Technology Ethics Book Launch

On 26 February 2019, Dr. Nicoletta Iacobacci, Global Ethics Officer and Adjunct Professor in the MA in Communications Management program at Webster Geneva Campus, celebrated the launch of her new book exploring the ethical challenges surrounding the use of the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence and robots.

Iacobacci was joined at the Swiss Press Club by journalist, editor and lecturer, Katharina Sand and Dr. Sarah Grosso, Professor and Researcher, Media Communications Department, Webster Geneva Campus.

During the presentation, Iacobacci stressed the urgency of asking ourselves fundamental ethical questions about the implication of the exponentially growing new technologies.

If these questions are urgent, it is because new technologies such as AI and reprogenetics have a profound impact on society and touch at the core of what it means to be human. As and when it becomes possible to edit our DNA or our memories, is it desirable and right for us to do so? Does it reduce the value of creativity, a fundamentally human pursuit, if AI is developed to produce art? How can these technologies be developed to maximise the benefits, whilst minimising the risks?

These new technologies — including AI-generated writing that is difficult to distinguish from writing produced by humans — shape the environment in which media and communication professionals work. Consequently, Iacobacci and Grosso also discussed the need to integrate these ethical considerations into their teaching as a way to prepare future professionals and to equip students with the media literacy skills necessary in the 21st century.

The event was co-sponsored by the Media Communications Department, Webster Geneva Campus. A live stream of the event is available here. Iacobacci’s book, Exponential Ethics, is available on here. More information about the MA in Communications Management can be found here.