Designing ethical futures | Annelie Berner | TEDxTechnicalUniversityOfDenmark

Key Concepts: Ethical reflection, technological impact, virtue ethics, consequentialism, care ethics, perspective shifting, scenario planning, values alignment, smart technology, sustainability.

1. Introduction: The Need for Ethical Reflection in Technology

• The speaker introduces the concept of ethical reflection as arising from situations with conflicting choices or unexpected outcomes.
• The core question is: How can we anticipate situations requiring ethical reflection before they occur?
• The motivation stems from numerous examples of technologies having unintended negative consequences:
  • A connected stuffed animal meant for messaging children becoming an insecure database vulnerable to ransom.
  • A social networking site being exploited to manipulate voters through personal data.
  • Facial recognition technology intended for crime prevention being used to track and control ethnic minorities.

2. Research Project: Bringing Ethics into Technology Creation

• A research project aimed to integrate ethical considerations earlier in the technology development process, rather than reacting to negative outcomes.
• The central idea is that ethical dilemmas often arise when "things go down," referring to technological devices, networks, and their interconnectedness with people and places.
• The proposed solution involves anticipating these "things going down" scenarios and rehearsing responses to potential challenges.
• This proactive approach could lead to different choices, averting negative scenarios and steering towards more desirable outcomes.
• Achieving this requires shifting perspective through various lenses inspired by ethical theories.

3. Methodology: Using Lenses for Ethical Reflection

• The speaker proposes using "lenses" to examine a new technology and uncover potential ethical challenges.
• The example used is a "smart shoe" designed to measure and log runs and walks.
• The speaker emphasizes the importance of diverse perspectives in this process.

4. Lens 1: Zooming In - Understanding the Product

• This lens focuses on understanding the product's components, functionality, and user base.
• The smart shoe includes:
  • Bluetooth device
  • Database connectivity
  • Accelerometer
  • Mobile app for data analysis
• The app allows users to analyze patterns, set goals, and compare their performance with others.
• A "smart coach" feature is included to help users improve their running style.

5. Lens 2: Sharpening the Lens - Identifying Values

• This lens focuses on identifying the values that the technology should uphold.
• Beyond the initial goal of improving running performance, the speaker introduces:
  • Well-being: Supporting users' physical and mental health.
  • Autonomy: Ensuring users can make their own choices without technological coercion.
• This lens is rooted in virtue ethics, which emphasizes striving to uphold cherished values.
• Initial assessment suggests the smart shoe aligns with these values, as users can choose their routes and set goals.

6. Lens 3: Zooming Out - Considering Time and Long-Term Impacts

• This lens examines the potential long-term impacts of the technology on users' lives.
• Scenario 1: A user becomes discouraged because they consistently fail to reach their goals, leading to negative feelings despite the "smart coach's" encouragement. This challenges the value of well-being.
• Scenario 2: A user wants to run without being constantly tracked and analyzed, but the shoe's technology makes it difficult to detach. This challenges the value of autonomy.
• The speaker questions whether to prioritize addressing these value conflicts over other tasks, suggesting potential solutions like removable sensors or personalized coaching styles.

7. Lens 4: Scale - Considering Widespread Adoption

• This lens envisions a future where the smart shoe is widely adopted globally.
• Scenario: A user in a hot, sunny climate takes frequent breaks during runs, resulting in stats that compare unfavorably to the global average, which is skewed by users in colder climates like Denmark who run faster to stay warm.
• This raises questions about fairness and the potential for the technology to create negative comparisons.
• The speaker considers potential solutions like collecting more local data to create better regional averages.

8. Lens 5: Future Context - Considering External Factors

• This lens considers the broader context in which the technology will exist in the near future.
• Factors considered:
  • Ongoing climate crisis
  • Increased domestic energy consumption due to remote work
  • Advancements in kinetic energy harvesting
• The smart shoe is rebranded as a "green citizen shoe" that harvests kinetic energy.
• However, this introduces new ethical concerns:
  • The need to harvest rare earth minerals for the shoe's components.
  • The contribution of the shoe to electronic waste after its lifespan.
• This lens incorporates care ethics, which emphasizes the interconnectedness of the shoe with not only its users but also the environment.

9. Ethical Theories Revisited

• The speaker revisits the ethical theories that informed the lenses:
  • Consequentialism: Weighing the consequences of different actions.
  • Virtue Ethics: Striving to uphold values like mental well-being.
  • Care Ethics: Recognizing the interconnectedness of technology with broader systems.

10. Student Projects: Visualizing Ethical Scenarios

• The speaker shares examples of student projects that visualized ethical scenarios related to the smart shoe.
• Example 1: A smart shoe integrated into a "green citizen" program promoted by the queen, where users earn points for discounts based on their activity.
• Example 2: A smart lock used to regulate lockdowns, opening and closing based on national directives.
• Example 3: A museum using software to manage its collection, which leads to the deletion of energy-intensive artworks in the name of sustainability.

11. Conclusion: Actionable Insights

• The scenarios presented are not definitive predictions but rather explorations of potential challenges.
• The speaker encourages viewers to use these lenses to slow down their decision-making process and design a more ethical future.
• The key takeaway is the importance of proactive ethical reflection in technology development.