Spring 2026 Archives - Viterbi Conversations in Ethics

Featured Spring 2026 Weekly News Profile

Too Helpful to Help: AI, OCD, and Ethical Oversight

As Large Language Models are integrated into daily life, there is emerging research that suggests this kind of AI can worsen reassurance-seeking compulsions in users with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This exemplifies a larger issue of disability and accessibility as an afterthought in engineering projects. As a result, systems like AI can harm groups of people that were overlooked in the design process, which is unacceptable in the case of technologies intended to be integrated on such a large scale.

Featured Spring 2026 Weekly News Profile

EU Children Kicked Off Social Media

Kariena Panpaliya April 22, 2026 Adult Websites Age Verification Child Encryption European Union Internet Social Media Web Browsing

The European Union has introduced an Age Verification App as part of ongoing efforts to restrict children’s access to platforms such as social media apps and adult websites. Aside from the controversies surrounding age verification and restriction, the app was found to be very flawed. The developments on restricting children from online threats continue across many European nations.

Featured Spring 2026 Weekly News Profile

The Artemis II Mission: Ethical Concerns of Deep Space Organ-on-a-Chip Research

Mo Jiang April 14, 2026 Artemis II Deep Space Research Human Experimentation NASA Organ-on-a-Chip

NASA’s Artemis II mission is the first space mission to use “organ-on-a-chip” technology to study the effects of deep-space radiation and microgravity on human biological “avatars.” While this research helps establish safety guidelines for future Mars missions, it also raises questions about the ethics of human experimentation and the regulations governing deep space research. This mission points out a regulatory gap between government-led missions and the commercial space sector, raising concerns about the long-term protection and dignity of human subjects in deep space.

Spring 2026 Volume 9 Issue 1

The Ethics of Period Tracking Apps

Alice Steele April 5, 2026 data security Healthcare medical apps medical privacy menstrual health period trackers women’s health

In a time of transitioning out of male-centric health research, period-tracking apps have great potential for advancing women’s healthcare. They can provide users with better health literacy, informing them of important patterns in their bodies. However, instead of living up to their potential, period trackers are causing great harm. Engineers have a responsibility to take accountability for the impact their technology has on women’s lives; they have a responsibility to create a better version of these apps that can truly benefit women’s healthcare.

Spring 2026 Volume 9 Issue 1

The Ethics of Engineering & Management of Maquiladoras

Maria Rodriguez April 5, 2026 international management manufacturing maquiladoras supply chain

Maquiladoras, or manufacturing plants in Mexico, have become Mexico’s major economic powerhouse, driven by Mexico’s international tariff programs [1]. Maquiladoras have significantly impacted workers’ quality of life, including their well-being, professional development, and working conditions [2]. However, a lack of enforcement of industry standards and professional codes leads to labor malpractice and continued marginalization [1]. Thus, engineers and employers must consider these ethical issues when optimizing systems and developing new workplace technologies.

Spring 2026 Volume 9 Issue 1

The Ethical Responsibility of Engineers in the Cobalt Supply Chain

Connor McGartland April 5, 2026 artisanal small-scale mining cobalt supply chain lithium-ion batteries

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries power many modern devices, such as smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles. These batteries are considered the most effective option and rely on cobalt predominantly sourced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A majority of the country’s cobalt is manually sourced by artisanal small-scale miners who often suffer severe health and human rights violations due to corruption and lack of government oversight. This article will analyze the ethics of maintaining a supply chain alongside such operations and the engineers’ moral obligation to improve it.

Spring 2026 Volume 9 Issue 1

Artificial Intelligence in the Courtroom: Friend or Foe?

Julius Hultsch April 5, 2026 Algorithms artificial justice Bias rights-based ethics transparency Utilitarianism

Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions is the US’s primary predictive analytics tool in the courts. When artificial intelligence (AI) is deployed in high-impact human environments like courtrooms, a volcano of ethical dilemmas erupts. AI improves consistency and efficiency and reduces human error. However, it lacks transparency and moral judgment. Furthermore, AI is a vessel for bias that slips into algorithms, damaging human lives. AI’s consequences generally fall into two categories: broad human rights violations—affecting privacy, education, life, and due process—and systemic bias, exemplified by the unfairness of tools like the COMPAS sentencing algorithm. There is also a clear unequal treatment and violation of the defendant’s liberty. Nevertheless, with transparency of algorithms, there is a brighter path forward. To ensure the safe, widespread use of artificial justice, interdisciplinary collaboration is required.

Featured Spring 2026 Weekly News Profile

Building an Ethical Data Center

Alice Steele March 15, 2026 AI Artificial Intelligence data centers Noise Pollution Water Scarcity

A surge in data center construction is raising concerns about the environmental and social impact of these facilities on neighboring communities. However, not all data centers are built the same, and there is an opportunity for improvement in how data centers are constructed and the resulting effect they have on the people they surround.

Featured Spring 2026 Weekly News Profile

The Unsinkable Burden: University of Rochester Researchers Engineer “Unsinkable” Aluminum

Mo Jiang March 9, 2026 Environmental justice Marine corrosion Superhydrophobic materials

University of Rochester researchers have developed superhydrophobic aluminum tubes that remain unsinkable and corrosion-resistant. While this technology benefits the maritime and energy industries economically, its durability creates an environmental conflict between long-term product lifespans and the risk of permanent ocean pollution. Integrating these “incorruptible” materials into the global market will require ethical and regulatory considerations to address issues of intergenerational justice and waste management.

Featured Spring 2026 Weekly News Profile

The Gut Microbiome Is the New Genome — Yet the Regulations to Protect It Haven’t Caught Up

Mo Jiang March 1, 2026 Human Flatus Atlas microbiome research smart underwear wearable biometrics

The University of Maryland has developed “Smart Underwear” for the Human Flatus Atlas study to track digestive signals and microbiome activity in real-time. Although the device advances personalized medicine, it discloses private information that can uniquely identify 80% of people. The current state of microbiome research is also plagued by underrepresentation and algorithmic bias. Since microbiome information is not yet protected under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), immediate regulatory changes are needed to prevent its misuse.

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 Spring 2026 Weekly News Profile