Ethics is Not Rocket Science: Recent Episodes
Jennifer Smith
Students at Los Medanos College, enrolled in Contemporary Moral Issues, discuss ethical issues associated with technology.
It’s well past time to start considering the moral implications of this technology. For instance, do we as human beings have a fundamental right to privacy; and, if so, does the use of this technology violate that right? Does using this technology make us safer, or better off in some other way; and, if so, do these benefits outweigh any potential costs?
Question: Should we pass legislation to prohibit public use of facial recognition technology?
The Issue: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tik-Tok, YouTube – we use them all the time. In fact, these five platforms alone have over 7 billion monthly active users—almost as many users as there are human beings on the entire planet.
But, is it good for us? or bad?
Question: Is it morally permissible—or perhaps even obligatory?—to use genetic modification and/or cloning technology to help other species survive the harmful effects of human activity? For instance, is it permissible (or even obligatory) to genetically alter species so that they might be better adapted to climate change, or other threatening factors which we have caused (such as the chestnut blight)? Is it morally permissible to resurrect the woolly mammoth, or the passenger pigeon, which we have already driven to extinction?
Is it morally permissible—or perhaps even obligatory?—to use genetic modification and/or cloning technology to help other species survive the harmful effects of human activity?
For instance, is it permissible (or even obligatory) to genetically alter species so that they might be better adapted to climate change, or other threatening factors which we have caused (such as the chestnut blight)? Is it morally permissible to resurrect the woolly mammoth, or the passenger pigeon, which we have already driven to extinction?
Many impacts of COVID-19 are still prevalent today, especially within the quickly evolving food industry through delivery apps which are potentially changing consumer behavior. In this episode we ask, "Is it morally permissible to use a food delivery app (e.g., Instacart) during a pandemic?" Scholars Aryan, Cordelia, and Brittnee provide the context and history around this topic including moral theory, positive and negative perspectives, and their moral framework on the group's overall outlook. Is it okay to mitigate risk and allow others to put their lives on the line for our gain? Do delivery workers have the support they need to work these hazardous jobs? Why or why not?
Works Cited
Bokat-lindell, Spencer. “Is Food Delivery during the Coronavirus Pandemic Ethical?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 May 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/opinion/coronavirus-delivery-food.html
Cheng, Michelle. “Gig Jobs Are Suddenly Looking More Secure amid Coronavirus.” Quartz, Quartz, https://qz.com/1820467/companies-shift-to-hiring-more-delivery-workers-amid-coronavirus/.
“Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) - Events as They Happen.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen.
“Coronavirus (Covid-19) Frequently Asked Questions.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html#:~:text=COVID%2D19%20is%20spread%20in,like%20a%20cough%20%20or%20%20sneeze.
Durbin, Dee-Ann, and The Associated Press. “Food Delivery Will Continue to Thrive after COVID Restrictions Ease, Drawing out Tensions between Delivery Apps and Restaurants.” Fortune, Fortune, 20 Apr. 2021, https://fortune.com/2021/04/20/restaurants-food-delivery-apps-fees-commission-doordash-uber-eats-grubhub/amp/.
Foot, Philippa. “Killing and Letting Die.” Moral Dilemmas, 2002, pp. 78–87., doi:10.1093/019925284x.003.0006.
“Food Delivery Health Risks & Safety during Coronavirus.” Elite Care 24 Hour Emergency Room, 22 May 2020, https://elitecarehouston.com/food-delivery-health-risks-safety-during-coronavirus/.
Lazarus, David. “The Ethics of Outsourcing Our Risks to Instacart.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2020, https://www.latimes.com/business/newsletter/2020-04-06/newsletter-coronavirus-ethics-business.
McLaughlin, J. (2017). The Originals: Classic Readings in Western Philosophy. Victoria, BC: BCcampus/TRU. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/classicalreadings/
Medicine, Good Food Is Good. “Eating Takeout amid Covid-19: UC Davis Expert Explains Food Safety.” Good-Food, UC Davis Health, 27 Mar. 2020, https://health.ucdavis.edu/blog/good-food/eating-takeout-amid-covid-19-uc-davis-expert-explains-food-safety/2020/03.
Young, Ryan. “The Impact of COVID-19 on Food Delivery Services in the U.S.” Medium, Towards Data Science, 24 Jan. 2021, https://towardsdatascience.com/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-food-delivery-services-in-the-u-s-47eae04655c8.
Here we are in the midst of a global pandemic that will have claimed roughly one million lives by the end of 2020. Pretty terrible, right? Worse still, resources continue to be scarce. For instance, in some cases there are not enough ICU beds, ventilators, therapeutic drugs (e.g., Remdesivir), or simply health care workers themselves to go around to all of those who need them. In such cases of shortage, the question arises: Who gets the treatment, and who doesn’t?
Question: What is the best metric or method for determining who gets medical treatment during a pandemic in cases of a shortage of resources? i.e., who gets the ventilator, and why? What is the fairest or most just distribution of life-saving resources?
Sources / Works Consulted:
Scheunemann, Leslie P., and Douglas B. White. “The ethics and reality of rationing in medicine.”
Chest vol. 140,6 (2011): 1625-1632. doi:10.1378/chest.11-0622
White, Douglas B. et al. “Who should receive life support during a public health emergency?
Using ethical principles to improve allocation decisions.” Annals of internal medicine vol.
