Encarnacion, Ma. Micah R.

4CSB-ICS200

The significance of Ethics in IT is that it helps the developers to be mindful of the

softwares they create. It must not only be entertaining, but should also bring common good to

all. Ethics also played a part in the decrease of demand and re-emergence of Artificial

Intelligence (AI) in the technology world. Since the computer scientists focused on ethics of

computing, they have moved away from AI for a while, and the AI Winter ensued until it was re-

instated eventually. During those times when the development of AI momentarily stopped and

the Ethics of computing boomed, the developers must have been more aware of how the AI

should work how to make AI more humane. And, that is through having the same ethics as

people. In Prof. John V. Weckert, Ph. D.s concluding statement, he said that The consideration

of AI and robots can shed light on what it is to be human. This must mean that these AIs and

robots could act more human as the breathing ones by behaving more like a person. Some AIs

are programmed to be better than humans. Adding ethics and morals to it will make it a perfect

creature closest to how a real person is. IT, in the AI field, depends on Ethics to be perfect to

be better than most, if not all, humans. Ethics, moreover, depends on IT by training the robots to

teach humans how they should behave and be more human-like.

As a student, Ethics, in the sense of going Back to the Beginning, brings more ideas for

the future projects that we would face, in and out of school, especially now that we are

preparing to face the business world, without the guidance of any teachers or professors, but

only ourselves. This will also help students who are interested in the field of artificial intelligence

to incorporate not just emotions or speech to it, but also a heart that is as good as that of a

person, if not better.

There are many key points that are highlighted in the seminar by Prof. Weckert. Here

are five of them, and how they influence my life as a student and can affect my life as a worker

in the near future.

 professional issues
The discussion about professional issues is very timely for fourth year students,

like myself. This topic should be kept in our minds (and hearts) so that we will not

commit any of these crimes that will cause harm not only to us and our careers, but

also, to the institution where we are a part of the university as a student, and the

company when we become employees. The first professional issue tackled was

accountability of computing professionals for software failures. The software should

undergo many times of testing and with different stakeholders so that any bugs can be

seen and fixed right away before it should be publicized or used by the intended users.

The second professional issue discussed is intellectual property. If an application is

developed by yourself, take credit for it, but do not be boastful and prideful if it happened

to be famous and become the money-maker of the company you work in. In such a case

when you are not the one who developed the program, do not be a credit grabber.

Instead, the person who developed the application shall become his co-employees

inspiration to try harder and develop better applications in the future. There is also the

issue of privacy of data. This happens in the corporate world, thats why companies

today have their employees sign a non-disclosure agreement. The data of one company,

especially if confidential, should not be shared with anyone outside of the company.

What happens inside the premises of the company, shall remain just that.
social issues
Some professional issues also fall under social issues such as data privacy and

intellectual property. Other social issues are as follows: internet censorship, monitoring

and surveillance, cybercrime, and cyber warfare. These all should be avoided both in the

university and the company during school days and working days, respectively. All of

these brings no good to anyone, and in turn should not be done, to preserve common

good.
strong and weak AI
 Before, strong AI was the artificial intelligence that is built to act like a person.

Today, strong AI is the true AI where super intelligence exists. Weak AI, then, was made

so that problems can be solved intelligently. Now, weak AI is just AI. This distinction

between strong and weak AI become bigger, their gap getting wider. Time will come,

humans will be hard to distinguish from robots which will think, speak, act, and behave

like a real person. This will be an inspiration for programmers/developers that are being

moulded today in school. This can also be a good way for business start-ups that can be

a choice for group of batchmates that would like to build their own companies.
criticisms against AI
AI before was criticized for being impossible, harmful, and dangerous.

However, people who tell that AI is impossible learn only the false assumptions against

it. AI is harmful if not regulated. Strong AIs works like a human. Humans are harmful in

many ways, but those can be stopped by the rules that should be strictly enforced. Weak

AI is harmful and dangerous for who will be responsible if an AI fails to do what it was

supposed to do? Moreover, what if an AI doctor gives the wrong advice to the wrong

person? Who will be responsible for it? That is what we should learn from this keypoint

from the seminar. AIs should be made with extreme caution and should be checked

often for irregularities that might harm the society. If an AI failed to do a minor task, it

should be pulled out quickly so it wont do a bigger harm to the real humans.
weighing of risks against benefits
Criticisms against weak AI have some force but the risks should be weighed

against its benefits. As long as an AI works for the benefit of the people, they criticisms

should be kept in a minimum. It is also applicable to real-world applications. The pros

and cons of an event or an object should be weighed down so that the choice we make

will be the best for us. We should know if the things we do, we fight for, and we build is

worth it. If its not, then we should focus on something that will benefit us more than the
ones we are currently doing that might not have been doing us any harm, but, also, not

pushing us forward.