Cycling in Waterloo Region

[danbrotherston]

I think we should all publicly state what we do for a living before we criticize others.

I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.  I'm not criticizing individuals. But for what it's worth, I'm a software developer, which is the top dog of industries with ethical dilemmas which we don't handle well.

I'm well aware that my industry does not have it's house in order, and generally I support efforts to improve that situation.  I challenge myself to think about what impacts my software could have, but I fully know that I can't necessarily see every effect it could have.  The key to me feeling that I'm doing right is to do the best I can, but also be open to it being pointed out where and how I'm doing something harmful, and to try to change that. For example, I never used to think AI algorithms could be harmful, but I'm beginning to realize they absolutely can be.

Ironically, outside of some obvious exceptions (self driving cars anyone), what my industry builds ends up with far more subtle harmful effects, but with the opportunity for them to be extremely broad--nobody at Facebook ever expected they'd be used to impact the election of US President.