2 posts tagged with "Tech"

Introduction​

The issue of technology changing the job market is not nearly a new one, as Frey and Osborne cite William Lee’s situation with the invention of the stocking frame knitting machine in 1589 (Frey, 2023, 6). I would loosely consider myself a proponent of automation leading to job creation and completely a proponent of utilizing automation and technology to create better, more sustainable jobs. However, I agree with the Queen's reasoning for not granting William Lee his technology patent. Keeping her subjects employed may have helped the short-term stability of the kingdom, but long-term technological advancements should undoubtedly be seen as a benefit. When the sewing machine was first patented in 1846, the mass production of garments allowed housewives and seamstresses to find employment at factories. These jobs created by technological advancement lowered the prices of garments, which increased their affordability and household income for those who chose to work in the factories (Stocks, 2021). Alternatively, Foxconn of China plans to automate 60K to 110k employees out of a job by implementing “FoxBots” (Woersdoerfer, 2023, 18). This is a case of mass unemployment due to automation, but is it really such a bad thing? The New York Times reports conditions at Foxconn facilities do not meet Amazon’s supplier code of conduct, waves of employee suicides, child labor, and unsafe working conditions (Condliffe, 2018). While an argument can be made that replacing these employees with robots could remove ethical violations, the point of discussion is that these factory jobs may be very automatable because they are generally repetitive and follow explicit instructions. Still, even when they don’t, computerization is improving at solving non-routine tasks (Frey, 2023, 15).

Robot-Proof Jobs​

While computerization may be changing the labor market, I think that many fields can avoid a complete computer takeover. Firstly, while individual jobs may be at risk, most industries will not disappear from humans. Consider farming and construction, which have technologies like tractors and excavators to help with laboring. The laborers who may have been in the field sowing seeds have been replaced by “robots”, but the farmer managing the property is completely robot-proof and likely benefiting economically from the change. I think that managers are certainly more robot-proof than the individuals below them in a corporate structure. Rather than managing just people, they may manage equipment and people who maintain equipment. As we saw in the slides, social jobs are likely safe, so I would consider most service industry and leadership jobs to be generally robot-proof (Woersdoerfer, 2023, 21). While some jobs are more robot-proof than others, I don’t think any are immune to change due to technology. I think that jobs in the creative art industry may become even more valuable because the competition of AI-generate art will push people to produce better work, and consumers may want “real” art. Finally, while an AI revolution may come for some cognitive and labor-intensive jobs, I believe that education and training improvements can help workers adapt to the constantly changing job market.

Reforms​

Technological revolutions can alleviate workers from poor conditions, like the possible implementation at Foxconn, but possibly leave thousands unemployed. The way forward is to minimize the cost of technical and public colleges to allow unemployed workers to make a career change. I would not argue for implementing UBI as a safety net because I think that the government should only provide an environment where citizens can earn a livelihood, not provide the livelihood itself. If cognitive laborers have sufficient access to education, they can robot-proof their own careers. Physical laborers are a harder group to help through reforms because you can be smarter than AI, but it is harder to be stronger than a tractor. Finally, advocating for a lifelong learning culture can help cognitive and physical laborers stay ahead of the technological revolution.

Sources:​

1. Frey, Carl Benedikt, and Michael A. Osborne. “The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?” Technological Forecasting and Social Change, vol. 114, 2017, pp. 254–280, source.
2. Admin, Stocks. “How Did the Sewing Machine Impact the Industrial Revolution?” Industrial Embroidery Machines & Sewing Equipment Suppliers, 29 Mar. 2021, soource.
3. AI and Labor Markets (Week 5) Slides, Manuel Woersdoerfer, 2023
4. Condliffe, Jamie. “Foxconn Is under Scrutiny for Worker Conditions. It’s Not the First Time.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 June 2018, source

Computer ethics​

Computer scientists follow computer ethics to provide safe, fair, and equal access to computing resources. Computer ethics are usually soft laws that should be followed to improve consumer trust. To expand on that, it would be unethical to collect data from users that could be used to harm them. This could come in the form of blackmail using leaked data or writing algorithms that implement the data in a predatory way to exploit the user. To expand on fairness and equality, users should not have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to access the software they need or be discriminated against when trying to access information or software.