150,2 (2009): 132-8. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-150-2-200901200-00011
Yousef, Muhannad H. et al. "The Fair Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources: A Comparative
Study From Jordan." Frontiers in Medicine, vol. 7, p. 1049,
doi:10.3389/fmed.2020.603406
Blitzer, David, et al. “Why Health Care Workers Should Receive Priority Care for Covid-19.” The
Hastings Center, 13 May 2020, www.thehastingscenter.org/why-health-care-workers-
should-receive-priority-care-for-covid-19/
Chan, Paul S., et al. “Code Blue during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Circulation: Cardiovascular
Quality and Outcomes, vol. 13, no. 5, 2020, doi:10.1161/circoutcomes.120.006779
Bazerman, Max H., et al. “How Should We Allocate Scarce Medical Resources?” Harvard
Business Review, 1 Feb. 2021, hbr.org/2020/04/how-should-we-allocate-scarce-
medical-resources
McLaughlin, J. (2017). "The Originals: Classic Readings in Western Philosophy." Victoria, BC:
BCcampus/TRU. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/classicalreadings/
Foot, Philippa. “Killing and Letting Die.” Moral Dilemmas, 2002, pp. 78–87.,
doi:10.1093/019925284x.003.0006
Thomson, Judith Jarvis. “The Trolley Problem.” The Yale Law Journal, vol. 94, no. 6, 1985, p.
1395., doi:10.2307/796133
“Risk for COVID-19 Infection, Hospitalization, and Death by Age Group.” Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-
data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-age.html.
Music credit (all are copyright free):
Track: Will I let Me - Vlog Vibes
Music provided by Verde Música Studio
Watch: https://youtu.be/vnqtE9nADc8
Track: Take a walk - Keys of Moon Music
Music provided by Verde Música Studio
Watch: https://youtu.be/OVy6tMBQdxk
The nation is split over what the role of social media platforms should be with respect to its content. Should these platforms police their content? Or, do we have a fundamental right to freedom of speech which such content-policing would violate?
Question: Should social media platforms be moderating or policing user-generated content? If so, what kind of content should be censored? For instance, is it morally permissible (or even obligatory) to delete or flag a post for merely containing false information? Why or why not? Should the president’s posts be granted an exception to such a policy? Why or why not?
It’s well past time to start considering the moral implications of this technology. For instance, do we as human beings have a fundamental right to privacy; and, if so, does the use of this technology violate that right? Does using this technology make us safer, or better off in some other way; and, if so, do these benefits outweigh any potential costs?
Works Cited
Carter, Anthony. “Facing Reality: Benefits and Challenges of Facial Recognition Technology for the NYPD.” Homeland Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security, 2018.
Crumpler, William. “How Accurate Are Facial Recognition Systems - and Why Does It Matter?” Center For Strategic and International Studies, Apr 2020. https://www.csis.org/blogs/technology-policy-blog/how-accurate-are-facial-recognition-systems-%E2%80%93-and-why-does-it-matter
Dodge, Ethan Gregory. “Dodge: True Police Reform Requires Regulating Surveillance Tech, San Jose.” San José Spotlight, 14 Apr. 2021,
https://sanjosespotlight.com/dodge-true-police-reform-requires-regulating-surveillance-tech-san-jose/.
Green, Matthew. “Profiled: A Brief History od Identification (Interactive Timeline and Lesson Plam)” The Lowdown, Dec 2017. https://www.kqed.org/lowdown/29130/profiling-a-brief-history-of-being-identified
Jenner, Frances. “Facesearch Is the New Facial Recognition Tool Used to Fight Human Trafficking.” Techli, 10 July 2018, https://techli.com/facesearch-is-the-new-facial-recognition-tool-used-to-fight-human-trafficking/54617/.
Mantel, Barbara. "High-Tech Policing." CQ Researcher, 21 Apr. 2017, pp. 337-60, library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2017042100.
Rowe, Elizabeth A., Regulating Facial Recognition Technology in the Private Sector (June 1, 2020). 24 Stan. Tech. L. Rev. 1 (2020), University of Florida Levin College of Law Research Paper 21-19, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3769613
Van Noorden, Richard. "The ethical questions that haunt facial-recognition research." Nature, vol. 587, no. 7834, 19 Nov. 2020, pp. 354+. Gale General OneFile, https://gogalecom.lmc.idm.oclc.org/ps/retrieve.dotabID=T002&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=1&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm¤tPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CA650829229&docType=Article&sort=RELEVANCE&contentSegment=ZGPP-MOD1&prodId=ITOF&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CA650829229&searchId=R1&userGroupName=cclc_medanos&inPS=true
West, Darrell M. “10 Actions That Will Protect People from Facial Recognition Software.” Brookings, Brookings, 6 May 2020,
https://www.brookings.edu/research/10-actions-that-will-protect-people-from-facial-recognition-software/
I discuss the "Ethics is not rocket science' project and give you a rundown of what to except from each episode. Remember, each episode will focus on a different ethical issue associated with technology.
Our first season includes:
- Should we pass legislation to prohibit public use of facial recognition technology?
- Should social media platforms be moderating or policing user-generated content? If so, what kind of content should be censored?
- Is the use of A.I.s and predictive algorithms in the criminal justice system morally permissible?
- Is it morally permissible for the government to implement a digital contact tracing program during a pandemic?
- What is the best metric or method for determining who gets medical treatment during a pandemic in cases of a shortage of resources?
- Is it morally permissible to use a food delivery app (e.g., Instacart) during a pandemic?