Key Concepts in Tech Careers and Tech Ethics in 2023

Title: Key Concepts in Tech Careers (and Tech Ethics) in 2023 — AI-Generated Content, Open Source + Open Data, and Beyond

Authors: Jesse Parent, Valeria Schnake, Ankit Grover, Aiden Tripodi, Jennifer Jiang, Bradly Alicea

Extended Abstract

AI-generated content is changing norms across industries: from Dall-E’s artistic creations, GitHub Co-Pilot’s AI pair-programming guidance, interpersonally insightful chat bots like Replika and Woebot, and now ChatGPT’s wide-ranging outputs and what’s next for LLMs. We discuss these topics, including implications for tech law, asking: what should aspiring technologists, educators, or artists be aware of?

Similarly, Open Source and Open Data are major movements within software development and data management. A NeurIPS keynote spoke of a data-centric era where ML may be becoming an experimental science. The NIH has issued the Data Management and Sharing (DMS) policy promoting the sharing and management of scientific data, with speakers at Society for Neuroscience 2022 emphasizing how graduate students will be on the front line of these large-scale changes, no less their impact on grants and other funding. Novel technological advances often require specific maintenance of software and firmware — but what happens when the updates stop, especially in open source projects?

We will tour these real-world topics alongside our efforts in Sustainable Open Source Ethics & Communities, including reviewing our Sustainability Auditing Tool for developers, analyzing the potential for Ethical Regulators as parts of technology development, and other key issues in accessibility and AI/Tech ethics that are shaping the landscape for those in technology-centered careers.

More information: www.nycwic.org