Machine (Technology) Ethics: The Theoretical and Philosophical Paradigms

At the foundational level, for computer programmers, the code that programmers build and built into, are based on instructions, and the purpose of the program it later services. But computers do not have their own discretion beyond what humans incorporate into such systems and are essentially limited only to the extent its writer chooses. However, ABET to date, does not provide assurance or require accredited colleges and universities programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology to take ethics courses or offer ethics courses nor train graduates in ethics. Yet, graduates, who then become practitioners, and ethical agents, are expected to be ethical agents. Hence, the purpose of this article is on machine ethics, specifically, on the theoretical and philosophical meaning of ethics—different types of ethics and utilitarianism. In addition to exploring the theoretical and philosophical paradigm of ethics, technology will be defined, in relations to machine ethics.