Reading 00 Response: Why Study Ethics in Computer Science and Engineering?

It is crucial to study ethics in computer science and engineering for a few reasons. First, the power and potential for good that goes along with computer science and engineering, is also a potential for harm. This goes back to the idea of “With great power comes great responsibility” as Uncle Ben says. Computer scientists have great power in what they can do, and with that power comes the responsibility to not abuse it. The study of ethics is necessary here because it is so easy to use your skills as a computer scientists to do unethical things and get away with it. It is therefore up to the individual to regulate themselves to ensure that they do not do anything immoral. The study of ethics allows computer scientists to be educated on what practices would be considered using their powers for bad, as well as finding how they can use their abilities to do good.

Another reason the study of ethics is so important for computer scientists is because unethical practices are so prevalent today. A great example this is the pirating industry. Pirating of movies, music, TV shows and other digital media is a thriving industry which threatens the creators of these mediums. Pirating is a direct violation of the fourth commandment of computer ethics and moral imperative 1.5 from the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) code of ethics. It may not be immediately evident to someone that pirating is an act of stealing, not only for the person who hosts the pirated products, but also for the one viewing the pirated product, but the study of ethics makes it clear that this is an unethical practice.

In addition, not only do computer scientists need to refrain from using their power for illegal and or immoral activities, computer scientists need to be aware of the risks associated with making mistake while doing a job. For example, for a programmer working on autonomous vehicles, the risk of writing sloppy or flimsy code is that the vehicle might cause an accident resulting in injury or death. Thus, just with traditional engineering, it is necessary that computer scientists consider safety of the users when designing products. This goes back to ACM professional responsibility 2.5: “Give comprehensive and thorough evaluations of computer systems and their impacts, including analysis of possible risks.” Many people rely on computers and software every day and it is up to the creators to ensure that failures of these systems and risks associated with these systems are minimized and that users are aware of any potential risks.

Another interesting angle on ethics involved for computer scientists and engineers is discussed in the article The Responsibility We Have As Software Engineers which talks about the level of trust placed in us computer scientists and engineers by everyone else. Most people have no idea how the black magic of software development works and blindly rely on those who developed the software to know how to protect their banking information, personal documents and etc. Given this, we have a great responsibility to make sure that trust is well placed. In the ACM Code of Ethics, we have the responsibility to “achieve the highest quality, effectiveness and dignity” in our work so that we can ensure that we deserve the trust that is placed in us. In addition, we have the responsibility to “improve the public understanding of computing”, which means we should not take advantage of the average person’s trust, but rather seek to educate them so that they know that their trust is well founded.