The current cost of gasoline is at an all-time high, and food delivery and rideshare drivers’ income is directly tied to the price at the pump. Fuel costs have become an obstacle to many of these workers making a reasonable income.
View More The Disproportionate Effect of Gas Prices on Gig Workers
Many popular dating apps utilize subjective algorithms and addictive user interfaces to hook those in search of a connection, and the efficacy of dating apps is questionable when their purpose inherently pits the interests of the company against that of the user.
View More The Bias and Contradiction of Dating Apps
New studies have found more effective ways to evaluate public transportation systems around the world to the benefit of riders and operators. This begs the question – have we been planning and building around false assumptions all along?
View More Evaluating Public Transportation Worldwide
Outage reports in multiple cities following Russian invasion on Wednesday night pose the possibility of direct attacks on Ukraine’s internet infrastructure, resulting in obstacles to the flow of information in and out of the country.
View More Outages in Ukraine Demonstrate the Internet’s Role in Modern Conflict
With popular puzzle game Wordle’s transition to the New York Times, users have become frustrated with the once beloved game.
View More Wordle’s Rough Streak
Global water demand is rising, but our water supplies are decreasing. Desalination offers an unconventional source of fresh water to meet the needs of the world’s growing population. However, the process harms marine organisms and their natural environments, and exacerbates the threat of climate change. Examination of environmental ethics suggests that prioritizing concerns about environmental and community health is vital to the successful establishment and operation of desalination plants.
View More Nature is Not a Means to an End: Applying Environmental Ethics to Desalination
The impacts of climate change will disproportionately impact disadvantaged groups on regional, national, and international scales. The skewed vulnerabilities that arise from exposure to natural disasters, susceptibility to damage, and community ability to recover fuel the need to examine the ethical implications of producing greenhouse gas emissions in bulk for luxury purposes. As engineers are the creators of industrial processes, the responsibility an engineer holds towards themselves, the community they serve, and the future must be displayed through accountability for the cumulative impacts of each action.
View More The Ethical Implications of Climate Change and Future Inequality We Can’t Ignore
Traditional armed conflict is subject to conventions that govern the way wars are fought and protect those who are not involved. However, thus far, there are no equivalents to the Hague and Geneva Conventions of war for the cyber world, where artillery and explosives are replaced by viruses and malware. Therefore, this paper argues that it is imperative to establish international regulations to keep cyberwarfare ethical, based on the foundations provided by existing warfare conventions.
View More Cyberwarfare Conundrum: An Ethical Analysis
Predictive policing is a police tactic that uses computer algorithms to predict where crime is likely to occur. This tactic, which has been used in cities like Los Angeles, allows the police to deploy more officers to “high-risk locations.” However, predictive policing violates the ethics of consequentialism and the ethical frameworks of justice and fairness by disproportionately targeting low-income neighborhoods and high-minority areas with increased police activity. Although boosting police patrols can deter crime in some cases, they also make people feel wary and frightened. Predictive policing is an unethical police tactic and should be further regulated or used in other manners. Crime should not be prevented by police-generated fear.
View More Pitfalls of Predictive Policing: An Ethical Analysis
In a traditional business model, companies provide a product or service to their customers. However, in today’s digital marketplace, users of a company’s app, website, or game are not the true customers. While users are able to access these apps for free, companies can then sell those users data and attention to advertisers and other interested parties. But in a world now dominated by surveillance capitalism, is the use of user data exploitation, or just good business? Tech companies must increase transparency of how they plan to collect and use data, and developers should refuse to use manipulative or addictive methods in order to capitalize on users.
View More Now That We Have Your Attention