Weekly News Profile Archives - Page 13 of 19 - Viterbi Conversations in Ethics

Spring 2021 Weekly News Profile

An Examination of Uber’s Responsibility to Their Drivers

Sabrina Sy March 22, 2021 Uber Workers' Rights

A recent ruling from a court in Britain has caused Uber to reclassify its drivers, allowing them increased benefits such as a minimum wage – is this something that can or should occur in other countries?

Spring 2021 Weekly News Profile

When Science Fails Minorities: Complications with the COVID-19 Vaccine

Tyler Amano-Smerling March 15, 2021 COVID-19 LGBTQIA+Racial Bias Vaccinations

Some minorities have understandable fears about the COVID-19 vaccine—how can those fears be assuaged, and whose responsibility is it to do so?

Spring 2021 Weekly News Profile

Fuzzy Ownership of NFTs

Michael DeLucia March 8, 2021 Blockchain Cryptocurrency Ethereum NFT

The rapid expansion of the market for NFTs, a popular new kind of cryptocurrency, raises questions about the intricacies of digital ownership.

Spring 2021 Weekly News Profile

Implications of Interplanetary Translocation

Isabel Brieler March 1, 2021 Mars Microbiology NASA Perseverance Space

The recent successful landing of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars gives us cause to consider the extent to which we are ethically obligated to prevent the “contamination” of other planets with earthly life.

Spring 2021 Weekly News Profile

The Inequality of Virtual Reality

Tyler Amano-Smerling February 22, 2021 Oculus Tech Virtual Reality

Virtual reality seems like a great escape, especially after nearly a year of lockdown, but it’s rife with inequities; do technology companies have a responsibility to combat these inequities before VR becomes a larger part of our daily lives?

Spring 2021 Weekly News Profile

Learning to Trust Black Box Artificial Intelligence

Michael DeLucia February 8, 2021 Artificial Intelligence Black Box Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce’s “AI 2.0” has a massive series of checks to ensure its integrity; should this be the standard for other “explainable” AIs?

Spring 2021 Weekly News Profile

How Apps are Influencing Reddit’s War with Wall Street

Isabel Brieler February 1, 2021 GameStop Hedge Funds Robinhood Stock Market

2/1/2021 While 2020 was undoubtedly a strange year for the stock market, with industries swinging unprecedentedly up and down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, January…

Fall 2020 Weekly News Profile

Galactic Law and Ownership

Michael DeLucia November 9, 2020 Law Mars Property Space SpaceX

11/9/2020 Space exploration is as fascinating as it is frightening. With plans to explore Mars and beyond proposed for upcoming decades, sooner rather than later,…

Fall 2020 Weekly News Profile

Fines for Fire-Induced Blackouts?

Teagan Ampe November 2, 2020 Blackouts California Fires Liability

11/2/2020 The California wildfires of October 2019 affected vast swaths of residents, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate their homes and many to lose their…

Fall 2024 Podcast Fall 2024 VCE Podcast

Ethical Challenges in AI: From Mobile Apps to Self-Driving Cars

VCE November 17, 2024

Hosted by Aryan Shah and Deep Shah, with Ethan Oblea and Jack Wang In this episode of the Viterbi Conversations in Ethics podcast, hosts Aryan…

Fall 2024 Podcast Fall 2024 VCE Podcast

Bridging the Gap: Addressing Access Inequities in Emerging Healthcare Technologies

VCE November 17, 2024

Hosted by Aryan Shah, with guest Alice Hernandez In this episode, we dive into the pressing issue of access inequities in emerging healthcare technologies with…

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.

Fall 2024 Featured Weekly News Profile

Digital Doppelgangers: The Ethical Minefield of AI-Powered Digital Twins

Mo Jiang December 10, 2024

Microsoft’s Azure recently introduced AI-powered digital twins that can independently make medical decisions. The technology raises serious concerns over AI’s role in healthcare due to challenges in model confidence and real-time data integration. In healthcare, studies have shown that digital twins can improve cardiac surgery decisions, despite the risk of undermining clinicians’ judgment. Security challenges are significant and current counter-measures have flaws. The future of digital twins hinges on balancing innovation with regulation, ensuring they augment rather than replace medical expertise.

Fall 2024 Weekly News Profile

Uranus Isn’t Actually That Weird: New Research Suggests Potential for Life on the Distant Planet

Rachel Pak November 23, 2024

When Voyager 2 became the first and only mission to fly by Uranus in 1986, the data collected by the probe defined the way astronomers understood the ice giant for the next 40 years. However, a new study published suggests Voyager 2 just happened to zoom by the distant planet on a particularly weird day. These findings mean it might be easier for future missions to search for oceans beneath the surface of Uranus’ moons. This study reminds us that not only are we constantly making new discoveries, but that discoveries we considered facts are ever changing.

Fall 2024 Weekly News Profile

Plan B turned Plan A: Geoengineering To Resolve Climate Change?

Mary Karapetyan November 9, 2024

Geoengineering is considered a potential solution to mitigate the increasingly severe impacts of climate change. However, due to scientific and ethical concerns, it is critical to approach geoengineering techniques with caution. As a result, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) has unveiled a new ethical framework to help promote responsible and sustainable scientific research.

Fall 2024 Weekly News Profile

The Stars We Can No Longer See: The Impediment of Satellite Mega Constellations on Astronomical Research

Mo Jiang November 1, 2024

The launch of thousands of new private satellites for global internet coverage has led to unprecedented levels of light pollution and radio interference levels. Astronomers worldwide report increasing difficulty researching while satellite companies expand their networks. Space debris also makes launching scientific satellites and space operations for research purposes more challenging. This situation highlights the growing tension between expanding global internet access to underserved communities and preserving humanity’s ability to conduct astronomical research, prompting calls for reformed international space policies.

Fall 2024 Weekly News Profile

Fighting Hurricane Misinformation: Meteorologists Make the Climate Connection Amidst Storm of Lies

Rachel Pak October 21, 2024

The warnings preceding Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Martin were more accurate than ever before due to advances in forecasting methodology and technology. However, meteorologists have never faced such intense skepticism, hatred, and conspiracy-minded pushback. Many have been accused of steering the hurricanes, and others have faced threats of violence online. These false claims have been viewed more than 160 million times in the days following the hurricanes, and have even been pushed by government officials. However, in an effort to fight these false narratives, government authorities, civil society organizations, and meteorologists are now pushing back on disaster-related misinformation.