Advancements in the technologies and support available to postpartum women are essential, and many new technologies designed for mothers are promising to hasten their physical and emotional recovery. While this may seem a noble goal on the surface, many products marketed to postpartum women are hindering rather than helping their recovery by feeding into an increasingly twisted societal ideal of what postpartum recovery should look like. It is the ethical imperative of engineers to consider how their technologies are contributing to the dangerous “bounce-back” culture directed at postpartum women and the maternal mental health crisis.
View More Selling the Problem, Selling the Cure: Bounce-Back Culture and its Toll on New MothersAuthor: Alice Steele
The Ethics of Humanoid Robots
Tesla’s vision for its Optimus humanoid robot fleet raises questions about the direction AI technology and robotics are taking. This is especially important to consider as people increasingly project human qualities – such as empathy – onto technology designed to mimic humanity.
View More The Ethics of Humanoid RobotsAn Apple (Watch) a Day: Implications of Apple’s Latest Hypertension Detection Feature
Apple recently debuted its new hypertension detection system for Apple Watches Series 9 and newer. This feature promises to make blood pressure monitoring easier and more accessible for millions of people, which is especially important given how prevalent and underdiagnosed the condition is. However, for some individuals, the benefits of 24/7 hypertension monitoring may be overshadowed by anxieties caused by on-demand health data and the dangers of an increasing reliance on sometimes unreliable technology.
View More An Apple (Watch) a Day: Implications of Apple’s Latest Hypertension Detection Feature