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How about - go on the political offensive to have *tech* people realize why they should care about things like this Because seriously, if we had a coher
by nonrandomstring 3y ago
How about
- go on the political offensive to have *tech* people realize why
they should care about things like this
Because seriously, if we had a coherent, coordinated (unionised?)
consensus about reasonable limits on the use of technology then a
widespread refusal to implement technological tyranny would be highly
effective.
The worry that it "only takes a few defectors who will sell out for
the money" is valid, but in reality I don't think things would be
workable if 60%-80% of capable engineers simply wouldn't build, test,
maintain or work with proscribed "fascist technologies".
- FredPret 3y agoI won't join a union, and neither would most other engineers; but I love the idea of a professional body with some ideals and standards.
- nonrandomstring 3y agoIn Britain there is the BCS [0] Without advocating for them I'll just say that I came to this forum a little over a year ago with the intention of researching ethics and development. As I near writing some conclusions I feel they're one of the few organisations I see consistently putting emphasis on ethics and I am thinking of joining for that reason. Something along the lines of a Hippocratic Oath is needed. Notwithstanding the complexities of intent, misuse and side-effects I increasingly think it is possible for hackers to consistently adopt a "I will do no harm to others and society" credo. Sometimes just making it plain to an employer that you belong to a professional body whose ethics code would prohibit you from working on unconscionable tech is powerful - not least that it would afford you some protections under employment law if they threaten to fire you. At least that applies in other areas of medicine and engineering. [0] https://www.bcs.org/ https://www.bcs.org/