reporter.
Brian Green, director, technology ethics, quoted by The Pilot.
Brian Green, director, technology ethics, quoted by AMDG Podcast.
Digital Dignity Day
A daylong conference exploring the impact AI is having on human dignity.
As artificial intelligence continues to impact multiple areas of our world, researchers, developers, activists, businesspeople, and regulators are increasingly focusing on its impact on human dignity. This daylong conference, sponsored by the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, and NHNAI will bring together academics from a variety of disciplines, industry and government representatives, as well as students and the broader public, to explore the intersection of AI and human dignity.
Ethics in Tech Practice
This short overview/reference guide functions as a quick, readable orientation to big questions in the technology industry, from 'Ethical AI' to the ethics of autonomous vehicles and the ethics of our new digital media culture.
Resources
Artificial Intelligence and Ethics: Sixteen Challenges and Opportunities
Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies are rapidly transforming society and will continue to do so in the coming decades. This social transformation will have deep ethical impact, with these powerful new technologies both improving and disrupting human lives. At this crossroads in history we should think very carefully about how to make this transition, or we risk empowering the grimmer side of our nature, rather than the brighter.
Brian Green on Ethics and Generative AI
Is AI Ripping Society Apart?
Why do technology ethicists disagree about the future of AI? What is societal informed consent? Brian Green is the director of technology ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. His work is focused on the ethics of technology, including AI.