22 episodes
DigEthix: Digital Ethics Today DigEthix
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- Society & Culture
With academics and industry experts, we create conversations around technology and ethics on topics like privacy, research practices, disparities in healthcare, cryptography, and more. Episodes go live the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month. Hosted by Seth Villegas
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21: Trust and Safety Communication Technologies with Ryan Mayfield
What are safety technologies? How do we best utilize our resources in order to prevent tragedies? How does a crisis affect the process of consent?
Ryan Mayfield is the director of strategy at Live Safe, a mobile safety application company looking to connect individuals and safety officials in order to build better communities. Ryan is an expert in safety communications and user engagement, with experience in industry, government, and academia. Together with the Social Computing Systems (SALT) Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he helped publish the first-ever study of safety communications using anonymized user data. A graduate of Stanford University, Ryan remains affiliated with the Stanford University Peace Innovation Lab.
Potentially Helpful Links:
Dave Ropeik book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7122765-how-risky-is-it-really
911 rollout - https://www.nena.org/page/911overviewfacts
Text-to-911 - https://www.911.gov/issue_textto911.html
Contact us:
digethix.org
facebook.com/digethix
twitter.com/digethix
instagram.com/digethixfuture
EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org
Credits:
Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com
Edits: Julia Brukx
Episode art: Julia Donohue -
20: Exploring Ethical Problems through Stories with After Dinner Conversation
After Dinner Conversation is online ethics magazine and podcast. We discuss the role of stories in exploring ethical situations and how the magazine uses discussion questions to prompt discussion.
How do you personally navigate situations in which you can’t tell immediately if a decision will be right or wrong? In what situations do you find yourself unsure of what choice to make? How has technology impacted the situations that you find yourself feeling this way?
Potentially helpful links:
Magazine: https://www.afterdinnerconversation.com/
Star Trek episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_That_Be_Your_Last_Battlefield
Aristotle’s criticisms of democracy: https://fs.blog/aristotles-politics/
Contact us:
digethix.org
facebook.com/digethix
twitter.com/digethix
instagram.com/digethixfuture
EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org
Credits:
Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com
Edits: Julia Brukx
Episode art: Nicole Smith -
19: Videogames and Positive Ethical Formation with Benjamin Chicka
Dr. Benjamin Chicka has a PhD in Religion from Claremont Graduate University. He currently serves as a lecturer of philosophy and religion at Curry College. He is the author of the book, Playing as Others, which will be the main topic of our conversation today. He is interested in how video games can be used as a source of positive ethical formation, leading people to eventually act more empathetically in society at large, particularly towards people who have been historically marginalized.
Key questions: how do we learn to act ethically? What tools do we have to train ourselves in the direction that we hope to go? Should videogames be a part of this formation strategy or are they merely diversions?
Potentially helpful links:
Book: https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481315463/playing-as-others/
Gamergate info: https://www.vox.com/2014/9/6/6111065/gamergate-explained-everybody-fighting
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/14/the-only-guide-to-gamergate-you-will-ever-need-to-read/
Forums/video game communities
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2013/jul/31/gamer-communities-positive-side-twitter
Papers please
https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2013/11/10/244413539/papers-please-puts-your-loyalty-sympathy-to-the-test
Exploitation in the video game industry
https://time.com/5603329/e3-video-game-creators-union/
Contact us:
digethix.org
facebook.com/digethix
twitter.com/digethix
instagram.com/digethixfuture
EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org
Credits:
Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com
Edits: Julia Brukx
Episode art: Julia Donohue -
18: Ethical Leadership in Business and Life with Willys DeVoll
Willys DeVoll is a professional writer and co-author of the book, Leadership is a Relationship: How to Put People First in the Digital World, with Michael S. Erwin. Willys is the founder of Will Digital, a writing and design agency. As an expert at the intersection of language and technology, he’s spoken at a wide range of industry conferences and on podcasts. Willys earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Stanford University, where he studied English and philosophy.
