Computer Ethics

Questions for Automation and Utopia, chap. 4

Christopher L. Holland

Saint Louis University

September 12, 2024

  1. Do automating technologies pose a threat to your preferred theory of well-being? (If you did not agree on a theory for question one, take a vote on which theory to use for this question and make sure to include the name of the theory in your answer.) (Answer in at least 150 words.)

(2) The widespread availability of automating technologies severs the significant connection between what humans do and what happens to them and the world around them.

  1. Do you agree with premise two of the severance problem? Why or why not? Answer in 150–300 words. Your answer must (1) refer to specific technologies and (2) classify each technology you discuss as an enhancing, complementary, or competitive artifact.

(5) Automating technologies (a) undermine our capacity to pay attention for extended periods and (b) focus our attention on the wrong things.

  1. Do you agree with premise 5? Why or why not? Answer in 50–150 words. Your answer must (1) refer to specific technologies and (2) classify each technology you discuss as an enhancing, complementary, or competitive artifact.

(8) Automating technologies make the natural and the social worlds more opaque.

  1. Do you agree with premise 8? Why or why not? Answer in 50–150 words. Your answer must (1) refer to specific technologies and (2) classify each technology you discuss as an enhancing, complementary, or competitive artifact.

(11) Automating technologies undermine the capacity for individual autonomy.

  1. Do you agree with premise 11? Why or why not? Answer in 50–150 words. Your answer must (1) refer to specific technologies and (2) classify each technology you discuss as an enhancing, complementary, or competitive artifact.
  1. Are all ICTs value neutral? If not, describe at least one ICT that is not value-neutral (25–75 words.)