In James Moor’s “Why we need better ethics for emerging
technologies,” he describes his model of a technological revolution and walks
through his argument that revolutionary technology presents many ethical dilemmas,
and as such we should pursue a better ethical approach to technology. As I was
reading this piece and thinking about various emerging technologies, my mind
kept going back to smart speakers.
The first smart
speaker was released in late 2014 and around 35 percent of households in the United
States had at least one smart speaker by the end of 2019. Smart speakers are projected to reach 75 percent of US homes by 2025. This piece of technology’s quick and steady rise in popularity
over the last 5 years got me thinking about whether smart speakers would fit
Moor’s model of a technical revolution.
According to Moor, the first official stage in the technological
revolution model is the introduction stage, where only a few people know about
the technology. After the introduction stage comes the permeation stage, where
the technology is standardized, the number of users grows, and the cost of application
drops. The final stage is the power stage, where the technology is firmly
established, readily available, and significantly integrated into society.
I would argue that smart speakers are currently in the
permeation stage of their revolution and moving towards the power stage. Many
people know about and own smart speakers, but they have not reached a level
where they have a major impact on society. I also believe that smart speakers
are a subrevolution within the computer revolution, similar to mobile phones
and the world wide web, as they are a more specific device within the general
computer revolution.
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| Smart speaker penetration rate in the US from 2014 to 2025 |
During the holiday season at the end of 2019, Google and Amazon
introduced a multitude of promotions in
partnership with Spotify, Tile, Frozen II, and others where you could receive a
free smart speaker. Many people have jumped at these opportunities, including 4
of my 5 roommates, but I couldn’t help but wonder why top tech companies were
so desperately giving away these pieces of technology for free. I did some
research on what these companies are gaining from this and discovered that a
lot is up for grabs. More than anything else, these companies want our data:
our search queries, what items we purchase, our music preferences, etc.
Moor says that ethical problems increase as an emerging
technology gains more social impact because more people are using the
technology and there are more opportunities for unethical action without consequences
since there are no ethical policies. As smart speakers become more integrated
into society, there are more chances for people to obtain and use all of this
data because there aren’t any ethical policies against it. If we don’t start
taking ethics into account more when it comes to technology, we will continue
to put ourselves in positions where our data and privacy are at risk with no consequences.
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI loved the revision of your post. The way you incorporated Moor so early in your paper is wonderful as it is not easy to introduce a source so early in a post and it made your a lot better. Your images were thoughtful and added to the presentation of your post. Your title is a little long, however. As a person who got a free amazon echo during one of amazon's many promotions, I always wondered what they got out of giving so many people a free speaker. After reading your blog post it all makes so much more sense! Great post.
Rachel, this is a great revision of your first blog post! Moving the evidence from the readings to the top was a good way to ground the post in class content. You used it as a good transition to the topic of the post because you mentioned your thought process when doing the class reading. The explanations you gave of the "power stage" and the other stages of a technological revolution helped solidify and support the point you are making here. The question posed at the end really made me think about my data and how companies are trying to get it with devices like these. Great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI think you made great strides with your new post, adding some much needed detail and clarification, tying your piece more completely into the reading you were referencing. I liked your introductory paragraph for the first version and am glad to see you kept it, though I feel it would have served you better remaining an introduction as it was previously, feeling a little disjointed as part of the conclusion. You also cover Moor's definition of a technological revolution extensively in the middle, and while the detail is welcome it feels a little verbose and distracting from the article.
Hi Rachel, great post! You did a great job of introducing the readings early on and using the example to describe the concept rather than the other way around. The pictures and format were visually appealing and the pictures were well chosen.
ReplyDelete