The writer is dean of the Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California.
A Moral Code
IT companies need a Chief Ethics Officer to address consequences of tech advances
Should technology companies establish a new C-suite position — that of a chief ethics officer? The question is not that far-fetched. We live in unprecedented times. Technological advances occur at an exponentially accelerating pace that changes our world as never before. And this rate of change is only expected to grow, as it is a consequence of the fundamental underpinnings of innovation. These changes can be immensely beneficial, as in healthcare or in helping to eliminate extreme poverty. They can also have unintended consequences that can be equally powerful and long-lasting.
I like the following very simple definition of technology, which I have paraphrased from Brian Arthur: “Technology is leveraging phenomena for useful purposes.” A keyword in this definition is “useful”. It connects technology to ethics. Technology is, by definition, amoral. It is intent that provides the missing link to ethics.
With this in mind, here are some points that future chief ethics officers must contemplate.
As a successful and powerful technology evolves, it first starts within the intersection of three circles — smart, legal and ethical — within which the core technology lives continuously. However, its evolution can be quite unexpected. One or more of that technology’s branches may follow a path outside the intersection of those three circles.
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