Following Apple’s arguably overpriced headsets, other companies, such as Nintendo, also raised prices for their Switch 2 product. These incidents reveal a general trend of technology becoming increasingly expensive, yet growing evidence shows that unaffordable costs are worsening the digital divide, leaving low-income, minority, and disabled populations with less access to essential technology. More efforts are needed to make products affordable and accessible to everyone.
View More High-Tech Dreams, Widening Gaps: The Downside of Costly InnovationsCategory: Featured
Science Fiction Turned Reality–AI Defiance on the Rise
The influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rippling through society, especially via the rising accessibility of large language models (LLMs). OpenAI’s latest o3 model sabotaged shutdown after being told to “allow yourself to be shut down.” LLMs are unpredictable, and even with the necessary constraints and guidelines, they still hold the power to behave the way they find the “most optimal.”
View More Science Fiction Turned Reality–AI Defiance on the RiseWho’s Shaping Tomorrow’s AI Ethics? Universities Navigate Corporate AI Ethics Funding
Tech giants like Netflix and Microsoft are making significant investments in AI ethics education and research at universities. These efforts raise concerns about potential corporate influence on academic independence. As colleges develop partnerships with the tech industry, they face the challenge of balancing valuable funding opportunities with the need to maintain academic integrity and ensure AI ethics research and education serve broader societal interests rather than corporate agendas.
View More Who’s Shaping Tomorrow’s AI Ethics? Universities Navigate Corporate AI Ethics FundingSneaky Subliminals: Messaging the Subconscious Through Media
Subliminal messaging can be found in all forms of media. It has the power to influence the subconscious mind, which holds patterns that define an individual’s mentality, thus significantly determining a person’s behavior. Through subliminals, the media has the incredible power to influence a person’s mindset and actions. This power should be wielded explicitly and with caution to protect a person’s right to freedom of thought.
View More Sneaky Subliminals: Messaging the Subconscious Through MediaIt Starts With Welding: The Beginning of Lunar Industrialization
Following decades of successful space missions, humanity’s focus is increasingly shifting from short-term exploration to establishing a permanent extraterrestrial base through lunar industrialization. Lunar industrialization is a highly advanced technological endeavor; enabling the technology needed to weld on the Moon marks the first step in actualizing its potential. The lunar environment presents unique conditions that make it more challenging to replicate processes that are easily implemented on Earth, such as welding. Although the Moon lacks an atmosphere or biosphere and won’t experience the same environmental effects as Earth from increased industrial activity, it doesn’t mean that lunar industrialization is environmentally harmless. This debate is complex, with both sides raising valid concerns, balancing the potential for scientific progress against the ethical need for preservation.
View More It Starts With Welding: The Beginning of Lunar IndustrializationNIH Funding Freeze Stalls Applications to Public Medical Research Funds
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has stopped considering grant applications in the wake of the Trump administration’s funding freeze. This has stalled around 16,000 grant applications competing for $1.5 billion in NIH funding to develop cutting-edge treatments. This freeze threatens lives across the country, as scientists lose jobs, local economies are damaged, and the health of patients fighting life-threatening diseases is put in jeopardy.
View More NIH Funding Freeze Stalls Applications to Public Medical Research FundsThe End of Break Room Banter: AI Teammates Reshape Workplace Culture
AI teammates are a new variation of artificial intelligence designed to supplement employees in the workplace, boosting productivity while reducing burnout. Their integration into society underscores the urgent need for clear frameworks and regulations to ensure their ethical and responsible use.
View More The End of Break Room Banter: AI Teammates Reshape Workplace CultureDe-extinction: Does the End Justify the Means?
Colossal is a company committed to de-extinction. Its main mission is to bring back the woolly mammoth. This mission may help conserve critically endangered Asian elephants and mitigate the impacts of global warming. However, it also raises ethical concerns regarding the livelihood of wildlife that currently reside in the mammoth’s habitat.
View More De-extinction: Does the End Justify the Means?A Dreamer, A Destroyer of Worlds
The recent room-temperature superconductor LK-99 controversy highlighted significant challenges within scientific communication and raised critical questions about the role of engineering in societal advancement. LK-99’s rapid rise and fall from scientific prominence reflects a need for essential virtues of engineering practice. This article analyzes the engineer’s societal role and establishes a framework to emphasize the importance of three virtues – joy, compassion, and rigor. These virtues are crucial for fostering responsible innovation and advancing human well-being through technology.
View More A Dreamer, A Destroyer of WorldsUSC Viterbi School Prepares Virtuous Leaders in Engineering
Engineering requires a certain dedication to protect the communities being served. This dedication is fostered by ethical engineers. The USC Viterbi School of Engineering aspires to cultivate such engineers. To ensure they live up to ethical obligations, Viterbi should look to establish its students with the values of integrity, altruism, and courage. Engineers with integrity exhibit perseverance in the face of failure and hold themselves accountable for the honest delivery of research findings. Through altruism, engineers are able to dedicate themselves to the people and environments their choices will impact. Lastly, courageous engineers push aside selfish desires, address uncomfortable truths, and have an unwavering commitment to represent those who cannot have a say in decisions. Together, these traits equip engineers with the characteristics needed to create a better future.
View More USC Viterbi School Prepares Virtuous Leaders in Engineering