Ethics for People Who Work in Tech

🔬 Book Summary by Marc Steen, a senior research scientist at TNO, the Netherlands, and an expert in Responsible Innovation.

Disclaimer: This book summary was authored by Marc Steen, the author of Ethics for People Who Work in Tech, and is not a sponsored post. It is shared as part of our commitment to highlighting resources and fostering diverse perspectives and dialogue on ethics in technology.

Overview: This book is for people in the tech industry: computer and data scientists, software developers and engineers, designers, and people in business, marketing or management roles. It is also for people who are involved in the procurement and deployment of advanced applications, algorithms, AI systems, and policymaking. Together, they create the digital products, services, and systems that shape our societies and daily lives. The book aims to empower people to take responsibility and to ‘upgrade’ their skills for ethical reflection, inquiry, and deliberation.

Introduction

This book is based on 25 years of experience in research and innovation projects in the tech industry in research, design, consultancy, and project management roles. The book focuses on the development and deployment of digital technologies, notably collecting data and creating algorithms (what many call ‘AI’; however, this buzzword was avoided) in various application domains. The book introduces ethics in an accessible manner with practical examples, outlines of different ethical traditions, and practice-oriented methods.

Book review by Professor Shannon Vallor: ‘… a staggeringly clear, accessible, richly comprehensive and engaging guide to understanding how ethics meets practice for those who build, use or deploy technology in their work’.

Professor Mark Coeckelbergh: ‘Highly recommended for tech professionals and anyone interested in how to integrate ethics into tech projects and innovation processes.’

The book is divided into three parts, each containing 6-8 relatively short chapters.

Part One: Ethics as a Process

The first part introduces a dynamic view of ethics, emphasizing it as an active process—doing ethics—by fostering ethical reflection, inquiry, and deliberation. The chapters explore how we can shift perspectives by zooming in and out, moving fluidly between practice and theory. Ethics is also examined as a domain of knowledge, connected to and distinct from other fields.

Key parallels between normative ethics and the design and application of technology are highlighted, alongside the idea that technologies are not neutral tools. The discussion then moves to two essential concepts relevant to technology and ethics: wellbeing and economics, both of which often underpin projects as ways of creating value. Technologies are typically designed to promote wellbeing and/or generate economic value. The section concludes by addressing three recurring topics in technology ethics: the trolley problem, privacy, and responsibility.

Part Two: Ethical Perspectives

The second part, the heart of the book, outlines four major ethical traditions, each offering a unique lens through which to approach the design and application of technologies:

Consequentialism focuses on the positive and negative outcomes of actions, aiding in the evaluation of the pros and cons of technologies or solutions.
Deontology (duty ethics) emphasizes duties and rights, advocating for human autonomy and dignity in relation to technologies.
Relational ethics highlights the interdependence of individuals, drawing attention to how technologies impact communication and collaboration.
Virtue ethics considers the cultivation of virtues and views technologies as tools that help people flourish and live well together.

These traditions provide complementary perspectives that can be combined according to the needs of a specific project. Each chapter begins with a scene depicting individuals attempting to integrate ethical considerations into their projects. These vignettes are not intended to show “right” or “wrong” approaches but rather to illustrate the complexity and occasional awkwardness of practicing ethics in real-world situations.

Part Three: Practical Applications

The third part focuses on practical methods for integrating the four ethical perspectives into real-world projects. It emphasizes that ‘design’ is understood as a verb, not a noun, encompassing a broad range of activities and processes, including exploration, development, evaluation, and deployment.

The chapters explore three key approaches:

Human-Centered Design: Organizing iterative and collaborative processes to ensure that technologies meet the needs of the people they are designed for.
Value-Sensitive Design: Incorporating the values of relevant stakeholders into design decisions to align technologies with societal and individual needs.
Responsible Innovation: Promoting anticipation, responsiveness, diversity, and reflexivity in innovation processes to address the broader impacts of technologies.

While the book provides practical recommendations and suggestions, it acknowledges the inherent challenges in applying these methods to unique projects and organizational contexts.

The final chapter offers profiles of several inspiring individuals, referred to as “exemplars.” Readers are encouraged to learn from these figures by exploring their talks, interviews, books, or websites, supporting the cultivation of virtues relevant to their values and projects.

Between the lines

A website is associated with the book, with links to online resources. The last chapter (‘Exemplars’) is fully accessible (ethicsforpeoplewhoworkintech.com). The book was well received and has led to several podcast interviews and scholarly reviews. In these interviews, several practical questions and applications are addressed and discussed.