Recently the computing and ethics communities have come to realize that computing ethics (a topic of interest to ACM since the 1950s) is more complicated than we thought, and that there are a wide range of ethical challenges prompted by recent innovations. Algorithms may have unintended biases, with considerable social impact. Autonomous vehicles have to make ethical decisions (whether to protect the pedestrian or the passenger) formerly left to human drivers. Seemingly harmless research experiments on computing systems can harm humans. Panelists will explore how we can address these issues, especially in a world where we push to deliver systems and products at an ever-quicker pace.

Panelists

Deirdre K. Mulligan, University of California, Berkeley (Moderator); Jennifer T. Chayes, Microsoft Research; Helen Nissenbaum, Cornell Tech and New York University; Raj Reddy (1994 Turing Laureate), Carnegie Mellon University; and Noel Sharkey, University of Sheffield and Foundation for Responsible Robotics