Technology & Ethics

Chairperson:
Wendell Wallach,
Lecturer, Yale College; Scholar, Bioethics Center
This group meets on Wednesdays at 77 Prospect St, room B012, from 4:15-6:15 PM, unless otherwise noted. Supper will be provided with RSVP. To subscribe to the mailing list for this group, please visit http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/techethics.
2012-2013 Schedule
September 12 Joseph Rosenbaum, Partner & Global Chair, Advertising Technology & Media Law Practice, Reed Smith
Social and Mobile and Clouds, Oh My! The legal implication of social media
October 3 David Ropeik, Author and Consultant, Ropeik & Associates
The Risk Perception Gap:
Why We Get Risk “Wrong”, and Ideas for Dealing With This Unique Risk
October 10 Danah Boyd, Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research
Privacy and Ethics in Big Data Research
November 7* Adina Roskies, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Dartmouth College
Brain scans in the courtroom: Rethinking the threat
MONDAY December 10 Special Panel Discussion (click below for poster)
Terminating the Terminator:
A Proposal for an Executive Order Limiting the Development of Autonomous Killing Machines
Click here to be taken to a video of this discussion.
(Caveat - sound is not very loud)
December 12 Ellen Matloff, Research Scientist in the Department of Genetics, and Director of Cancer Genetic Counseling, Yale Cancer Center/Yale School of Medicine
Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: Helpful, Harmful or Pure Entertainment?
January 23 Gualberto Ruaño, President and CEO, Genomas Inc.
Director of Genetics Research, Hartford Hospital
Personalizing Public Health: the Ethical Practice of Personalized Medicine
February 6 Gregory Kaebnick, Research Scholar, The Hastings Center, and Editor of the Hastings Center Report
Toward Just and Prudent Implementation of Synthetic Biology
April 10 David Keith, Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University
Geoengineering
April 24 Andrew Light, Director, International Climate Policy, Center for American Progress, and Director, Center for Global Ethics, George Mason University
The Ethics and Governance of Geoengineering
May 1 Natasha Vita-More, University Lecturer and Producer/Host H+TV
Contested Culture of Radical Life Extension: Divergent Models & Design Options
*This meeting will take place at Yale Law School, 127 Wall St, room 129.
RSVP to wendell.wallach@yale.edu if you wish to attend.
The Technology and Ethics study group examines crucial societal, ethical, and public policy questions arising from the adoption of new technologies. Areas of interest include the benefits and ethical challenges posed by genomics, synthetic biology and artificial life, nanotechnology, neuropharmacology, neuroprosthetics and bionics, stem cell research, telemedicine, radical life extension, cryonics, information technology, virtual reality and augmented reality, ubiquitous and pervasive computing, and artificial intelligence.
The group has considered what defines being "human" or "intelligent"; moral
responsibility for those who design, develop, and deploy new technologies; changes in
how society will function under the impact of new technologies; risk assessment; the
ramifications of bodily, mental, social, and physical enhancements; and whether computers
and robots can be intelligent, show emotions, be conscious, be alive, or make
moral decisions. Indeed, the Technology and Ethics working group was seminal in the
development of the new field of research known as machine ethics.
The membership of the group is eclectic, and in addition to faculty and students at Yale,
includes faculty and professionals from throughout the region. The group has served to
enrich the expertise of members who have developed reputations as authorities in
medical informatics, research ethics, machine ethics, and the ethical challenges of
technologies that enhance human faculties. At least three courses taught at Yale have
been inspired by the group, as well as a yearly seminar on Technology and Ethics for
interns of the Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics' internationally recognized summer
program.
The Technology and Ethics study group was founded in the spring of 2002. In the fall of 2002 the study group began inviting speakers for an extended presentation and discussion with the group. Many of these speakers comment on how the opportunity has significantly deepened their understanding of the topics they are researching and of the social and ethical ramifications of their work.
Technology and Ethics Chair
Wendell Wallach
2011-2012 Schedule
2010-2011 Schedule
2009-2010 Schedule
2008-2009 Schedule
This page translated into Catalan by David Leoney: http://www.fatcow.com/edu/yale-bioethics-ca/

