Incorporating ethics and responsibility explicitly into tech teams’ workflow meaningfully is an industry-wide challenge. However, if done well, it has the potential to transform which technologies are deployed in society, and how. We have found that technologists are generally eager to address the ethical and responsibility dimensions of their work but frequently encounter frustration and swirl due to a lack of shared vocabulary, a knowledge of relevant frameworks, time, and a dedicated forum to have discussions.

Ben Zevenbergen works at Google as a “Responsible Innovation Ethics & Policy Advisor.” He was a visiting scholar for three years at Princeton University affiliated with both CITP and the University Center for Human Values (UCHV).