Towards modular compilers for effects

Compilers are traditionally factorised into a number of separate phases, such as parsing, type checking, code generation, etc. However, there is another potential factorisation that has received comparatively little attention: the treatment of separate language features, such as mutable state, input/output, exceptions, concurrency and so forth. In this article we focus on the problem of modular compilation, in which the aim is to develop compilers for separate language features independently, which can then be combined as required. We summarise our progress to date, issues that have arisen, and further wor

Assessing Expectations: Towards a Toolbox for an Ethics of Emerging Technologies

In recent years, several authors have argued that the desirability of novel technologies should be assessed early, when they are still emerging. Such an ethical assessment of emerging technologies is by definition focused on an elusive object. Usually promises, expectations, and visions of the technology are taken as a starting point. As Nordmann and Rip have pointed out in a recent article, however, ethicists should not take for granted the plausibility of such expectations and visions. In this paper, we explore how the quality of expectations on emerging technologies might be assessed when engaging in a reflection on the desirability of emerging technologies. We propose that an assessment of expectations’ plausibility should focus on statements on technological feasibility, societal usability, and desirability of the expected technology. Whereas the feasibility statement and, to a lesser extent, the usability statements are frequently quite futuristic, the claims on desirability, by contrast, often display a conservative stance towards the future. Assessing the quality of expectations and visions on behalf of emerging technologies requires, then, a careful and well-directed use of both skepticism and imagination. We conclude with a brief overview of the tools and methods ethicists could use to assess claims made on behalf of emerging technologies and improve the ethical reflection on them

Designing a Good Life: A Matrix for the Technological Mediation of Morality

Technologies fulfill a social role in the sense that they influence the moral actions of people, often in unintended and unforeseen ways. Scientists and engineers are already accepting much responsibility for the technological, economical and environmental aspects of their work. This article asks them to take an extra step, and now also consider the social role of their products. The aim is to enable engineers to take a prospective responsibility for the future social roles of their technologies by providing them with a matrix that helps to explore in advance how emerging technologies might plausibly affect the reasons behind people’s (moral) actions. On the horizontal axis of the matrix, we distinguished the three basic types of reasons that play a role in practical judgment: what is the case, what can be done and what should be done. On the vertical axis we distinguished the morally relevant classes of issues: stakeholders, consequences and the good life. To illustrate how this matrix may work in practice, the final section applies the matrix to the case of the Google PowerMeter

Responsibility and Human Enhancement

The debate on human enhancement (HE), i.e. intentional effort to improve individuals\u2019 performance with the help of technical or biomedical interventions, has mainly centered on contrasting characterizations about either its moral legitimacy or technical plausibility, reaching an impasse. Looking for a way out of this stalemate, this collection of articles does not formulate prior standards to assess the desirability or legitimacy of enhancement, but explores some possible features for its responsible governance. Based on these assessments, the articles suggest possible approaches to systems design, regulation, and public engagement which can create conditions that allow for the the assumption and assignment of responsibility for HE and its ethical and social implications