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- Convenors:
-
Gülizar Karahan Balya
(Middle East Technical University)
Aristotle Tympas (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
Manolis Simos (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
Halil Turan (Middle East Technical University, Ankara)
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- Chairs:
-
Aristotle Tympas
(National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
Halil Turan (Middle East Technical University, Ankara)
- Discussants:
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Arsev Umur Aydinoglu
(Middle East Technical University)
Gülizar Karahan Balya (Middle East Technical University)
Manolis Simos (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
- Format:
- Traditional Open Panel
Short Abstract:
The traditional moral theory approach does not suffice to address the existential threats of technological civilization. Ethics education regarding S&T has to be radically transformed. This panel attempts to discuss transformative methods and practices for ethics education in STS curricula.
Long Abstract:
The environmental degradation, advances in biomedicalization, and rampant digitalization pose existential threats that are constitutively coextensive with technological civilization. The notion of ‘existential’ encapsulates three aspects of this contemporary danger. First, the gravitas; as existential, these threats do not have to do with parts of our well-being, but with our being simpliciter. Second, the scope; they do not concern a particular group of people, but rather humanity as a whole. Hence, third, the urgency; the need for a reaction in a transformative way has already become more than imminent.
The traditional moral theory approach does not seem to suffice for addressing these challenges. Although this approach does not seem to support scientism, technosolutionism, and technological determinism explicitly, it seems to adhere to the metaphysical underpinnings of these theses. Moreover, it is an abstract, top-down, principle-based approach and comes either too early—regarding questions like ‘the scientist’s responsibility’—or too late—regarding questions of use. In contrast, STS approaches suggest a morally informed, bottom-up, social diagnosis of science and technology in the making, attempting to open the black-box of specific technologies, and investigate the power relations at play among different actants.
In light of the above, ethics education regarding S&T has to be radically transformed. This panel attempts to critically address the existing practices of ethics education in STS curricula and present transformative methods and practices for encouraging students to internalize ethical thinking. The panel topics that could possibly be addressed include, but are not limited to, the following:
-How STS approach can inform the teaching of ethics by philosophers
-How the two approaches can be combined to foster a more effective ethics education (effectiveness here understood in terms of creating morally responsible individuals)
-How new, nonanthropocentric approaches can be incorporated
-How could STS education itself be transformed in light of such a combination.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Konstantinos Konstantis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
Short abstract:
This paper has a threefold goal. First, to present a contextualization of critical approach es regarding the emergence of AI. Second, to do a reconceptualization of the ethical concerns that this emergence has produced. And third, to formulate a framework within which these concerns can be addressed
Long abstract:
This paper has a threefold goal. First, to present a contextualization of critical approaches regarding the emergence of AI. Second, to do a reconceptualization of the ethical concerns that this emergence has produced. And third, to formulate a framework within which these concerns can be addressed. The contextualization will be based on critical approaches to the history of AI. These approaches do not perceive artificial intelligence as a neutral technology, but rather depict the social, economic, and political factors that play crucial role in its design, development, and use. The reconceptualization will emerge through the investigation of ethical issues that are connected with AI, but most of the times are concealed. These ethical issues are not only relevant with fairness, accountability, and transparency of AI, which are common in AI ethics literature, but instead, they include more critical approaches regarding AI ethics. These approaches have to do with, first, the black box of AI, which is an important factor in Science and Technology Studies, second, the hidden labor of AI which is vital for the designing, development, and use of AI, third, the so called threat of unemployment due to the use of AI and the role of the State, and finally, the oppression and biases, which are not the outcomes of bad designed AI systems, but the goals of AI as it is designed. After taking into account all these perspectives, a framework to adequately address the ethical issues of AI will emerge.
Ping Li (Tsinghua University SIGS) Pusheng WANG (Tsinghua University)
Short abstract:
Based on three contexts, this study explores the role of STS in the practice of engineering ethics education for graduate students in China, which can make up for the shortcomings of traditional ethical theories in this respect.
Long abstract:
Although it defies conventional discipline categorizations, STS still shows its vitality by virtue of its interdisciplinary nature as a boundary object in China. In the field of engineering ethics education, traditional moral theories and approaches cannot meet the actual teaching needs. From the perspective of traditional moral theory, human beings or engineering is an abstract whole, which shows the tendency of technological determinism. Meanwhile, it often starts from abstract theories and principles, and discuss from top to bottom, which leads to unsatisfactory teaching effect.
In contrast, the epistemology of STS has strong advantages in engineering ethics education. First of all, the STS approach adopts constructivism, trying to open the black box of specific technology and engineering, and describe the complexity of the relationship between engineering and society, as well as the and contingency, diversity and alternative of pathways. At the same time, STS calls for practice. It is not only to advocate bottom-up case studies and case-based teaching, but more importantly to encourage participatory responsible engineering creation.
