Question

Moral and ethical issues are one of the more challenging issues associated with the fourth industrial revolution. Identify three moral/ethical issue related to IR-4, and propose a solution for resolving them (120 words)

Answer 1

Identify three moral/ethical issue related to IR-4, and propose a solution for resolving them.

There three norms of ethical issue related to IR-4 (Fourth Industrial Revolution)

1. Should the technology be developed in the first place?

This question, for example, is now being asked with regard to a possible ban on autonomous lethal weapons, or militarized robots. To date, there is no record of a lethal autonomous weapon picking its own target and destroying it, without humans being involved in the decision-making. However, many experts see this prospect materializing in the near future, unless a worldwide ban is instituted soon.

2. If a technology is going to proceed, to what ends should it be deployed?

During the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there will be a wide variety of so-called human enhancements on offer. Some will focus on eliminating diseases; others may extend human capacities we wish to promote or reduce, such as greater athletic ability, greater memory, or less aggressive behavior. Rather than making endorsements or prohibitions about enhancements in general, each type should be considered on a case-by-case basis in terms of how likely it is to advance, or diminish, human flourishing.

3. If the technology is to go forward, how should it proceed?

It matters how a technology is researched and how it enters the world. For example, The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in the United States recently issued a landmark report that takes a precautionary approach to the use of gene drives. Gene drives are technologies, which in combination with CRISPR Cas9 gene editing, can exponentially increase the prevalence of specific genetic elements in a whole population of certain kinds of wild plants or animals. Right now, for example, gene drives are being considered as a way of controlling, or even eradicating, mosquitoes that are disease vectors for human illnesses, like malaria and Zika. The National Academies’ report encourages the development of gene drive technology, but calls for carefully paced research, first in laboratory settings and small field studies, before engineered organisms are released into the wild.

So here the resolving issue for these questions beacuse the facts are not sufficent.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has brought us enormous powers. Now we must use them wisely. Governance, which will take many forms, must involve the public as well as experts. And, whatever forms it takes, we should anticipate at least four critical questions that need to be answered, no matter the technology sector. In answering those questions, we will need deliberate, thoughtful conversations about values that are often hard to reconcile.Safety is perhaps the least controversial value. Most of us around the globe believe that there is an obligation to reduce the likelihood that individuals will be harmed by new technologies. Indeed, the primary responsibility of most existing regulatory bodies is to promote safety. But there are other very important values at stake, and they are often given short shrift. First, we should commit to equity to doing all that is possible to ensure that all people, regardless of their economic means, will have access to technology’s benefits.