Digital Ethics in an Unethical Era: How to Not Ruin The World

Talk summary: As we become increasingly reliant upon digital infrastructure and software in all aspects of our lives, technologists hold the safety and well-being of humanity in our hands. In this talk, we’ll take a journey through the history of digital ethics and explore what it means for all of us as technologists today. We’ll also examine some of the technical and social aspects of maintaining an ethical infrastructure and software development practice. Knowing our history and current limitations will help us to ensure that we understand our obligation, as stewards of technology, to do no harm.

Bio: Sonia Gupta is currently a software developer in Denver, CO. Prior to becoming a developer, Sonia was a lawyer in Louisiana. She served as a Public Defender in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, then as a Prosecutor, and finally as an Assistant Attorney General doing torts and Civil Rights litigation.

Before initiating her career change, Sonia had no experience in programming and software development. She attended the Turing School of Software and Design where she learned best practices through a curriculum focused on Ruby and Rails development.

Sonia is an outspoken advocate of diversity and inclusion in tech and in life. She is passionate about fostering empathetic and effective communication on engineering teams, and believes that even if tech can’t always change the world, technologists absolutely can.

Transcript

1. D I G I TA L E T H I C S I N A N U N E T H I C A L E R A : H O W T O N O T R U I N T H E W O R L D S O N I A G U P TA @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
2. @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
3. I S O L E M N LY S W E A R O R A F F I R M I W I L L S U P P O RT T H E C O N S T I T U T I O N O F T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S A N D T H E C O N S T I T U T I O N O F T H E S TAT E O F L O U I S I A N A ; 
 I W I L L M A I N TA I N T H E R E S P E C T D U E T O C O U RT S O F J U S T I C E A N D J U D I C I A L O F F I C E R S ; I W I L L N O T C O U N S E L O R M A I N TA I N A N Y S U I T O R P R O C E E D I N G W H I C H S H A L L A P P E A R T O M E T O B E U N J U S T N O R A N Y D E F E N S E E X C E P T S U C H A S I B E L I E V E T O B E H O N E S T LY D E B ATA B L E U N D E R T H E L AW O F T H E L A N D ; I W I L L E M P L O Y F O R T H E P U R P O S E O F M A I N TA I N I N G T H E C A U S E S C O N F I D E D T O M E S U C H M E A N S O N LY A S A R E C O N S I S T E N T W I T H T R U T H A N D H O N O R A N D W I L L N E V E R S E E K T O M I S L E A D T H E J U D G E O R J U RY B Y A N Y A RT I F I C E O R FA L S E S TAT E M E N T O F FA C T O R L AW; I W I L L M A I N TA I N T H E C O N F I D E N C E A N D P R E S E R V E I N V I O L AT E T H E S E C R E T S O F M Y C L I E N T A N D W I L L A C C E P T N O C O M P E N S AT I O N I N C O N N E C T I O N W I T H A C L I E N T ’ S B U S I N E S S E X C E P T F R O M T H E C L I E N T O R W I T H T H E C L I E N T ’ S K N O W L E D G E A N D A P P R O VA L ; T O O P P O S I N G PA RT I E S A N D T H E I R C O U N S E L , I P L E D G E FA I R N E S S , I N T E G R I T Y, A N D C I V I L I T Y, N O T O N LY I N C O U RT, B U T A L S O I N A L L W R I T T E N A N D O R A L C O M M U N I C AT I O N S ; I W I L L A B S TA I N F R O M A L L O F F E N S I V E P E R S O N A L I T Y A N D A D VA N C E N O FA C T P R E J U D I C I A L T O T H E H O N O R O R R E P U TAT I O N O F A PA RT Y O R W I T N E S S U N L E S S R E Q U I R E D B Y T H E J U S T I C E O F T H E C A U S E W I T H W H I C H I A M C H A R G E D ; I W I L L N E V E R R E J E C T F R O M A N Y C O N S I D E R AT I O N P E R S O N A L T O M Y S E L F T H E C A U S E O F T H E D E F E N S E L E S S O R O P P R E S S E D O R D E L AY A N Y P E R S O N ’ S C A U S E F O R L U C R E O R M A L I C E . 
 S O H E L P M E G O D ! @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
4. I S W E A R T O F U L F I L L , T O T H E B E S T O F M Y A B I L I T Y A N D J U D G M E N T, T H I S C O V E N A N T: I W I L L R E S P E C T T H E H A R D - W O N S C I E N T I F I C G A I N S O F T H O S E P H Y S I C I A N S I N W H O S E S T E P S I WA L K , A N D G L A D LY S H A R E S U C H K N O W L E D G E A S I S M I N E W I T H T H O S E W H O A R E T O F O L L O W. I W I L L A P P LY, F O R T H E B E N E F I T O F T H E S I C K , A L L M E A S U R E S [ T H AT ] A R E R E Q U I R E D , AV O I D I N G T H O S E T W I N T R A P S O F O V E RT R E AT M E N T A N D T H E R A P E U T I C N I H I L I S M . I W I L L R E M E M B E R T H AT T H E R E I S A RT T O M E D I C I N E A S W E L L A S S C I E N C E , A N D T H AT WA R M T H , S Y M PAT H Y, A N D U N D E R S TA N D I N G M AY O U T W E I G H T H E S U R G E O N ' S K N I F E O R T H E C H E M I S T ' S D R U G . I W I L L N O T B E A S H A M E D T O S AY " I K N O W N O T, " N O R W I L L I FA I L T O C A L L I N M Y C O L L E A G U E S W H E N T H E S K I L L S O F A N O T H E R A R E N E E D E D F O R A PAT I E N T ' S R E C O V E RY. I W I L L R E S P E C T T H E P R I VA C Y O F M Y PAT I E N T S , F O R T H E I R P R O B L E M S A R E N O T D I S C L O S E D T O M E T H AT T H E W O R L D M AY K N O W. M O S T E S P E C I A L LY M