Interim Report for Engineering Ethics and Emerging Technologies
Interim Report for Engineering Ethics and Emerging Technologies
From the beginning of human civilization till present date, new innovations and technologies are introduced into the society to improve existing lifestyle or operation methods. However, as we approach the pinnacle of what current technologies allows us to research on, the rate at which new technologies are surfacing is gradually decreasing. Therefore, researchers and engineers began working on existing technologies for further improvement. One branch of emerging technology will be convergence. Convergence technologies are the combination of technologies from absolutely different systems, which ultimately work towards a common goal. One example would be the convergence of telephony and video recording to produce what we call now ‘Facetime’ videoconferences using handheld devices.
When there is a discovery of a new innovation, the idea of profit maximization comes into the picture and that is where the issue of engineering ethics arises.
• Whether one should implement this for profit at the expense of another?
• Whether one could have done better to further prevent/improve a certain aspect of the topic of discussion?
• Whether enough considerations have being carried out comprehensively to weigh between the disadvantage and advantages of the issue?
As such, we will be looking into few case studies, which involves emerging technologies, which do not only affect present status but also further generations and therefore a need for ethical evaluation for its introduction into the society.
In Vitro Meat
In vitro or lab-grown meat is animal flesh, except it never was part of a living animal. Initially researched by NASA for use on long space voyages, it uses “stem cells harvested from leftover animal material from slaughterhouses, fed with all other nutrients they need to grow in the right way.” (Kelland, 2011) Scientists claim in vitro meat as “slaughter-free meat that is healthier and free
From the beginning of human civilization till present date, new innovations and technologies are introduced into the society to improve existing lifestyle or operation methods. However, as we approach the pinnacle of what current technologies allows us to research on, the rate at which new technologies are surfacing is gradually decreasing. Therefore, researchers and engineers began working on existing technologies for further improvement. One branch of emerging technology will be convergence. Convergence technologies are the combination of technologies from absolutely different systems, which ultimately work towards a common goal. One example would be the convergence of telephony and video recording to produce what we call now ‘Facetime’ videoconferences using handheld devices.
When there is a discovery of a new innovation, the idea of profit maximization comes into the picture and that is where the issue of engineering ethics arises.
• Whether one should implement this for profit at the expense of another?
• Whether one could have done better to further prevent/improve a certain aspect of the topic of discussion?
• Whether enough considerations have being carried out comprehensively to weigh between the disadvantage and advantages of the issue?
As such, we will be looking into few case studies, which involves emerging technologies, which do not only affect present status but also further generations and therefore a need for ethical evaluation for its introduction into the society.
In Vitro Meat
In vitro or lab-grown meat is animal flesh, except it never was part of a living animal. Initially researched by NASA for use on long space voyages, it uses “stem cells harvested from leftover animal material from slaughterhouses, fed with all other nutrients they need to grow in the right way.” (Kelland, 2011) Scientists claim in vitro meat as “slaughter-free meat that is healthier and free
References: We will refer to our textbooks, the internet and NUS eLibrary resources for case studies of similar ilk to our issues so as to help us in applying ethical theories to them. Since these emerging technologies have global impacts and are being actively discussed by the United Nations and its subsidiaries such as the WHO, materials published by these organisations either online or in journals will be our primary source of facts and discussions basis.