When We Don't Know What the Consequences Will Be

Category: When It is Fundamentally Dubious

It's true that for any application of any technology there may be unintended consequences, however, it is arguable that there are cases where there is a knowable risk of unintended consequences and where these consequences may be particularly harmful.

A good example of this, perhaps, is the suggestion that colleges should put smart speakers in student dormitories. As Miles (2019) reports, "When it comes to deploying listening devices where sensitive conversations occur, we simply have no idea what long-term effect having conversations recorded and kept by Amazon might have on their futures—even, quite possibly, on their health and well-being."

Instead, she continues, quoting Emerson professor Russell Newman, "We need a safe way to experiment with these technologies and understand the consequences of their use instead of just continuing a blind march towards surveillance for the purpose of profit-making. These are sophisticated applications with lifelong consequences for the individuals who are analyzed by them, to ends as yet unknown. We all need to be really judicious and thoughtful here."

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