PassionIT News

Engineers spend much of their time absorbed in the technical aspects of problems, whether they’re designing the next generation of smartphones or building a subway.

As recent news stories attest, this technocentric approach has some critical limitations, and the result can end up harming rather than helping society.

For example, artificial intelligence algorithms designed by software engineers to promote user engagement turn out to undermine democracy and promote hate speech. Pulse oximeters, key tools in diagnosing COVID-19, work better on light skin than dark. Power plants and engines, which have enabled much of the “progress” seen since the Industrial Revolution, have fueled climate change.

As an engineering professor, I have spent the past six years trying to figure out how to educate the next generation of engineers to avoid these mistakes.

https://theconversation.com/future-engineers-need-to-understand-their-works-human-impact-heres-how-my-classes-prepare-students-to-tackle-problems-like-climate-change-173651