Willys helps us to think about the following questions: What traits make for an effective leader today? How can we build authentic relationships in our increasingly technology mediated world? Is it necessary to squeeze every ounce of productivity out of ourselves?
More information on Willys and the Book:
https://www.leadershipisarelationship.com/
https://willysdevoll.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdevoll/
https://twitter.com/willysdevoll
Potentially Helpful Links
McDonald Conference for Leaders and Character https://www.westpoint.edu/leadership-center/mcdonald-leadership-conference#:~:text=The%20mission%20of%20the%20McDonald,skills%2C%20fosters%20critical%20thinking%20and
Post-covid workplace https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/the-future-of-work-after-covid-19#
Crossfit info: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/crossfit-ceo-steps-down-after-inflammatory-george-floyd-comments-n1228941
Chandler Smith and Noah Olsen https://barbend.com/noah-ohlsen-chandler-smith-withdraw-2020-crossfit-games/
Contact us:
digethix.org
facebook.com/digethix
twitter.com/digethix
instagram.com/digethixfuture
EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org
Credits:
Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com
Edits: Julia Brukx
Episode art: Julia Donohue -
17: Biohacking, Implants, and DIY Science with Jacob Boss
The main topic we will be discussing together is Jacob Boss’s research on transhumanism. Transhumanism is a movement of people dedicated to using technology to transform humanity and to radically change the human condition. Jacob’s specific area of research is on a group of transhumanists known as Grinders. This group is highly interested in body modification through do-it-yourself science and technology.
Jacob Boss is a doctoral candidate in Religious Studies at Indiana University. Jacob teaches widely, serving as instructor of record or associate instructor in the Departments of Religious Studies, Informatics, and the Collins Living-Learning Center. He is an editorial assistant for the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, and the co-founder of the Human Augmentation Research Network, hosted by the Center for Religion and the Human at Indiana University. He is a part of the Human Enhancement and Transhumanism unit of the American Academy of Religion.
The key questions for this episode are: What does it mean to have body autonomy in an era of powerful technology? How will our ideas of self-expression change? How are grassroots movements like the grinders related to more corporatized movements within transhumanism itself? How far should we go in pursuit of new technologies that may relieve our pains and illnesses?
About Jacob:
https://religiousstudies.indiana.edu/about/graduate-students/boss-jacob.html
https://twitter.com/jaarboss
Potentially helpful links:
https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/the-anatomy-riot-of-1788
https://www.wired.com/story/this-diy-implant-lets-you-stream-movies-from-inside-your-leg/
https://www.wired.com/2010/12/transcending-the-human-diy-style/
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46442519
https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2020/10/06/a-very-kind-conversation-between-a-cyborg-and-some-biohackers/
Contact us:
digethix.org
facebook.com/digethix
twitter.com/digethix
instagram.com/digethixfuture
EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org
Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com -
16: The Case for the Non-Profit Technology Company with Rubén Mancha
Seth speaks with Dr. Rubén Mancha about developing more ethical business models and about the potential for a non-profit technology company. Rubén is an assistant professor of information technology at Babson College and an advisor to entrepreneurs and organizations. Rubén researches the social impact of digital technologies and digital business models, their potential for good, and the responsible digital transformation of businesses. He also acts as one of the advisors for the podcast.
The key questions for this episode are: 1) Why is data valuable to businesses? 2) How can we best negotiate data sharing, data capture, and data privacy 3) Can non-profit technology companies succeed in the current marketplace?
Potentially Helpful Links:
https://www.whoop.com/privacy/whoop-privacy-principles/
http://www.rideaustin.com/
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection_en
Rubén's articles (may need access):
Whoop article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2515127420975181
Wells Fargo article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681317301581
Article with David Nersessian and John Marthinsen: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/SRJ-09-2020-0386/full/html
Contact us:
digethix.org
facebook.com/digethix
twitter.com/digethix
instagram.com/digethixfuture
EMAIL: digethix@mindandculture.org
Music: "Dreams" from Bensound.com