Spring 2020:
Future, Futurism, and Technology
The Online Journal of Technology and Ethics inaugural issue was hosted by the Writing Department at Boston University. The first edition, which was called Future, Futurism, and Technology focused on illuminating ethical and philosophical issues that arise in the complex and shifting landscape of emerging technology. The journal is divided into six sub categories: AI, Computing, and Robotics; Information Technology, Privacy, and Entertainment; Transhumanism and Augmentation; Biotechnology, and Gene Editing; Space Technology and Infrastructure; and Geoengineering and Environmental Ethics
AI, Computing, and Robotics
Robby the Robot, c. 1956
The explosion of machine intelligence research has raised fundamental questions about the nature of thinking, consciousness, intelligence, and embodiment. As our machines become smarter and more effective, it has become ever more important to question our everyday assumptions about what it meas to be a “thinking thing.” Even limited machine intelligence shines new light on how we use information and how we organize society, and the development of new human-machine interfaces has given rise to a plethora of enabling technologies that themselves raise questions about the line between augmentation and enhancement. Ultimately, intelligence and robotics technologies confront us with a set of deep ontological questions about what it means to be human.
“What other problems may we face in the process of incorporating AI into enterprises?” Sandy Agustines
Beginning in the late 2010s, AI’s rise has allowed for business operations to become much more streamlined and has paved the way for more developments. There is a lot of ambiguity that surrounds AI integration, but what obstacles do we have to potentially overcome?
“Speech, a Basis of Society: how conversational AIs will lead us to a human-AI society” Hailey Choi
In my project, I explore the potential landscape of the future in which people talk with AIs as they do with other people now. First, I analyze Heidegger’s arguments on the role of speech in human ontology that speech constitutes the human way of being-in-the-world. Second, I argue that conversational AI is currently achieving the ability to process and produce speech at an exponential rate. Finally, I include a few excerpts from a sci-fi movie Her to give an interesting sense of how conversational AIs would eventually alter human-AI relationships and the landscape of future society where humans and AIs co-exist.
“Prosthetic Technology and Artificial Pain” Daniel Vinals-Garcia
Prosthetics are a rapidly evolving technology that is destined to impact our society in almost every aspect. But what is holding it back is it's their lack of body embodiment. To solve this problem, the implementation of human attributes into prosthetics would be crucial because it will give aspects of their humanity back to a person. The ability to feel pain is a very important constituent of a person’s humanity as it allows the person to develop deeper connections with themselves and others. Thus, an artificial pain system should be incorporated into a prosthetic once the technology is capable of doing so.
Info Tech., Privacy, and Entertainment
Artist Unknown
Information is an essential component of daily life. Likewise, the accumulation and analysis of data enables a vast array of human activities and projects. Collecting, organizing, storing, and deploying the lessons learned from this data has been a central task of human culture for millennia, but only in the last 50 or so years, with the advent of computer and surveillance technologies, has that task taken on a monumentally global character. As more and more data is collected and used for an expanding variety of both laudatory and nefarious purposes, deep questions about how that data is collected and for what it should be used have become ever more pressing. Issues of privacy and autonomy are levied against collective action problems and public or economic welfare while new questions about the role of entertainment and artificial realities reshape how we engage with the world and with each other.
“A new privacy bill and what it means for you” Precious Antinew
Will Congress finally pass an official privacy law for the US? This issue has long been overdue and for years many bills have been introduced and rejected. In fact, the European Union is way ahead of us in terms of securing and protecting their own personal information with their General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). On a positive note, progress has been made in the US by the unprecedented enactment of the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA). But still CCPA only applies to Californians. What about the rest of Americans? One solution: The Consumer Online Privacy Rights Act (COPRA). This bill that is built upon the principles of the GDPR and an extension of the CCPA may finally help strengthen our protection over our personal data and redefine privacy in this digital age.
