The Value of Ethics

Editorial

Dr. Tamaro J. Green

The recent events in information technology raise the question of the value of ethics to technology corporations.  The role that ethics plays in the corporate social responsibility may be delivered through an external board or may be embedded within the structure of an organization.  Corporations may even have separate divisions that focus on ethics if they see it is necessary or they say it has a value.  If they can determine the value of ethics to the organization and their business model, they may be able to withstand from avoiding the concept of dividing ethics from the policies and procedures of the organization.

If the leading ethical researcher of artificial intelligence in the world is removed from a corporation, it may lead others to question the value of ethics to business.  Ethics may not be a commodity that can be bought or sold or a physical product that can be placed on a store shelf.  Yet, ethics has a role in the function of enterprise activity.  Ethics can increase the value of products.  For example, ethically sourced equipment may be of a higher value than equipment that is not ethically sourced.  However, if ethical processes and procedures are not incorporated in the core values of a corporation, it may be difficult to include ethics into the operations of the corporation.

Ethics may have a higher value than the actual products of the corporation.  The ease of building and developing technology products may fail in comparison to the ability to develop ethical virtues.  A new field of artificial intelligence may be necessary to provide the design and creation of value systems that have social benefit, ethical intelligence.  Ethical intelligence may present itself as the emerging curriculum of artificial intelligence.

Dr. Tamaro Green is a computer science researcher and the founder of TJG Web Services.  TJG Web Services, LLC is a consulting firm in the field of information technology.  Dr. Green writes on topics of privacy, security, and ethics in information technology and computer science.

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