Caleb Pickard. Photo: Matthias Steup
The Department of Philosophy is pleased to announce Ethics and Information Technology (PHIL 2160), a new course about the moral implications of emerging technologies for ourselves and our society. The first two sections of this course will be taught in Spring '19 by Caleb Pickard, a 7th year PhD student in Philosophy. He co-proposed the course last year, following his own philosophical interests in the ethics of emerging technologies. His partner in creating this course was Alexander Zambrano, PhD 2018, now an assistant professor of philosophy at Coe College.
This course will help students consider the role of ethical inquiry in technological development and will survey some of the major topics in the area, including artificial intelligence, online sharing ethics, robot ethics, attention engineering, drone warfare, virtual crime and gaming, and the social implications of automation. The course and course topics are suited to STEM students and non-STEM students alike – all must learn to navigate the world our technologists create.
PHIL 2160 is listed for both the Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences Gen Ed Distribution areas and can be applied to the philosophy minor and major.