Ethical OS Toolkit: a guide to anticipating the future of impact of today's technology
Or: how to not regret the things you will build
From the guide:
As technologists, it’s only natural that we spend most of our time focusing on how our tech will change the world for the better. Which is great. Everyone loves a sunny disposition. But perhaps it’s more useful, in some ways, to consider the glass half empty. What if, in addition to fantasizing about how our tech will save the world, we spent some time dreading all the ways it might, possibly, perhaps, just maybe, screw everything up? No one can predict exactly what tomorrow will bring (though somewhere in the tech world, someone is no doubt working on it). So until we get that crystal ball app, the best we can hope to do is anticipate the long-term social impact and unexpected uses of the tech we create today.
The last thing you want is to get blindsided by a future YOU helped create. The Ethical OS is here to help you see more clearly.
The guide includes:
- A checklist of 8 risk zones to help you identify the emerging areas of risk and social harm most critical for your team to start considering now.
- 14 scenarios to spark conversation and stretch your imagination about the long-term impacts of tech you’re building today.
- 7 future-proofing strategies to help you take ethical action today.
The risk zones are:
- Truth, Disinformation, and Propaganda
- Addiction & the Dopamine Economy
- Economic & Asset Inequalities
- Machine Ethics & Algorithmic Biases
- Surveillance State
- Data Control & Monetization
- Implicit Trust & User Understanding
- Hateful & Criminal Actors
I really love this. i would love to see this guide as something that is built into hackathons / hacks4good, development of apps4good, etc.