Semester Archives - Page 29 of 31 - Viterbi Conversations in Ethics

Spring 2019 Weekly News Profile

Problems with CRISPR: Unintended Brain Enhancement on China’s Gene-edited Twins

3/1/2019 Profiled article A. Regalado, “China’s CRISPR twins might have had their brains inadvertently enhanced”, Feb. 21, 2019. [Online] MIT Technology Review. Available at: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612997/the-crispr-twins-had-their-brains-altered/ [Accessed 24…

Spring 2019 Weekly News Profile

A Relationship Between Injuries and the Development of ALS

Georgia Babikian February 22, 2019 ALS Lou Gehrig's Disease Spinal Cord Injury

2/22/2019 Profiled Article ScienceDaily. (2019). Can a nerve injury trigger ALS?. [online] Available at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190220112208.htm [Accessed 21 Feb. 2019]. Summary As background, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS,…

Spring 2019 Weekly News Profile

The Need for 5G Cellular Service

Meera Gorjala February 15, 2019 5G Network Autonomous Vehicles Road Safety

2/15/2019 Profiled article Part 1:A. Shah, “The Critical Need for 5G Cellular Service,” February 2019. [Online] ASME. Available at: https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/technology-and-society/we-need-5g-cellular-service [Accessed 14 Feb. 2019]. Part 2:A. Shah,…

Spring 2019 Weekly News Profile

Clean Meat or Lab Meat

Laura Cook February 8, 2019 Bioengineering Cultured Meat Genetic Engineering Lab Meat

2/8/2019 Profiled article W. Johnson, A. Maynard, and S. Kirshenbaum. “Burgers grown in a lab are heading to your plate. Will you bite?” The Washington…

Spring 2019 Weekly News Profile

Broadening FBI Databases with Your At-Home DNA Tests

Tiarnan McCaffrey February 1, 2019 DNA Forensics Genealogy

2/1/2019 Profiled article S. Hernandez, “One Of The Biggest At-Home DNA Testing Companies Is Working With The FBI”, Buzzfeednews.com, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/salvadorhernandez/family-tree-dna-fbi-investigative-genealogy-privacy. [Accessed: 01- Feb-…

Spring 2019 Weekly News Profile

Can AI Replace Doctors? Someone Asked Them

Rachel Longjohn January 25, 2019 Artificial Intelligence Biomedical Engineering Computer Science Health

1/25/2019 Profile article M. Scudellari, “AI Won’t Replace Us, Docs Say”, Dec. 20, 2018. [Online] IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. Available at: https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/ethics/ai-wont-replace-us-docs-say [Accessed 24…

Fall 2018 Volume 2 Issue 2

The Ethical Design of Getting Lost in a Game

Kiera Breen Salvo December 12, 2018 Computer Science Military Psychology Virtual Reality

Introduction:Virtual reality (VR) is an industry on the rise; 2016 was even declared by experts in the field to be “The Year of VR.” Though…

Fall 2018 Volume 2 Issue 2

Ethics of Predictive Policing

Jeremy Panelli December 12, 2018 Analytics Data Science Machine Learning Predictive Policing Racial Bias

In August of 2013, Robert McDaniel of Chicago, Illinois, was visited by the police. Although McDaniel lived in an area well known for violence, he…

Fall 2018 Volume 2 Issue 2

Hey Siri, Am I Being Watched? The Future of Privacy with the Internet of Things

Nikkan Ghosh December 12, 2018 Computer Science Internet of Things Privacy

Introduction Hey Alexa! Can you make sure I remembered to lock my apartment this morning? Ok Google… It’s freezing today. Can you turn on the…

Fall 2018 Volume 2 Issue 2

The Ethics of Composite Design in Mechanical Engineering

Jonathan Coon December 12, 2018 Composites Environment Mechanical Engineering Recycling

In the 21st century, mechanical engineers work in an increasingly difficult environment. The requirements for systems are changing every day as employers and consumers desire…

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

Featured Summer 2025 Weekly News Profile

Turbulence Expected in Aviation Regulation

Kariena Panpaliya June 25, 2025

Many tragic plane accidents are credited to the negligence of airlines and plane manufacturers. In the year 2025, crashes still occur regularly, costing hundreds of lives. It is imperative that the aviation industry prioritize passenger and crew safety above their profits and reputation.

Featured Summer 2025 Weekly News Profile

High-Tech Dreams, Widening Gaps: The Downside of Costly Innovations

Mo Jiang June 15, 2025

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.

Featured Summer 2025 Weekly News Profile

Science Fiction Turned Reality–AI Defiance on the Rise

Mary Karapetyan June 10, 2025

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.”

Featured Summer 2025 Weekly News Profile

Who’s Shaping Tomorrow’s AI Ethics? Universities Navigate Corporate AI Ethics Funding

Mo Jiang June 1, 2025

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.

Featured Summer 2025 Weekly News Profile

Sneaky Subliminals: Messaging the Subconscious Through Media

Kariena Panpaliya May 25, 2025

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.