Adversarial risks in social experiments with new technologies

Abstract

Ideally, all potential problems with new technologies are resolved in the design stage. By embedding values such as safety, security, and privacy in technological design, technologies could become less controversial and more acceptable to a wider range of stakeholders. Rather than being naysayers, ethicists and risk experts could work constructively with the developers to “make things better.” At the same time, there is justied skepticism about whether all potential problems can be conceived in such an early stage, and whether we can decide before deployment which technologies are acceptable and which are not.