New technology always has unintended consequences, and possibly unintended usage. In this interesting post ‘Managing the Unintended Consequences of Technology‘, some take-away points from the 2018 Unintended Consequences of Technology Conference are exposed.
The main recommendations I noted from the post are:
- hire a more diverse workforce (to better anticipate unexpected usage)
- de-bias the data sets used for developing new technology, to avoid unexpected algorithmic discrimination
- develop a product impact advisory board
In a complex world I believe it is quite impossible to predict what technology will be used for, but we can certainly try to avoid unexpected consequences. I am a strong believer in the need to have more diversity to avoid blind spots related to cultural and social backgrounds.
The fact that there are conferences on the subject looks like quite a good starting point to work on the subject!
