All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace Summary 3t5g60

Kayla Fadden Loving Grace

Summary of All Watched Over by Machines of

As more jobs that were once performed by humans, or not at all, are now being achieved by machines and their algorithms, more ethical concerns are beginning to arise as well. One of the oldest ethical issues originally posed by Phillipa Foot regards the double effect doctrine which investigates whether it is acceptable to commit a harmful act if it is for a good result; do the ends justify the means? This classic ethical problem is one that, if an algorithm were to evaluate and ‘decide’ a best course of action, it would not make the morally acceptable choice because “algorithms are essentially thoughtless. They model certain decision flows, but once you run them, no more thought occurs.” Where humans can make the distinction that killing one to save five is not an ethically sound decision, algorithms do not have a “‘moral center; they have no sense of right or wrong; they cannot take responsibility for their consequences.’” With more machines taking on a sophisticated role in society, how can the creators of such algorithms instill a sense of thoughtfulness in something that is entirely thoughtless? Algorithms may not have the ability to think, but still someone must be held responsible for the actions of these machines. Devices are being made to perform jobs that make human life easier, but there is a lack of “‘awareness of and consideration for the failure modes, the edge cases, and the worst case scenarios.’” Creating an algorithm to solve a problem’s best-case-scenario is simple, but considering every potential ethical conundrum a machine may come across and programming a solution to said problem is nearly impossible. Just because ethical humans create these machines does not mean they should be so innately trusted to make morally just choices. There are cases where a “bot has purchased cigarettes, counterfeit branded clothing, master keys, and drugs”, which were mainly illegal purchases. Even Google, a widely known company, has been sued for defamation of character due to their page ranking algorithm associating Albert Yeung’s name with criminal gangs. Though no one at Google said anything construed as hurtful toward Yeung’s reputation, the company is responsible for the actions of their algorithms. As machines become more advanced and their algorithms serve more essential roles in everyday life, the creator’s responsibility to program a sense of morality increases drastically. Humans have been imagining a world of machines long before the creation of the computer or the Internet. Richard Brautigan wrote a poem in 1967 speaking of a “cybernetic ecology” where humans have machines to watch over them and work for them. Brautigan’s poem accurately predicted life today where jobs are constantly being surrendered to cheaper, faster, and more efficient machines; but some situations require more than the unmerciful, black and white, decision making that machines are programmed to do. In the field of computing, it is easy to make choices that lack the comion and emotions that humans possess because algorithms make decisions strictly based on rules and laws. Software professionals must keep a sense of comion and morality while programming as “we slowly and inevitably and irreversibly surrender to these machines of our own creation”. Dr. P Drexel

1 9/6/16

Kayla Fadden Loving Grace

Dr. P Drexel

Summary of All Watched Over by Machines of

1 9/6/16