Ethical Theories​

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory based solely on consequence and outcome. Actions are only determined to be right or wrong if the outcome is better for most people. Utilitarianism evaluates decisions as pleasure versus pain and tries to quantify human suffering and success. Utilitarianism can be discriminatory toward minority groups because it ignores just or fair distribution (Savulescu, 2020).

In a business context, utilitarianism is my preference. That is because it is good to appeal to most people if you are trying to sell a product (mass appeal). Utilitarianism is the best in a political environment, but I would concede that some principles from other ethical theories are also fundamental. For example, distributive justice from virtue ethics, which rewards individual merit and worth. In a democratic society, I think that utilitarianism must be the best option because providing the best for the majority in a majority-rule society should lead to the retention of power. To improve utilitarianism, I would suggest substantial minority rights to account for negative externalities.

Business Case​

Ethics must guide software professionals in their decisions because of issues like algorithmic bias, addictive app design, questionable data ownership, and poor security and protection of personally identifiable information (PII) (Lawton, 2020). Computer science professionals should create software with some intention and consequence in mind and understand the negative externalities that may arise. These issues are best solved by following Kantian ethics. With GDPR and CCPA in mind, when personal data is collected with duty in mind, businesses should collect minimal personal data and securely store and transfer sensitive information and PII. Aligned with Kantian ethics, following data privacy can make an actual difference on the ground.

Recently, fashion retailer Forever 21 suffered a data breach that exposed names, Social Security numbers, date of birth, bank account numbers, and information about Forever 21 health plans, including enrollment and premiums paid by over 500,000 individuals(Hope, 2023). On one end, if the malicious actors acted ethically, they would not have attacked their system. On the other end, if the data controllers acted with more significant duty, they could have possibly protected the users by defending against the attack. There is absolutely a business case for computer ethics, and I think data privacy is paramount to that. In the era of GDPR fines, it is economical to be ethical and follow the duty to adhere to the law. In May 2023, Meta was fined $1.3 Billion for failing to comply with GDPR (Satariano, 2023). Consumers lose trust when businesses act unethically (over-collect data, fail to make dutiful decisions). Personally speaking, I allow Meta only to collect the minimum required data to use their services. I won’t download TikTok because I have concerns about their trustworthiness regarding ethics and privacy (Gillies, 2022). In closing, companies may have more consumer trust if ethics are properly implemented in the computing industry, which could lead to a net business benefit.

References & Sources:​

1. Wörsdörfer, Manuel, Ethical Theories (Aristotelianism, Utilitarianism, Kantianism) (Supplemental Material) (Week 1)
2. Savulescu J, Persson I, Wilkinson D. Utilitarianism and the pandemic. Bioethics. 2020 Jul;34(6):620-632. doi: 10.1111/bioe.12771. PMID: 32433782; PMCID: PMC7276855.
3. Lee, Francis, et al. “Utilitarianism: Pros and Cons.” Phronesis, Eidenai OER, 1 July 2019, pressbooks.
4. Lawton, George. “5 Examples of Ethical Issues in Software Development: TechTarget.” Software Quality, TechTarget, 22 Dec. 2020, www.techtarget.com/searchsoftwarequality/tip/5-examples-of-ethical-issues-in-software-development.
5. Johnson, Robert, and Adam Cureton. “Kant’s Moral Philosophy.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 21 Jan. 2022, plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/.
6. Hope, Alicia. “Data Breach at Apparel Giant Forever 21 Impacts over 500,000 Individuals.” CPO Magazine, 5 Sept. 2023, www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/data-breach-at-apparel-giant-forever-21-impacts-over-500000-individuals/.
7. Satariano, Adam. “Meta Fined $1.3 Billion for Violating E.U. Data Privacy Rules.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 May 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/05/22/business/meta-facebook-eu-privacy-fine.html.
8. Gillies, Sierra. “TikTok’s Addictive and Unethical Algorithm.” Medium, SI 410: Ethics and Information Technology, 10 Mar. 2022, medium.com/si-410-ethics-and-information-technology/tiktoks-addictive-and-unethical-algorithm-3f44f41f1f3c.