Moral code not taught to coders
Computer coders are likely to face more ethical dilemmas as people’s trust in technology strengthens, but one expert is shocked that IT students are not being taught to uphold a moral code.
Most of New Zealand’s computer science university degrees do not include papers or courses that cover ethics.
Auckland University computer science associate professor Ian Watson, said this was a problem because the mostly 20-something-year-old, caucasian males creating apps, were making race and gender divides worse.
Their narrow world-view meant they did not consider the impact their digital creations could have on society, Watson said.
‘‘[Computer scientists] have become extremely arrogant and rather naive, and are completely overlooking what their code might end up doing.’’
Watson said students needed to appreciate the ethical implications their future jobs and creations could have on society, but that had to change.
Ethics was a problem for all software developers and their educators needed to consider teaching it, he said.
The University of Otago’s Richard O’Keefe, said he never struggled to find real life ethical issues to use as examples.
He said it was obvious to students that leaking someone’s financial details online was wrong.
But he worried that most of his students would become workers not managers, and if their future boss told them to do something unethical, they would do it.
O’Keefe said he taught his students that the key to being ethical was to be modest about their skills and to check their work.
‘‘It boils down to noticing what you are doing and thinking about it.’’