[Apreche]

When I was in college majoring in CS in the early ’00s I took several classes about ethics and technology. I also took plenty of liberal arts and literature classes throughout my entire education, as well as reading many sci-fi novels for pleasure. I learned the lesson of not building the torment nexus early and often. Thus far I have refused employment at any places doing so. I have an ethical and moral code that comes before anything an employer asks of me.

I think the problem is that clearly not everyone took the same path, and did not get the same moral education. I’m not religious at all, but religions do play a part in morally educating people. Not only are fewer people religious, but more of the religions that are popular are outright immoral in their teachings.

For profit companies do not act morally when not required to by law. Remember when Google hired some AI ethicists, and then fired them? Heck, they couldn’t even maintain their elementary school ethical code of “don’t be evil.” Companies who engineer bridges, medical devices, aircraft, etc. are regulated by law. They don’t follow ethical engineering practices of their own volition. They do it only because we force their hand.

We’re starting to see now what it looks like to regulate tech with some of the policies in the EU. While those regulations are flawed in several ways, they are also working properly. GDPR does have positive impact on privacy. Digital Markets Act is forcing Apple to allow side-loading.

We can defeat the torment nexus by simply outlawing it.

[GauntletWizard]

I took the same professional ethics course as you in school (Hi from another RIT anime nerd), and I found that even by mid 2000s, most people coming into the program openly mocked the lessons of Therac-25 and the Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse as heavyhanded, but a disturbing few viewed these as lessons in how you could cut corners and avoid getting charged.

Google used to have ethicists ethicists and a culture of don't be evil. They were fired by the AI ethicists, who for the most part were among that latter group - Rationalists who were supremely good at rationalizing their choices rather than making good ones.

I don't think that any of the current efforts at regulation are going to work. The latter culture has taken over the institutions, and that's why you see so many baying for the institutions to be taken down.