Magazine

The Ethics issue

September/October 2023

Experimental drugs – who should get them? AI and warfare: If a machine tells you when to pull the trigger, who is responsible? Plus, the greatest slide show on Earth, open source at 40, everything you wanted to know about alternative jet fuels, and Eric Schmidt on how AI will transform science.

Read the issue

Letter from the editor

Building ethical thinking into technology

Selman Design

Features

Categorized in Biotechnology and health
Who gets to decide who receives experimental medical treatments?
For many patients, pushing for access to unproven treatments is their best chance of survival. And that’s worth the risk.
Categorized in Humans and technology
The rise of the tech ethics congregation
In a world where tech has become a transcendent force, people are always looking for guidance.
Categorized in Policy
What happened to the microfinance organization Kiva?
A group of strikers argue that the organization seems more focused on making money than creating change. Are they right?
Categorized in Artificial intelligence
Inside the messy ethics of making war with machines
AI is making its way into decision-making in battle. Who’s to blame when something goes wrong?
Categorized in Artificial intelligence
Andrew Ng: How to be an innovator
Tips for aspiring innovators on trying, failing, and the future of AI.
Categorized in Artificial intelligence
2023 Innovator of the Year: As AI models are released into the wild, Sharon Li wants to ensure they’re safe
Li’s research could prevent AI models from failing catastrophically when they encounter unfamiliar scenarios.

Also in this issue
- Tech is broken—can collective action fix it?
  With Collective Action School, Xiaowei Wang hopes to redefine what it means to work in tech.
  
  Categorized in Profile
- Next slide, please: A brief history of the corporate presentation
  From million-dollar slide shows to Steve Jobs’s introduction of the iPhone, a bit of show business never hurt plain old business.
  
  Categorized in Business
- The future of open source is still very much in flux
  Free and open software have transformed the tech industry. But we still have a lot to work out to make them healthy, equitable enterprises.
  
  Categorized in Computing
- Tiny faux organs could crack the mystery of menstruation
  Researchers are using organoids to unlock one of the human body’s most mysterious—and miraculous—processes.
  
  Categorized in Biotechnology and health
- How culture drives foul play on the internet, and how new “upcode” can protect us
  Three new books explore the various scams, frauds, and hacks that plague online life.
  
  Categorized in Computing
- This startup has engineered a clever way to reuse waste heat from cloud computing
  Heata is now using these busy servers to heat water for homes.
  
  Categorized in Field notes
- The beautiful complexity of the US radio spectrum
  The United States Frequency Allocation Chart shows how the nation’s precious radio frequencies are carefully shared.
  
  Categorized in Computing
- The ice cores that will let us look 1.5 million years into the past
  Scientists are drilling deep into the Antarctic ice to better understand the role atmospheric carbon dioxide plays in Earth’s climate cycles.
  
  Categorized in Climate change and energy
- Why salt marshes could help save Venice
  Scientists see the sinking city as a laboratory for environmental solutions.
  
  Categorized in Climate change and energy
- Job titles of the future: Chief heat officer
  Miami’s public official is the first of her kind.
  
  Categorized in Climate change and energy
- A cell that does it all
  For 25 years, embryonic stem cells have been promising and controversial in equal measure. How far have they really come?
  
  Categorized in Archive

Updated

Magazine

The Ethics issue

Letter from the editor

Features

Who gets to decide who receives experimental medical treatments?

The rise of the tech ethics congregation

What happened to the microfinance organization Kiva?

Inside the messy ethics of making war with machines

Andrew Ng: How to be an innovator

2023 Innovator of the Year: As AI models are released into the wild, Sharon Li wants to ensure they’re safe

Tech is broken—can collective action fix it?

Next slide, please: A brief history of the corporate presentation

The future of open source is still very much in flux

Tiny faux organs could crack the mystery of menstruation

How culture drives foul play on the internet, and how new “upcode” can protect us

This startup has engineered a clever way to reuse waste heat from cloud computing

The beautiful complexity of the US radio spectrum

The ice cores that will let us look 1.5 million years into the past

Why salt marshes could help save Venice

Job titles of the future: Chief heat officer

A cell that does it all

Past issues

The latest iteration of a legacy

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