Using biometric technology to identify and monitor people raises human rights concerns. In particular, biometrics are often associated with intrusions into privacy.

Which came first: technology or society? Did the formation of social collaboration among early humanoids precede the first “technological” advances (fire, stone tools, etc.), or did these technologies form the catalyst for building more complex social structures?

The next generation of socio-technical system can be seen as a kind of “focal point” for the convergence of a number of current trends in computing, information systems, and information technology. These trends include the technology-driven instrumentation of infrastructure by ubiquitous computing and/or “intelligent” devices, with the prefix “smart” now taking precedence over the prefix “e-,” i.e. SmartGrids, SmartCities, SmartMotorways, etc., rather than the e-commerce. e-health, e-learning initiatives commonplace at the turn of millennium.

Pillar 2 is focused on professional and research ethics, ethics in the development of technologies, ethics in the context of Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Technology, as well as engineering ethics education.

Mining has had an impact on many Aboriginal communities in Australia. As we move to a mining sector where dump trucks, underground excavators, loaders, and conveyor systems are transformed into partial or fully autonomous systems, there is little or no human labor required other than to maintain equipment or provide oversight using a range of distant surveillance technologies.

There is an unshakable faith in our industry that we can do anything and that everything we do must be good and beneficial to society. Our industry has had similar crises before, such as dot-com busts, that exposed our assumptions, but the ideas are still here. As an industry and society, can we continue to develop solutions that unduly amplify human behavior – so that we provide and support a way for harm to be normalized? As an industry and society, can we continue to promote solutions based on long-held and dominate theories – so that the wider community is misled by influential advocates? The answer is a clear “no” to both.

Philosopher-ethicist Jai Galliott and cybersecurity-engineer-computer scientist Benjamin Turnbull from the University of New South Wales join Andrew Maynard and Heather…  Read More

In 1997 Eduardo Kac became the first human to implant himself with a non-medical device in the performance art work titled “Time Capsule”

Katina Michael delivers an invited presentation on the topic of the “Pros and Cons of Implantables” for @IEEESSIT. The presentation…  Read More

March 26, 2017 Our cybersecurity team of Adam Doupé and Jamie Winterton reunites with Andrew Maynard and Heather Ross to…  Read More

Legal expert Diana Bowman chats with Andrew Maynard and Heather Ross about vehicle safety and future driving technologies.

April 17, 2017 Jameson Wetmore chats with Andrew Maynard and Heather Ross about the surprisingly long history of autonomous vehicles.

Professor Katina Michael from the University of Wollongong, speaks at the 2012 TEDxUWollongong on the moral and ethical dilemmas of…  Read More

Katina Michael on “What Makes Us Human?” Recorded on 14 June 2013 at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Video credit…  Read More

Katina Michael speaks on the future of computing. Recorded on 14 June 2013 at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Video…  Read More

Future Out Loud – May 22, 2017 AI Ethicist Heather Roff joins Heather Ross and Adam Doupé to talk about…  Read More

Future Out Loud – June 2, 2017 Andrew Maynard and Heather Ross talk about Elon Musk’s new Boring company and…  Read More

Future Out Loud – July 14, 2017 Marisa Duarta, Andrew Maynard, and Heather Ross

Future Out Loud – August 4, 2017 With Adam Doupé, Jamie Winterton, Andrew Maynard, and Heather Ross

Paul Cunningham – August 8, 2017