This study will select three contexts of engineering ethics education, namely algorithm bias, global classroom, and smart campus/community design, respectively to demonstrate the effectiveness of STS approach in improving students' ethical sensitivity, forming cross-cultural ethical consensus, and realizing ethical design.
Lina Rahm (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
Short abstract:
This paper explores how the collaborative construction of speculative technological solutions (in this case relating to AI in education) can contribute to moving forward current discourses about speculative methods by explaining how they can become critical in practice.
Long abstract:
While the imagined AI future seems to be accelerating and perhaps more uncertain than ever, it is urgent not only to engage in what happens in everyday practices, but also to enact and explore different possible futures. Methods like speculative fiction, critical education futures and design fiction are on the rise. Education and learning have a central part in shaping possible futures and it is therefore important to acknowledge the complexities of learning as critique deterministic forms of education.
This paper explores how the collaborative construction of speculative technological solutions (in this case relating to AI in education) can reveal an implicit acceptance of restricting imaginaries. In three design fiction workshops, a total of 36 teacher students were given the task to create an AI-powered technical solution to a self-identified and urgent ‘problem in education’. These design workshops revealed several interesting ethical ‘ironies’, relevant to both actual technical development as well as speculative methods about technological futures. The ironies include, for example, a ubiquitous belief in techno-solutionism, technology acceptance, a sensibility to an overall structural capitalism that permeates technical development, as well as an ‘ironic imitation’ of the discourses and norms that are perceived as surrounding contemporary technology. These workshops further reveal and question discourses about desirable learning, and as such these ironies are productive in illuminating power asymmetries, thereby creating space for important failures, resistances and disruptions. Thus, this paper contributes to moving forward current discourses about speculative methods by explaining how they can become critical in practice.
Erkan Özmacun
Short abstract:
This article advocates the implementation of open education strategies as a way to build critical consciousness and resistance to corporate domination and exploitation in Free Open-Source Software (FOSS) production.
Long abstract:
The emergence of the Free Open-Source Software (FOSS) movement signaled ethical concerns advocating the principles of freedom and unrestricted intellectual property within software development. However, the development of FOSS has also ushered in ethical challenges, including the unbridled exploitation of social commons by corporate entities and the pervasive reliance on uncompensated labor.
The prevalence of large software companies exercising hegemonic control over open-source production and often benefiting from the contributions of unpaid labor underscores the erosion of the movement's founding principles. Moreover, widespread lack of awareness and alienation among the public and software developers perpetuates this new status quo and hinders efforts to challenge established power dynamics.
In response to these challenges, improving ethical awareness among engineers and society at large is an urgent necessity. This article advocates the implementation of open education strategies as a way to build critical consciousness and resistance to corporate domination and exploitation in software production. These strategies involve leveraging open educational resources (OER), such as textbooks, lectures, and other materials that are freely available and openly licensed, allowing for their use, adaptation, and distribution without restrictions. By encouraging interdisciplinary dialogue and community participation, open education initiatives can empower individuals to recognize and confront the constraints imposed by the current technological environment. By making concerted efforts to instill ethical reflexivity and encourage alternative modes of technological development, we can aim for a future where principles such as freedom, equality, and protection of the social commons underpin the ethos of software innovation.
Büşra Akkökler Karatekeli (Middle East Technical University) Halil Turan (Middle East Technical University, Ankara) Gülizar Karahan Balya (Middle East Technical University)
Short abstract:
An ethics of technology course ought to facilitate heightened engagement with technology from the perspective of applied ethics. The methodology we advocate for implementation within the ethics of technology course endeavors to foster ethical AI through a semester-long project.
Long abstract:
The theoretical acknowledgment of the ethical impact of technology within human existence has become the likely outcome of many ethics of technology courses. However, the transformative objectives of these courses often remain unrealized. What is currently imperative is to enable students to internalize ethical awareness, particularly in their daily and professional interactions with technology. To this end, an ethics of technology course ought to offer not only philosophical and STS perspectives on technology and merely point out the ethical challenges posed by emerging technologies. But it also ought to facilitate heightened engagement with technology from the perspective of applied ethics.
The methodology we advocate for implementation within the ethics of technology course endeavors to foster ethical AI through a semester-long project. Within this framework, students with diverse disciplinary backgrounds will be encouraged to select an AI tool pertinent to their academic or professional domain, engage in critical reflection and research regarding its scope and limitations, ascertain the needs this tool is capable of addressing, identify its functionalities and assess the tool’s efficacy, particularly taking into account the potential ethical implications it can generate. Ultimately, students will be asked to formulate and present recommendations for the refinement of the AI tool that is both ethically conscientious and operationally proficient. They will also be supervised to relate their findings with STS and ethical theories in such a way that the transformative potentiality of applied ethics can be realized to ultimately inform and consolidate these theories.