“Augmented Reality and Personal Space” Yong Ng
My project is to investigate how augmented reality is affecting human's personal space by using Niantic as my case study. As people started using AR just by their smartphone, the technology is collecting data on the environment, such as the scenery, geolocation and activity. Our personal space is certainly invaded by the company. However, humans are willing to reveal their personal information for this technology due to its novelty, and its impression of trust given to the audience. AR is narrowing the personal space of humans in the virtual environment.
“Instagram and the Crisis of Attention” Moonis Thadey
As you scroll past instagram, or send a snap to maintain your thousandth streak, or view endless posts on Facebook do you ever stop to think about the negative effects the constant use of these applications are having on your minds? My research paper explores how social media could be affecting our attention spans by exploiting the use of the production of a neurotransmitter within our brains called dopamine. It also explains how these applications have been designed to enhance distractibility and to keep you hooked and over time possibly even get you addicted to them.
Transhumanism and Augmentation
Artist Unknown
Some have suggested that a core feature of the human experience is the drive to become more than what we are, to “transcend” by reaching beyond our current limits and expanding our capacities for thought, emotion, experience, and connection. In recent years, this dive has been channeled into the movement known as “transhumanism,” an ethos which embraces the deliberate use of technology to enhance human capacities and potential. Some theorists even argue that the next stage in evolution of our species will be a fundamentally technological one—that we are destined to “merge” with our machines and even “upload” our consciousness and thereby inhabit purely digital bodies.
“Enhancement Technology in Athletics” Gavin Mastella
This paper explores the complex topic of using human enhancements in athletics. I begin by discussing what exactly the term “enhancement” could mean, as the definition is not incredibly clear. I then go on to discuss the different purposes of competition. I then discuss how different athletic technologies and enhancements are already being used to create entirely new sports, and how the idea of creating the most efficient human possible is better suited for those sports. Finally, I turn my attention to the idea of using enhancements to heal disabled athletes and bring them up to the level of other competitors, and whether or not that should be allowed.
“AI Art and its Effect on the Field” Sofia Rodriguez
AI is becoming more involved with every aspect of our lives as time goes on. I wanted to explore how it would interact with an area that most people consider to be very human: the art world. From paintings to poetry, the age of AI art is already upon us and is likely here to stay. This online "gallery" will showcase how many artists use AI as an augmentation to enhance the works they create and bring the field of art to new and exciting territories.
Biotechnology and Gene Editing
Closer than we Think, 1962
Human beings have been, mostly unknowingly, manipulating the genetics of other organisms for centuries, but only recently, with the development of advanced genetic engineering techniques, has the direct manipulation of human and non-human genomes become possible. With this powerful new technology, we are suddenly confronted with the genetic mutability of our own species and the direct role genetic manipulation might play in future identities. CRSPR, germ-line edits, gene drives, and other strategies have the potential to give humanity unprecedented control over its own biological capacities and may soon begin to challenge our understanding of life and death.
“CRISPR-Cas9 and the Psychology of the Future Child” Henry Galindo
Genome editing has the potential to change humans entirely within the next few generations. With the introduction of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, we will be able to pick and choose what genes will be carried on to our children. This research project goes in depth in some of the potential effects editing our children will have on their psychology and the relationship between parent and child.
“Artificial Wombs and Paternal Rights” Georgina Hernandez
My project is about ectogenesis technology specifically artificial wombs and their effect on the rights of a father over the decision of the fetus. The research focuses on the increase in a father's rights over a fetus as the viability of a fetus changes with artificial wombs. I use laws pertaining to the abortion debate to solidify my claim.
“Xenotransplantation and the Body: The Shift in Perception Through Chimeric Organs” Stanley Liu
The body has always held many mysteries throughout the ages and with the advent of new medical technologies, these mysteries become less and less. How will xenotransplantation, the medical innovation of growing human organs in animal-human hybrids and transplanting into a human, change the way that we look at the body? What does it mean to have a human body? Placing something inherently human inside a human but growing it inside of an animal causes a fundamental change in the way we look at the body as a whole and a total shift in the moral and ethical stances we have today.
