Ethics Modelling: A New Applied Ethics for Tech Design

Over the years, there have been repeated calls for technology to be designed more ethically. Recently we have seen these calls directed towards robotics and AI—technologies that are significantly impacting our daily lives, exposing us all to novel risks. But calls for more “ethical” (or “responsible”) robotics and AI suffer a “translation” problem: Technologists are not ethics experts, nor should we expect them to be, so how reasonably can we expect them to meaningfully translate ethical issues posed by technology into their design work? Put differently, if left to their own devices, is it reasonable to expect them to design more ethical technology?

In this talk, Dr. Jason Millar makes the case that philosophers, particularly applied ethicists, are well-positioned to participate in this kind of translation and design work, to directly support the development and deployment of more ethical technology. But we need to develop new methods for doing so—ethics, as traditionally framed and articulated, does not translate smoothly into engineering design. In this talk, Millar outlines some of these challenges in detail, proposing a framework and method—ethics modelling—that ethicists can use to support ethical tech design, and illustrating ethics modelling with case studies from robotics and AI.

How can you participate? Join us in person or online by registering for the Zoom Meeting or watching live on YouTube.

Have questions? Send them to info.4@concordia.ca  

Dr. Jason Millar

Dr. Jason Millar is the Canada Research Chair in the Ethical Engineering of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, a Faculty member at the Centre for Law, Technology and Society and an Associate Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa, with cross appointment to the Department of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts. He is the director of the Canadian Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Ethical Design Lab (CRAiEDL).

Part of the Philosophy Department’s annual Ethics Lecture, this year on the ethical design of robotics and AI. Organized by Concordia University’s Philosophy Department, with special funding provided by Dr. Wanda Teays.