Building Socially Responsible Software: The Goldblum Principle

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
- Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park

Learn how to design software that is not only fun to use, but built on strong ethical principles that you and your users can genuinely feel good about.
When we design software for a world where computing and storage resources are taken for granted, we forget that these invisible machines have an impact on both our environment and our human rights.
It’s easy to design large programs which require huge computing power without realising that the energy to power the “cloud” it runs on still probably comes from coal.
It’s easy to gather metadata on our customers as they browse, shop, and commute because we can store seemingly limitless amounts of it - but we consume further computing resources in doing so, and create very intimate and invasive pictures of these people which advertisers, hackers, and governments find valuable for many competing reasons.
It’s easy to get carried away with the possibilities of today’s technology without thinking about how your “killer app” may literally enable people to kill.

Transcript

3. attacus.net/goldblum
6. “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn't stop to think if they should.”
8. https://google.org/personfinder
9. engadget.com
16. With great power comes great responsibility. - Oscar Wilde (probably)
22. https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/
34. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain
43. - Treat the planet with respect - Treat your users with respect - Treat your developers with respect
44. attacus.net/goldblum
45. Just because you can do something, it doesn’t mean you should.