WHAT IS THE ETHICAL BEHAVIOR OF THE TECHNOLOGIST? - TECHNOLOGY - 2024

The ethical behavior of the technologist refers to the moral principles that should govern the decisions that the technology professional makes within their work. All professions have a code of ethics that provides some clues about right and wrong actions. However, in the case of technology professionals, there are situations that make it difficult to build a fixed code of ethics.

On the one hand, technological advances occur very quickly, creating new ethical dilemmas every day. This makes it difficult for there to be ethical standards that remain stable over time.

On the other hand, technology today has expanded to all areas of human life. It is not only part of the industry, it is also present in culture and in everyday life. For this reason, the ethical challenges of the technologist are increasing.

Concepts to understand the ethical behavior of the technologist

The ethical dilemmas

Although the benefits that technology has brought to society in different aspects are evident, it is also clear that new problems have appeared alongside it:

It is necessary to bear in mind that technology currently occupies an important place in people's daily lives. Homes, schools, industries, governments and all human environments are currently traversed by technology.

This phenomenon has brought great benefits for human development. However, it is also necessary to recognize the great power that it has placed in the hands of some people: those who produce and market the technology.

Because of this new power, new problems and new ethical dilemmas arise. The orientation of the economy towards technology, the degradation of the environment for technological purposes and the manipulation of information are some of them.

Nuclear technology opens the debate on weapons of mass destruction and radioactive waste. The mass production and consumption of electronic devices opens the debate on the depletion of raw materials.

Advances in biotechnology are also controversial. Genetics opens the debate on cloning and genetic modifications.

Communication technologies have also changed the way in which human beings relate to each other. More and more information is available but there is concern about the reduction of face-to-face contact and the cooling of human relationships.

Like these, there are many contemporary dilemmas that come from technological development. That is why, in addition to being interested in technological advancement, it is necessary for technologists to also begin to worry about ethics in all their advances.

You may be interested Positive and Negative Aspects of Technology in the World.

Ethical principles of the technologist

Technologists are usually oriented towards certain principles in the development of their work. Efficiency, effectiveness and the search for knowledge are some of them.

However, these principles are not enough for technological advances to be ethical. In fact, sometimes the search for efficiency or effectiveness can threaten the environment or the integrity of human beings.

For this reason it is necessary to broaden the interests of technology. It is not enough for technologists to be able to continually achieve new advances. It is also necessary that these advances are responsible.

Basic principles

Most universities have their own technologist codes of ethics. These codes bring together a series of general values ​​that apply to all technology professionals, regardless of their specific field.

These general values ​​can be summarized in two groups:

• Maintain the technical competence of technological developments. That is, to ensure its proper functioning and effectiveness.
• Avoid injury to others, your property, or your reputation. Either as a consequence of its technological development or its subsequent use.

These values ​​are fundamental, however they are focused on the technical performance and the scientific environment. For this reason, they are not enough to guide the technologist in the new ethical dilemmas that society presents.

Technology at the service of life

A broader ethical approach recognizes the enormous influence that technology has on human life and posits another principle for technologists: just because something can be done, it doesn't mean it's right to do it.

This does not mean that technologists have to limit themselves in their development, rather it is an invitation to give a different approach to creativity.

It is a motivation to think of alternatives that benefit society. It is about developing a responsible creativity that allows generating an innovation that is compatible with life, that has a greater criterion of social service.

Calculate environmental costs

Within technological development projects it is very important to establish what the economic costs are. However, it is not so common to do the same calculation for environmental costs.

In fact, potential environmental damage is usually ignored, with the intention of saving costs and facilitating the advancement of science. For this reason, a fundamental value of the technologist today is to be aware of the environmental costs that their work can have.

This does not mean stopping the advancement of technology, on the contrary, it means giving it an environmental responsibility approach.

Information management

Information and communication technologies have also created new ethical dilemmas. The enormous amounts of private or privileged information currently circulating on the Internet have become a resource of social, political and economic interest.

The power of technologists to access or manipulate this information also requires ethical behavior. However, there is no single version of how ethics should be when dealing with information technologies.

For example, different groups of hackers call themselves "ethical hackers." They affirm that their work provides a social service, because there is information that should be in the public domain.

In this sense, it is not possible to define clear rules on what should or should not be done with the information.

On the other hand, if we can take up Kant's postulate: "people should behave in such a way that if everyone acted in the same way, everyone would benefit."

Beyond the legal

Another implication of the rapid development of technology today has to do with legality. The constant appearance of new technologies creates legal dilemmas because there are no rules to regulate all the new situations that arise.

For this reason, the technologist must start from a basic premise in his work: not everything that is legal is necessarily correct.

Currently, technologists and companies must establish their own moral codes. These codes, of course, must take into account the laws of each country. However, they also need to go further.

References

1. Berzai, L. (2017). How ethical theories apply to IT professionals. Recovered from: aitp.org.
2. Schuurman, E. (2011). Technology and the Ethics of Responsibility. Recovered from: metanexus.net.
3. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2012). Information Technology and Moral Values. Recovered from: plato.stanford.edu.
4. Tech Republic. (2016). 10 ethical issues confronting IT managers. Recovered from:.com.
5. Woo, M. (2017). Ethics and the IT Professional. Recovered from: /er.educause.edu.