U S T I T R E A D W I T H C A R E I N M AT T E R S O F L I F E A N D D E AT H . I F I T I S G I V E N M E T O S AV E A L I F E , A L L T H A N K S . B U T I T M AY A L S O B E W I T H I N M Y P O W E R T O TA K E A L I F E ; T H I S AW E S O M E R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y M U S T B E FA C E D W I T H G R E AT H U M B L E N E S S A N D AWA R E N E S S O F M Y O W N F R A I LT Y. A B O V E A L L , I M U S T N O T P L AY AT G O D . I W I L L R E M E M B E R T H AT I D O N O T T R E AT A F E V E R C H A RT, A C A N C E R O U S G R O W T H , B U T A S I C K H U M A N B E I N G , W H O S E I L L N E S S M AY A F F E C T T H E P E R S O N ' S FA M I LY A N D E C O N O M I C S TA B I L I T Y. M Y R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y I N C L U D E S T H E S E R E L AT E D P R O B L E M S , I F I A M T O C A R E A D E Q U AT E LY F O R T H E S I C K . I W I L L P R E V E N T D I S E A S E W H E N E V E R I C A N , F O R P R E V E N T I O N I S P R E F E R A B L E T O C U R E . I W I L L R E M E M B E R T H AT I R E M A I N A M E M B E R O F S O C I E T Y, W I T H S P E C I A L O B L I G AT I O N S T O A L L M Y F E L L O W H U M A N B E I N G S , T H O S E S O U N D O F M I N D A N D B O D Y A S W E L L A S T H E I N F I R M . I F I D O N O T V I O L AT E T H I S O AT H , M AY I E N J O Y L I F E A N D A RT, R E S P E C T E D W H I L E I L I V E A N D R E M E M B E R E D W I T H A F F E C T I O N T H E R E A F T E R . M AY I A LWAY S A C T S O A S T O P R E S E R V E T H E F I N E S T T R A D I T I O N S O F M Y C A L L I N G A N D M AY I L O N G E X P E R I E N C E T H E J O Y O F H E A L I N G T H O S E W H O S E E K M Y H E L P. @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
5. W H AT A B O U T T E C H ? @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
6. W H AT I S E T H I C S ? - W E L L - F O U N D E D S TA N D A R D S O F R I G H T A N D W R O N G T H AT P R E S C R I B E W H AT H U M A N S O U G H T T O D O , U S U A L LY I N T E R M S O F R I G H T S , O B L I G AT I O N S , B E N E F I T S T O S O C I E T Y, FA I R N E S S , O R S P E C I F I C V I RT U E S . - T H E S T U D Y A N D D E V E L O P M E N T O F O N E ' S E T H I C A L S TA N D A R D S . S O U R C E : M A R K K U L A C E N T E R F O R A P P L I E D E T H I C S AT S A N TA C L A R A U N I V E R S I T Y ( H T T P S : / / W W W. S C U . E D U / E T H I C S / ) @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
7. – N O R B E R T W I E N E R , C Y B E R N E T I C S ( 1 9 4 8 ) “…it had occurred to me that we were here in the presence of another social potentiality of unheard- of importance for good and for evil.” @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
8. W H AT I S C Y B E R N E T I C S ? • How living organisms communicate with each other. • How machines communicate with each other. @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
9. F L O R I D I ’ S I N F O R M AT I O N E T H I C S • All entities, be they living organisms or machines, are informational objects. • Any object has: • Data structures which describe the nature of the object, the state of the object, its identity, and attributes. • Operations or functions which are activated by interaction with other objects and define the object’s behavior in relation to other objects. Source: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-computer/#MetFouForComEth @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
10. E T H I C A L C O N S I D E R AT I O N S F O R M A C H I N E S I N D I S T R I B U T E D S Y S T E M S • Services Architecture • Cloud-based Infrastructure • Tooling • Third-party APIs • Security and Privacy @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
11. E T H I C A L C O N S I D E R AT I O N S F O R H U M A N S B U I L D I N G D I S T R I B U T E D S Y S T E M S • What kind of product are we building? • Who is using our product? • Who are we sharing user information with? • Is our product accessible to all users? • Is our tech debt a barrier to making ethical decisions easier? • Are we automating ourselves out of accountability (the driverless car problem)? • Are we too distanced from the end user to make any ethical decisions in the first place? @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
12. S T O P M O V I N G FA S T A N D B R E A K I N G T H I N G S @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
13. I N I T I A L E D U C AT I O N A N D M A N D AT O RY Y E A R LY T R A I N I N G @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
14. Y O U ’ R E A C C O U N TA B L E T O H U M A N I T Y, N O T J U S T T H E C O M PA N Y @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
15. D I S M A N T L E W H I T E S U P R E M A C Y @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4
16. @ S O N I A G U P TA 5 0 4 https://www.lsba.org/Members/LegalLibrary.aspx http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/hippocratic-oath-today.html https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-computer/ http://www.evolutionaryethics.com/ https://www.scu.edu/ethics-in-technology-practice/overview-of-ethics-in-tech-practice/ https://twitter.com/soniagupta504/status/1030880506357809152 http://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/ So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo