Tech Ethics: What is a Better Future?

What is the good life? What does that mean for you personally, and in society overall, in a world defined by technology and innovation? How do we define and measure worthwhile progress? Who prospers and who gets hurt? What should we hope for and what ventures and inventions should we create based on those hopes? What do we do when technology risks raise significant concerns? This course will address these and other core questions alongside insights from technologists, religious leaders, innovators, and ethicists throughout history. The course begins by asking together the core questions necessary to form a personal vision of what a good life and collective future looks like. We will then address specific technological questions, surveying their risks and promise in forming the good future that we seek. Such technologies address artificial intelligence, bioinnovation (genetic engineering and brain-human interfaces), energy and climate, social media, weapons and war, space exploration, and more. We will also explore what it looks like to form a good team and a good company to create this good future and how such a future impacts our career choices. This course is neither triumphalist nor defeatist about innovation; instead, we will sit with the questions, test their assumptions, reflect on ancient wisdom, and debate all sides in pursuit of a better future “Not For Oneself, But For One’s Own.”