What are some of the most common questions around ethics in technology? For example, questions around ethics related to self-driving cars could be should self-driving cars always aim to protect their passengers, or to minimize overall damage in th...

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What are some of the most common questions around ethics in technology? For example, questions around ethics related to self-driving cars could be should self-driving cars always aim to protect their passengers, or to minimize overall damage in the event of a crash?

Hello! Thanks for your question about the common questions regarding ethics in technology. The short version is that after scouring corporate websites, industry reports and trusted media sites, we've been able to compile a total of 27 questions categorized by topic and covering a wide range of technology themes, as requested. Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.

METHODOLOGY

We began by searching for the most recently published, precompiled lists of the top ethical concerns relating to technology. This search proved fruitful and provided a wealth of information regarding the topics within technological ethics and questions relating directly to each of these topics. These lists were used to determine the most common categories relating to ethics of technology. Below you will find a compiled list of 27 questions, categorized by topic. A link to the source of each question can be accessed by clicking on the question number.

FINDINGS

Over-automation
#1 What will happen to trucking employees if Tesla’s Elon Musk become widely available?

Inequality
#2 How can we ensure that the wealth that machines create, is distributed equally?

Humanity
#3 What effect do machines have on human interaction and behavior?

#4 What are the guidelines for how robots and humans should relate or interact with each other?

#5 How much cohesion should there between humans and robots with the gains made with biotech technologies?

Self Modifying Technology
#6 Will we reach a point in time when AI will have an intelligent advantage over us?

Racism
#7 How can we prevent racial bias in the creation of AI systems?

#8 Should there be racially diverse robots created?

Security
#9 How can we ensure that machines can't be overpowered by humans to be used for their own purposes?

Communication
#10 Should it be compulsory for robots to identify that they are so, prior to entering into communication with humans, to eliminate the possibility of robots impersonating humans?

Privacy
#11 Who has the rights to ownership of data recorded by robots?

#12 Who is the robot able to share my information with?

#13 Does a robot have the right to share information with companies in order to target their advertising and product offerings to consumers?

#14 How much cyber privacy is too much, when it comes to criminal activity or possible terror threats?

Intentions
#15 How do we determine if a robot has the owner's or the manufacturer's interests at heart?

Health & Safety
#16 How can we prevent AI machines from turning against humans, possibly due to a lack of understanding of the consequences of actions?

#17 What is the appropriate action of a robot in control of a vehicle in the event of a crash that is unavoidable? How should the robot decide who lives and dies?

#18 Are robots capable of harming humans or defending themselves?

Rights
#19 When AI machines get to the point where they can act, perceive and feel like humans, do they then earn some kind of "robot rights"?

#20 Is it appropriate for users to abuse robots, either physically or verbally?

#21 Are robots able to give consent?

Environment
#22 If we are capable of genetically modifying a species to eradicate another life threatening species, should we do it?

Ethics in general
#23 Who should determine the ethical guidelines relating to technology — the public, developers or the government?

#24 Who has to right to decide if a certain technology, for example, relating to geoengineering, should even be developed at all?

#25 If a specific type of technology is to move forward, who determines to what extent it should advance?

#26 Who determines how a form of technology should advance?

#27 If ethical guidelines are set, who will govern them?

CONCLUSION

To wrap it up, after scouring lists of the top ethical concerns relating to technology, we have compiled a total of 27 questions which are categorized by topic and cover a wide range of technology themes, as requested.

Thanks for using Wonder! Please let us know if we can help with anything else!

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