The seminar on 17 December was part of a series of ethics seminars organised by the Council for Educational Development at the Faculty of Science and Technology (TUR) since 2016. The purpose of the series is to arouse interest, educate and support teachers who want to discuss ethical aspects of the courses they teach or programs they are responsible for.
At the December seminar, some 60 people listened to the archbishop's reflections, one of the messages being that we should try to think about ethics before problems arise. Laws and guidelines are needed, but also deeper ethical considerations. The goal is not a society where people only follow rules, but one where people can cope with situations for which there are no rules.
Course in engineering ethics
This is also in line with the thinking of Thomas Lennerfors, Professor of Industrial Engineering, who co-arranged the seminar with TUR. He has previously been responsible for the course in engineering ethics at the Master's Programme in Industrial Management and Innovation. There the course is compulsory as well as at the Bachelor's Programme in Mechanical Engineering. At the Bachelor's Programme in Construction Engineering, it is elective.
"It is important that we think about ethical aspects as we generate new knowledge and new technical solutions," says Thomas Lennerfors. “Moreover, I found it exciting that the Archbishop brought up how we can look at what we cannot know. The question is how what goes beyond our knowledge can be included in the ethical decision models that make ethics practically useful to engineers.”
During the course in engineering ethics, engineering students are trained to handle ethical dilemmas and make decisions using models, application exercises and impact assessments for their future professional roles.
"But you can say that none of those tools will work to find the perfect solution," continues Thomas Lennerfors. “Instead, they lead to the discovery of conflicts that we cannot escape. You’ll end up at a position where you’re breaking certain values that you think are important, while following others. But by using the tools to think the issue through properly, you gain a deeper understanding of the different consequences and values at stake.”
What ethical dilemmas may engineering students face?
"It depends somewhat on their subject area, but much is about looking at how new technologies, new materials, and new ways of working affect people and the environment, compared to what we have today," says Thomas Lennerfors. “How, for example, would it affect students, teachers, and the university if artificial intelligence were to be used to select the most suitable students to start a particular education, instead of assessing them on their formal merits?”
"In the past, you might have thought that a new product would be satisfactory if the consumer thinks it's good. But now the product must be good for several different stakeholders in terms of, for example, the environment and climate. The concept of sustainability has also been broadened to include issues of social conditions, the economy and so on.”
Risk of both discrimination and idealisation
The ethics seminar also discussed the role that artificial intelligence will play in society. One classic problem is that machine learning is development of computer programs from historical data, which can lead to discrimination against people of a certain ethnic background or gender. The technology can also influence human nature so that we idealize and model ourselves according to the more efficient artificial intelligence, explains Thomas Lennerfors.
So should an increased awareness of the importance of ethical assessments in tomorrow’s professional life be followed by a greater focus on engineering ethics at the faculty?
"There is a discussion among programme directors, and rightly so, that we should not offer only one course in ethics, but that this should permeate most courses. Regardless of the form you choose, I think the overall aim should be to train students to become aware of ethical issues, think about their responsibility for them, and be able to think critically about different options of action and their different consequences, in order to create the conditions for ethically based action,” says Thomas Lennerfors.
"More and more teachers will probably be convinced that this is important, not least because we see how the students are asking for ethics discussions. Support is available, for example at TUR and among the teachers who participated in previous ethics seminars, activities and courses at TUR. The competency is available for those searching for tips and help to get ethics into their teaching.”