Fall 2025 Archives - Viterbi Conversations in Ethics

Fall 2025 Featured Weekly News Profile

Selling the Problem, Selling the Cure: Bounce-Back Culture and its Toll on New Mothers

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.

Fall 2025 Featured Weekly News Profile

Stripped Chips: Bringing Cleaner Snacks to American Shelves

Kariena Panpaliya November 25, 2025 Cheetos Chips Doritos packaged food packaging processed food

Two of the most popular brands of chips have released “naked” versions of their products, which have no artificial colors. Supported by studies that show the potential harm of artificial additives, efforts to “strip down” products have grown widespread across several manufacturers of prepackaged food in America.

Fall 2025 Volume 8 Issue 3

The Ethics of Smart Cities

Jess Beastrom November 25, 2025 IoT Technologies Smart Cities Sustainable Cities Urban Development

The integration of Internet of Things technologies in urban areas aims to make life in cities more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable. This article analyzes the smart city initiatives of Singapore, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Toronto, and Songdo to discuss the potential benefits and ethical implications that these new technologies present. Successful projects have resulted in emission reductions and improved public services. However, the failures of other initiatives highlight ethical issues concerning data privacy, privatization, and unequal access. The analysis of these five cities emphasizes the importance of transparency and constant public engagement in implementing smart technologies in cities.

Fall 2025 Volume 8 Issue 3

The Ethics of CGI and Deepfakes in the Film Industry

Kariena Panpaliya November 25, 2025 AI Artificial Intelligence CGI Deepfakes Film

CGI and other visual effects have allowed filmmakers and game designers to create visually stunning movies and characters that were previously impossible. However, with the rise of this revolutionary and ultra-realistic technology comes significant potential for misuse. This article discusses the background of CGI and visual effects, their application in the film and entertainment industries, and the possible ways they can be exploited. It also addresses the
negative implications of this technology and suggests possible solutions and mitigation strategies.

Fall 2025 Volume 8 Issue 3

Safe from the Fundamentals – The Ethical Case for New Programming Languages

Stan Weerman November 25, 2025 C C++Carbon Memory Safety Rust

Since their invention, C and C++ have dominated computer systems. However, their programmer-controlled memory management scheme has caused great damage globally. It is imperative to create a memory-safe online world. Possible solutions include transitioning to new languages like Rust and Cppfront and deploying external memory checkers like SafeOSL and Memsafe.

Fall 2025 Volume 8 Issue 3

Bridging the Gap Between Profit and Responsibility: Ethics in Construction Engineering

Dennis Tran November 25, 2025 Construction Ethics Legal Compliance Public Welfare

This article explores the ethical challenges faced by construction engineers in balancing legal compliance with sustainable practices. It emphasizes the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development in an industry that significantly impacts both the environment and society. The article examines how construction professionals navigate moral dilemmas when deciding between immediate economic returns and long-term environmental and social welfare. Through ethical frameworks such as utilitarianism, rights-based approaches, and the common good, the article argues for a greater emphasis on sustainability in construction, despite the financial and organizational barriers that hinder its widespread adoption. A case study of the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse is discussed to highlight the catastrophic consequences of neglecting ethical standards. Ultimately, the article advocates for stronger ethical guidelines and leadership to promote sustainability and social responsibility in the construction industry.

Fall 2025 Featured Weekly News Profile

Build-A-Baby: Is Gene Editing the Future of Humanity?

Mary Karapetyan November 11, 2025 CRISPR DNA gene-editing

Gene and molecular-level interventions are just one example of how modern medicine is seeking to push boundaries and uncover breakthroughs. CRISPR-Cas9 is the most common gene-editing technology used today. The Cleveland Clinic conducted a Phase 1, first-in-human clinical trial overseas to test the safety and effectiveness of a new CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing therapy called CTX310. While a relatively new biotech startup, called Preventive, announced its plans to pursue embryo-editing technologies aimed at preventing hereditary disease, and preparing for the possibility of implanting a genetically edited embryo to create a baby. Many uncertainties surround gene editing practices, leaving professionals unsure of how far such technologies should go and how they should be regulated.

Fall 2025 Featured Weekly News Profile

The Ethics of Humanoid Robots

Alice Steele October 26, 2025 AI AI companions childcare humanoid robots Optimus 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.

Podcast

Podcast Spring 2025 Spring 2025 VCE Podcast

Virtue Ethics: Cultivating Moral Character in a Modern World

VCE March 8, 2025

Hosted by Aryan Shah with guest Branden leong This podcast explores the role of virtue ethics in engineering, emphasizing how virtues like compassion, integrity, and…

Podcast Spring 2025 Spring 2025 VCE Podcast

AR/VR and how they shape the future of technology

VCE March 8, 2025

Hosted by Aryan Shah, Deep Shah, with guests “Greta Hoffmeister, Kariena Panpaliya, Dasean Volk, Hang Nguyen, Grace Eamer In this episode, the guests delve into…

Grand Challenges Special Issue

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

Redefining Societal Progress for Engineers

Natasha Singh March 29, 2023

Dr. Erin Cech’s critique of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges focuses heavily on the pitfalls of technological determinism. This paper supports Cech’s argument through a discussion of current examples of the consequences of technological determinism, such as the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements, medication accessibility, and facial recognition technology. Though the consequences of a zealous engineering mentality are commonplace in our society, there are also current examples of tech companies neglecting to develop technology due to its possible negative consequences.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

How the Technical Sciences and the Social Sciences Should Go Hand-in-Hand

Charles Liu March 29, 2023

The fourteen Grand Challenges presented by the National Academy of Engineers (NAE) fail to involve ethics as a part of the solution to these issues. Traditionally, engineers have kept their work separate from its societal implications. Engineers and their non-technical counterparts have an obligation to view all technical solutions under the moral lens of ethicists and futurists. Going forward, engineers must be aware of their limits and work with experts outside of their fields to develop solutions that will be cognizant of society as a whole.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

The Lies We Tell to Inspire: Responding to the Engineering Double Standard

Shub Gaur March 29, 2023

The National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges are critiqued by Dr. Erin Cech for what she describes as a double standard in engineering. Though Cech rightly discusses a lack of accountability and acknowledgement within the profession, her argument lacks nuance. The Grand Challenges were ultimately a promotional tool meant to inspire the next generation of engineers, yet Cech holds them to a standard of being professional rules and guidelines. This paper will discuss the distinctions that Cech’s argument lacks, including placing an unreasonable amount of responsibility on engineers and overstating their influence.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

The Grand Challenges: Authorial Particularism and a Lost Opportunity for an Equitable Society

Huzaifa Aslam March 29, 2023

The fourteen Grand Challenges were developed by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in an effort to expose future generations to the wide range of innovation and technology that they could one day take part in. As detailed by the Challenges’ creators, the list includes challenges that are most significant to our current world. Dr. Erin Cech’s critique of the Grand Challenges is that a lack of diversity in the panel of engineering experts led to a lack of oversight into issues that are actually pertinent to developing nations. Cech’s argument that the Grand Challenges are a missed opportunity for social justice holds validity, but her mischaracterization of the lack of diversity requires further consideration.

Weekly News Profile

Fall 2025 Featured Weekly News Profile