Assistant Professor of Philosophy, FIT/SUNY
Tech Ethics + Human Flourishing
Ethics, Technology, and Institutional Decision-Making
Translating philosophical frameworks into real-world application
email: [email protected]
Many conversations about AI ethics are coming from within the system itself – a system already reflecting the values of the creators and ultimately designed for profit. This creates an inherent antagonism that is difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. The alignment issue is real and with every passing day those of us who are concerned about alignment are watching tragic missteps occur.
The historical difficulty of aligning ethical theory with real-world practice isn’t exclusive to AI or tech ethics. This divide has always existed. But this issue is now amplified as we watch a handful of tech billionaires transform not just one, but many, many industries into their own image. I’ve watched these same dilemmas play out in the fashion industry over the last two decades. The story of ethical or sustainable fashion has been plagued with competing interests and profit-minded industry insiders who close their ears to the concerns voiced by their more theoretical counterparts outside the industry.
Although we can’t look to fashion as a success story, as some may argue that fast fashion and sweatshop exploitation has only accelerated in recent years, the failures of the industry could be taken as a warning for AI ethics. The gap between practical or business concerns of the industry and the ethically-minded critics outside the production cycle has almost been insurmountable.
My work focuses on that gap. In industries like fashion, where I have worked closely on issues of sustainability and production, ethical commitments are often real, but they break down under pressure from cost, scale, and global supply chains. The same pattern is now emerging in AI, but at a much faster pace and with much deeper philosophical implications.
If ethical reasoning is going to matter in this context, it has to become operational. That means developing frameworks that do not just describe what is right, but clarify where decisions happen, who is responsible, and what tradeoffs are being made.
Public Video Series: Technology & Ethics (Instagram)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U21Bt4GNTqUHsNc5YyFpuAcdo7waSB_h/view?usp=drive_link