Technology Ethics | Value Sensitive Design for Artificial Intelligence | Steven Umbrello | Episode 3

In this episode Steven talks of Value Sensitive Design to create technology for good. Value Sensitive Design takes value - particularly moral values as its main facet. 👾💻☺️

Steven is Managing Director at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. Currently, his main area of research centres on Value Sensitive Design (VSD), its philosophical foundation as well as its potential application to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and Industry 4.0.

Introduction:

Now is an exciting time to be alive. Progress is on the horizon for many. Exponential technology and the acceleration of breakthrough science provides hope and an opportunity for all life on this planet to benefit.

But for that to be possible, we need to ensure that specific guidelines and principles are written into the development of new technology from the outset, so that each technology meets the criteria to do good, not harm.

Technologies cannot simply be understood as neutral tools or instruments; they embody the values of their creators and may unconsciously reinforce systematic patterns of inequality, discrimination, and oppression.

We need technologies that solve 21st Century Challenges to Move the human story forward for everyone, improving all life of this planet! A development framework is necessary to do so.

And that framework is specific design principles which are tailored for the development of each of these exponential technologies.

ideaXme Thought Bites are a different way to engage with ideaXme.

Presented by the world's leading subject matter experts, often academics, they are deep dives into the issues and ideas that shape our world.

Steven Umbrello, MSc, PhD:

Steven studied Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto (Hons. BA), Epistemology, Ethics and Mind at the University of Edinburgh (MSc) and Science and Technology Studies at York University (MA). I completed my Ph.D. on the ethics and design of military AI at the Northwestern Italian Philosophy Consortium.

Additionally, he served as a junior associate at the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute from 2013 to 2018, where my primary research and authorship was on atomically precise manufacturing (APM) and other nanotechnology. He was previously a researcher at the Bruno Kessler Foundation in 2023, working on the ethics of generative AI as well as a Stiftung Südtiroler Sparkasse Global Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies at Eurac Research. Similarly, he is currently an expert consultant at Ethical Intelligence Associates Ltd., where I provide consultancy for companies to gain a competitive edge by mitigating ethical risks and formulating custom tools and protocols to embed ethics into their practices that align with current ethical guidelines and company values.

Currently, his main area of research revolves around Value Sensitive Design (VSD), its philosophical foundation as well as its potential application to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Steven's links:

@TheBBCorpsstevenumbrello

Want to create an ideaXme Thought Bite?

ideaXme Thought Bites are conducted by recognised subject matter experts - often academics and are a deep dive into the subject and issues which shape our world.

Voice over for ideaXme introduction: Neil Koenig former Senior BBC producer and journalist and current ideaXme board advisor and guest interviewer.

ideaXme is a global network - podcast on 12 platforms, 40 countries, mentor programme and creator series. Mission: To share knowledge of the future. Our passion: Rich Connectedness™!