On engineering ethics

The world today is a heavily diven by technology. Over the past few decades, technology, particularly computers and smartphones have pervaded every aspects of our lives. Behind all this tech are engineers designing hardware, building systems and writing code among other things. Considering the impact that engineers have on the world today - are there ethical rules that engineers should learn to live by?

During my undergraduate study in India, we had as part of our engineering syllabus around four hours dedicated to engineering ethics. This was coupled along with a common course that involved teaching us about the Consitution of India. I looked up the syllabus again and the ethics section is described as below,

• Scope & Aims of Engineering Ethics, Responsibility of Engineers, Impediments to Responsibility
• Risks, Safety and liability of Engineers, Honesty, Integrity & Reliability in Engineering

Here are some cases where I believe engineering ethics would help.

1. Designing devices that are planned for obsolescence. This only generates more waste, is inefficient and harmful for the environment. Should an ethical engineer refused to do so?
2. Designing adware, bloatware and tracking software that consume a lot of system power, slow down loading internet pages and infringe on the privacy of users. How can the ethical engineer handle the clear conflict of interest between their corporation employers versus their end users?
3. Use of and switching to resource intensive tech such as LLMs when they are clearly not necessary.
4. Writing bait and switch style UI/UX for increasing clicks and sales.
5. Implementing addictive algorithms to increase engagement.

There are of course bad actors in every system. But I think that a good enginner should,

• consider the full ramifications of what they built
• consider how it will be used by individuals and corporations
• be able to identify unethical aspects if any
• do something about it

A good framework of enginneering ethics should also include a section on whistleblowing.

With great techonology comes great power, with great power comes great responsibility.