Technology Ethics and the Legal Landscape

Podcast based on EAS 5240. "Engineers design and build the world we live in. From algorithms to bridges, cars to drones, every day we entrust our safety and prosperity to the decisions that engineers make. It is unsurprising that ethics is part of the foundation on which the modern engineering profession is built. But sometimes ethical engineering decisions nonetheless harm us more than they help us. Where this happens, engineers may face legal liability. Such liability is a legal question, not an engineering question. This course introduces students both to traditional concepts of engineering ethics as well as to the legal and policy background against which the ethics of engineering decisions are ultimately evaluated. Particular attention is paid to questions that arise in the context of new technologies such as artificial intelligence; case studies involving artificial intelligence and similar technology are considered throughout."