Technology, ethics, and the general public

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Technology, ethics, and the general public
Fourth Ethics and Technology Conference

• Tom Shanks, S.J.
• Tim Healy
• Markkula Ethics Center

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Key Question

• How can people learn what they need to know about
  technology to make good choices?
• What forms of education can work?

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Purpose of the paper

• To describe the on-going partnership between MCAE
  and the Tech Museum of Innovation
• Designed to raise awareness of ethics
  issues/decisions

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History of the relationship

• 1986 - Center founded
• 1990 - Tech prototype opens
• 1994 - partnership
• 1998 - New Tech opens

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The Tech Museum

• devoted to inspiring the innovator in everyone
• 132,000 square feet
• 300 permanent exhibits
• 800,000 people
• 80,000 school children

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Markkula Ethics Center

• Heighten ethical awareness
• Improve ethical decision-making
• Innovative programs
• Interdisciplinary focus
• Non-advocacy

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Ethics

• Set of well grounded standards
• To be at our best with other humans, animals,
  environment
• Moral principles
• Virtues

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Practical reflection tools

• Did I practice any virtues?
• Do more good than harm?
• Treat with dignity and respect
• Was I fair?
• Was my community better?

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The Tech/ethics story

• 91 consults with Center re human growth
  hormone exhibit
• 93 Center teaches common ethics language to
  volunteers
• 93 Tech drafts ethics policy in consultation

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The Tech/ethics story

• 94 Tech Board approves policy
• 94 Center partners with Tech
• 94 Learn the Tech language
• 95 Tech workshops
• 96-99 Refine exhibits, go forward.

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Social/ethical issues Policy

• Adopted 9/22/1994
• Unique in the nation
• The Tech recognizes that advances in science and
  technology may impact society and its
  institutions.

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Social/ethical issues Policy

• Decisions about the development, use, and
  consequences of new scientific and technological
  knowledge can raise social policy question about
  rights, justice, benefits and burdens, resp, cg

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Social/ethical issues final

• Exhibits, labs, and programs should help visitors
  develop s and t literacy and help individuals
  reach their own conclusions regarding the use of
  s and t.

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The real bottom line

• In these ways the Tech hopes to contribute to the
  understanding of the complex relationship between
  science, technology, and society

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Challenges from the start

• No other museum has this policy
• No models or methods to duplicate for museums
• Few words and sentences
• Speak to adults and children

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Challenges from the start

• Designers distrust ethicists
• So ethicists went in their door for a year and
  just listened
• Then we designed and conducted the training

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Non-advocacy approach

• Described in visitor guide
• Examine assumptions
• Clarify moral principles
• Consider multiple viewpoints
• Consider implications of use of new technologies
  

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Consider exhibit dimensions

• Stance balanced presentation?
• Mode cases, questions, story
• Ethics truth or feeling/opinion
• Integration ethics story integrated rather than
  add on

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Ethics Goals

• Move the visitor from fascination with technology
• To profound realization of how technology impacts
  our lives and presents us with ethical challenges

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Neil Postman says,

• New technologies alter the structure of our
  interests the things we think about
• They alter the character of our symbols what we
  think with

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Neil Postman says,

• They alter the nature of community the arena in
  which thoughts develop.
• From Technopoly

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Techs four component goals

• Moral sensitivity
• Identify ethical moment
• Explore perspectives
• Moral judgment
• Apply ethical theories
• What did others say?

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Four components

• Moral commitment
• Moral courage
• Taught by human examples in exhibits, on film and
  in person

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Targeted main messages

• Every advance causes change. Change raises
  ethical questions.
• Ethics is fundamentally about the quality of our
  relationships.

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Main messages

• Trying to take the way we are at our best and
  struggle to live that way every day.
• Presents a new paradigm or critical thinking
  method

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Techethics questions

• Impact on virtue?
• Harms vs benefits?
• Protects or harms rights?
• Distributes benefits fairly?
• Advances or harms the common good?

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The Results
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Two fundamental decisions

• 1. Integrate reflection tool into each response
• 2. Thought bubbles as ethics stamp throughout
  for easy identification.

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Ethics in every gallery

• Life Tech
• Innovation
• Exploration
• Communi-
• cation

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The Impact

• Studies just beginning to assess
• Helpful in thinking about issue
• Helped to clarify POV
• Increase desire to learn?

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Conclusion

• Partnership changed the Tech so it can be an
  ethics educational center
• Developed a museum model for ethics
• Other University connections

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Next steps

• Get assessment of moral sensitivity, judgment,
  commitment, courage from the Tech experience.
• Plan future exhibits accordingly.