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Viewpoint

Ethics as a Participatory and Iterative Process

By Marc Steen
Communications of the ACM, May 2023, Vol. 66 No. 5, Pages 27-29
10.1145/3550069
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compass with text labels for its four points marked V, C, D, and R — Credit: Andrij Borys Associates, Marc Steen

You probably find yourself more frequently in discussions of ethics in relation to the design and application of technology. The trolley problem is a familiar trope in such discussions. You assess and compare outcomes, and choose less-worse over even-worse outcomes. Another familiar trope is the ethics checklist. You make a list of relevant rules and norms, and take measures to comply. In this Viewpoint, I propose there is much more to ethics than assessment of outcomes and compliance to rules.

Doing Ethics

Over the years, and while working on many projects in the design and application of technologies, I have developed a view on ethics I would like to share. I understand ethics as a process, as doing ethics: a participatory and iterative process of ethical reflection, inquiry, and deliberation.⁹ The task for the people involved is then to make room for such a process, and to facilitate it. Practically, you can imagine three key ingredients in this process:

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