During the second world war computers were more of a means to an end kind of devices, they had specific tasks ad executed them, they were a social product rather than a social change. Technology after the second world war did not get closure there were infinite possibilities foe technology and the number of applications were infinite. The present situation is similar in many ways except that today the possibilities are at a much higher levels and the potential for technology is also much higher. It is such a situation that the responsibilities of the designers and inventors comes into question because the flip-side of any technology should be well thought of and counter measures against it should be taken. This is because in todays scenario the sciences are so well connected and interlinked that developments in one field can mean a world of new possibilities for the other and in such situations the application of any technology should be forseen and all possible side effects considered.
The contemporary example chosen here to evaluate the risk and responsibility here is the electoral voting machines or the EVM's. Now just like any other piece of technology this was a product of the necessity counting votes by placing ballots was getting extremely strenuous and though this process was error free but the shear magnitude of the votes to be counted resulted in the introduction of these machines. The procss of implementation fo this technology was also not clean and corruption free, it was promoted by lobbyists who had their own intrinsic gains and benefits and who exerted a respectable amount of influence over the government. This is where the ethics of the technology comes into play, a machine which decides the fate of billions of people in a country is promoted and controlled by a group of individuals this is making a complete mockery of the whole democratic process as such. Another important facet is that in this process citizens who vote place their entire trust in a machine which is essentially a third party entity and due to this their entire trust in the democratic system is compromised, this is because these machines can be rigged and manipulated using very basic knowledge and the fact that this tremendous risk of jeopardizing an entire democracy was not forseen by the designers is mind boggling. The designers of such systems which are so crucial to the functioning of entire nations should act in a much more responsible way and should realize that their technology can affect lives of a larrrge number of people and should see through all possibe loopholes before giving the go ahead in the implementation of such technologies.
So in conclusion, when compared with the technologies of the cold war like the sage defense system, the EVM is similar in the sense that it is of national importance and ends up affectin each and every individual of the country and these should be designed by level headed scientists who take into account all possible effects and take responsibility of their product.
By
Vivek Subramaniam
AE09B031
The contemporary example chosen here to evaluate the risk and responsibility here is the electoral voting machines or the EVM's. Now just like any other piece of technology this was a product of the necessity counting votes by placing ballots was getting extremely strenuous and though this process was error free but the shear magnitude of the votes to be counted resulted in the introduction of these machines. The procss of implementation fo this technology was also not clean and corruption free, it was promoted by lobbyists who had their own intrinsic gains and benefits and who exerted a respectable amount of influence over the government. This is where the ethics of the technology comes into play, a machine which decides the fate of billions of people in a country is promoted and controlled by a group of individuals this is making a complete mockery of the whole democratic process as such. Another important facet is that in this process citizens who vote place their entire trust in a machine which is essentially a third party entity and due to this their entire trust in the democratic system is compromised, this is because these machines can be rigged and manipulated using very basic knowledge and the fact that this tremendous risk of jeopardizing an entire democracy was not forseen by the designers is mind boggling. The designers of such systems which are so crucial to the functioning of entire nations should act in a much more responsible way and should realize that their technology can affect lives of a larrrge number of people and should see through all possibe loopholes before giving the go ahead in the implementation of such technologies.
So in conclusion, when compared with the technologies of the cold war like the sage defense system, the EVM is similar in the sense that it is of national importance and ends up affectin each and every individual of the country and these should be designed by level headed scientists who take into account all possible effects and take responsibility of their product.
By
Vivek Subramaniam
AE09B031
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