Facing the Computer Ethics Dilemma
C. Dianne Martin and David H. Martin
Computer education now begins in elementary school and is not longer a restricted
technical specialty learned only by those who are going to design or program
computers. Because of the widespread prevalence of computers in society, a core
of ethical precepts relating to computer technology should be communicated not
only to computer professionals, but to the general public through all levels
of education. The issue should be viewed from the perspective of society as
a whole as well as from the perspective of computer professionals.
In looking at the ISTE ethics code there is a great emphasis upon incorporating
ethical and social impact issues throughout the curriculum starting at the point
when children first become computer users in school. In particular, there are
a set of guidelines regarding what students in general need to know about computer
ethics in Principle V dealing with Student Issues. Incorporating the ISTE guidelines
throughout K – 12 education would help to address the “society as
a whole” issue of computer ethics.
The preparation of future computer professionals should be examined at both
the high school and university computer science curriculum. The ACM is in the
process of developing new recommendations at both levels of curriculum. In the
high school curriculum, there will be both general and specific approaches to
ethics and social impact issues. The general approach is to incorporate these
concerns across the curriculum, not just in computer courses. This is in keeping
with the philosophy that computers should be integrated across the curriculum
as a tool for all disciplines. The specific approach is to develop social impact
modules within the computer courses that will focus on these concerns.
At the university level the ACM faces a yet-to-be resolved dilemma of how to
implement the proposed societal strand in the new curriculum recommendations.
There is much discussion, but little action, regarding the necessity of preparing
ethically and socially responsible computer scientists, especially in light
of the highly publicized computer viruses that are an embarrassment to the profession.
To this end the ACM has articulated a tenth core strand – ethical and social
impact – that must now be incorporated in computer science programs. The Computer
Science Accreditation Board (CSAB) which has accredited over 50 institutions
since it was established in 1984, requires instruction in the social implications
of computing as a criterion for accreditation.
The dilemma is whether this new strand should be present in all computer science
courses or should be taught in a stand-alone course. CSAB allows the topic
to be taught as a separate course or to be included as a component of other
courses. If it is a stand-alone course, should it be required or elective?
Many feel that the across-the-board approach is the best, but cynically question
whether you can really “teach old dogs new tricks.” Joseph Weizenbaum,
a professor of Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
favors the M. I. T. approach of including discussions of ethics in the context
of other computer science courses already in the curriculum to eliminate the
tendency of professors “to skip over ethical considerations with the excuse
that it is taught in Ethics 101 (DeLoughry, 1989).” However, he recognizes
the possibility that the ethics material could receive short shrift in a crammed
technical syllabus, as is alleged to occur in many law schools. When combined
with other computer science core material, the teaching of ethics is made complicated
by the fact that it is not as concrete as the rest of the curriculum. How do
we persuade “hard core” computer scientists that social impact material
is serious and involves long range implications for the future of computer science?
In accepting the value-laden nature of technology, we should recognize the need
to teach a methodology of explicit ethical analysis in all decision-making related
technology. We can borrow from the strategy of traditional university ethics
courses to use case studies (Parker, 1988; Weiss, 1982), readings and discussions
in our computer ethics courses. We must teach our students to use the preliminary
core of ethical concepts developed by the computer professional societies to
first deal with hypothetical cases in order to prepare them to deal with real
ethical dilemmas in the future. One method is to answer the five questions in
ethics suggested by bio-ethicist Robert Veatch (1977), that when asked collectively
and in sequence, form a general framework for addressing and providing justification
for moral dilemmas: (1) What makes right acts right? (2) To whom is moral duty
owed? (3) What kinds of acts are right? (4) How do rules apply to specific situation?
(5) What ought to be done in specific cases? (Veatch, 1977, p. 2).
In a recent ethics workshop Professional Engineer John McLeod suggested another
set of generic ethical questions to be asked by individuals in the context of
daily professional practice: (1) is it honorable, (2) is it honest, (3) does
it avoid the possibility of a conflict of interest, (4) is it within your area
of competence, (5) is it fair, (6) is it considerate, and (7) is it conservative
of time and resources. Questions such as these can be used effectively to train
students to apply ethical standards to both hypothetical and real situations.
The challenge to computer educators is to develop strategies that will raise
the awareness of students regarding ethical and moral issues related to computer
technology at the same time that they are developing their technical expertise.
We should not delude ourselves into thinking that simply teaching about ethics
will be a panacea for the problems now faced by society due to computer technology,
but we should demonstrate our commitment to ethical behavior by incorporating
ethics education into computer education at all levels.
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