1. Computer Ethics: Its birth and its future
By Terrell Ward Bynum
Presentation created by: Zack Sutton

2. Norbert Weiner Created the field of computer ethics
MIT Professor during WWII
Helped develop an anti-aircraft cannon that was capable of shooting down fast war planes
Weiner’s view on computer ethics was far ahead of its time

3. Weiners Books
Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (1948)
Weiner states (because of the advancement of technology) “that we were here in the presence of another social potentiality of unheard of importance for good and evil
The Human Use of Human Beings (1950)
Weiner laid down a comprehensive foundation for computer ethics research and analysis
Weiners book included, for example
Purpose of human life
Four principles of justice
Method for applied ethics
Fundamental questions and examples of computer ethics topics

4. Computer Ethics in the 1960’s
In mid 1960’s Donn Parker began to examine unethical and illegal uses of computers by professionals
1968 he published “Rules in Ethics in Information Processing” based on his findings
In the late 1960’s Joseph Weizenbaum created a computer program called ELIZA
The program was a crude imitation of a psychotherapist engaged in an initial interview with a patient
Weizenbaum was concerned that scientists viewed humans as mere machines that’s duties could be replicated by machines

5. Computer Ethics in the 1970’s
In mid 1970’s Walter Maner, while teaching a course on medical ethics, realized that computers added important features to cases in medical ethics
Because of this he created the first computer ethics courses based on medical and business ethics courses
Throughout the 1970’s the first computer ethics classes began to pop up in universities all over the country

6. Computer Ethics in the 1990’s
Explosive growth of computer ethics
Thinkers like Donald Gotternbarn, Keith Miller, as well as organizations like the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, the Electronic Fronteir Foundation, and ACM-SIGCAS spearheaded projects relevant to computing and professional responsibility
In 1999, the first computer ethics journal “Ethics and Information Technology” began publication

7. The Future of Computer Ethics
Given the explosiveness of computer ethics, the field has a robust and significant future
However two important thinkers Krystyna Gorniak-Kocikowska and Deborah Johnson, have recently argued that computer ethics will soon disappear and will evolve into global ethics

8. Questions What decade did computer ethics originate
Who first created the idea of computer ethics?
What did Walter Maner teach before computer ethics?
What did Donn Parker do in the mid 1960’s
Name one of Weiner’s books

9. Case Study
Jerry is the IT department at a small public accounting office. He is responsible for maintaining all accounting software for the firm to properly conduct audits and tax returns. He is also responsible for the security of clients data which holds valuable personal information, such as financial data and social security numbers etc. The CFO asked him to implement a new security system to help protect client information. However Jerry has been extremely busy outside of work but instead of communicate to the CFO that he cannot properly create the new controls, he created a system that was faulty and not well done. Because of this the company know has computer risk that may compremise client data.