Space Tech and Infrastructure
Klaus Burgle, 1965
Space is viewed by many as the next great technological and social challenge for humanity. For some, the urge to explore space is an inherent part of our psychological makeup and that our “destiny” is to spread out among the stars. For others, colonization of distant planets is our only hope for long-term survival. For still others, the vast and untapped resources of our solar system represents an unprecedented opportunity to expand business interests and improve life on earth. Regardless, the opening of space technologies presents a unique set of ethical and cultural challenges leaders of the near future will have to face together. Likewise, infrastructure developments here on earth have raised a series of moral and social dilemmas concerning labor rights and the relationship between humans and their machines. New technologies like self-driving cars and machine workers have the potential to reshape how we look at the mundane but essential tasks of production and transportation.
“Asteroid Mining: Policies and Opportunities” Benjamin Herold
The solar system is awash in valuable resources, ranging from rare metals and precious gems to potential new fuel sources and raw materials that could be used to improve life on earth and extend human civilization beyond the confines of our home planet. However, as we develop the technology needed to begin tapping these resources, new ethical challenges have already presented themselves. Can the existing property rights infrastructure be extended to account for the way individual corporations might be able to take advantage of these resources? Will the influx of new materials exacerbate existing wealth inequalities? Will the existence of extra-planetary resources put pressure on the current geopolitical paradigm? How can we avoid the dangerous colonial attitudes of previous expansion efforts? Who owns space?
“How will the Privacy Issues Surrounding Autonomous Vehicles Lead to the Dehumanization of Humans?” Rushan Manek
The transportation industry has played a vital role in our lives. More recently, with the development of cars. These vehicles have allowed us to enjoy the comfort of private transportation, however they will soon be the reason we begin to question our beliefs. We are beginning to enter the world of autonomous driving, a world where we no longer put our lives in the hands of a driver, but rather the code of an AI. It is with this release of power that we begin to affect the way we regard human life and our right to privacy, in the hopes of creating a more synergetic automotive industry
“Automation of Amazon’s Fulfillment Centers” Antonio Shanley
Amazon stands as one of the most influential corporations globally of the twenty-first century. As such a massive company, in terms of both employment, service, and social influence, its endeavors carry weight for populations worldwide, especially those into automation in warehouses. This paper explores from a moral standpoint the ways in which Amazon should apply intelligent machinery to automate the jobs of warehouse staff.
Geoengineering and Environmental Ethics
Syd Mead, 1960
As the power of technology grows, so too grow the consequences of our technologizing impulses. The rise of greenhouse gas emissions and the growing specter of human induced climate change have become the central challenge of our era, an era we have come to call “the Anthropocene” to indicate the fundamental environmental and geological changes caused by humans hands. Many have advocated for a reduction in greenhouse emissions and more careful and far reaching environmental policies to help curb the impact of climate change, but many others worry that it might be too little to late. A growing number of thinkers have advocated for taking a more direct hand in reshaping the climate through geoengineering—to once again use technology to try to heal the wounds created by technology.
“The Ability to Control Climates, or Ethics and Implications of Geoengineering” Nat Makjumroen
We are currently living at a time where the effects of greenhouse gas emissions are detrimental to the environment and climate change which poses a very important threat to the current and future world. Although there are several solutions, these current efforts are most likely not enough. However, scientists have proposed a possible solution of geoengineering, a process where there is a large-scale intervention through various technologies to help mediate and control the Earth’s climate. Nonetheless, the ability to control climate poses several ethical implication: Should humans have an almost “god-like power” to control the climate? Should geoengineering be researched at all? This paper will explore the ethical implications and practicality of geoengineering.
“Greenwashing of the Paper Straw Trend” Shanna Martinez
My project is about how companies are greenwashing the paper straw trend and how it affects the progress made to prevent further global warming. Companies are advertising paper straws as much more eco-friendly than they actually are in order to convince green consumers to buy their products. This trend was used in an incorrect manner since companies are using it to gain more sales instead of using it to make the public more aware of global environmental issues.