Thinking Ethically
HMIA 2025
Outline
HMIA 2025
Outline
HMIA 2025
The Hook
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Is it not just one giant classification algorithm?
What is ethics/ethical/moral?
The Readings
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STOP+THINK
Name and briefly explain the four major branches of ethics.
Ethics often involves resolving conflicts between equally valid principles. What's an example of that?
The Wikipedia article mentions consequentialism and deontology. Explain how they differ.
STOP+THINK
Professional ethics often grant experts both special authority and special obligations. Explain with an example.
Professions often define themselves through codes of ethics. What might the public be skeptical of that approach?
STOP+THINK
The article lists key concerns in AI ethics, such as bias, transparency, and accountability. Say briefly what each of these is.
Some AI ethicists argue for human-in-the-loop oversight, while others emphasize formal constraints or values built into systems. What do these terms mean? Where do you stand?
What did we read?
HMIA 2025
PRE-CLASS
Ethics
Normative Ethics
Descriptive Ethics
Meta-Ethics
Applied Ethics
Consequentialism
Deontology
Virtue Ethics
Categorical Imperative
Universalism
Relativism
Utilitarianism
Professional
Ethics
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How one ought to act...
Descriptive/Empirical vs. Normative
Is vs Ought
Look back at our codes of conduct for wizards: about how wizards SHOULD act or SHOULD be.
STOP+THINK (handout)
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STOP+THINK
How do the three major branches of ethics—normative, meta-ethics, and applied ethics—map onto the problem of aligning AI systems with human values?
Ethics often involves resolving conflicts between equally valid principles (e.g., freedom vs. safety). How might such ethical dilemmas show up in the design of professional codes or AI systems?
The Wikipedia article mentions moral relativism and moral universalism. Why might this distinction matter for aligning diverse human communities—or machines trained on their data?
STOP+THINK
Professional ethics often grant experts both special authority and special obligations. Why might this dual structure be important for aligning expert intelligence with the public good?
Professions often define themselves through codes of ethics. What alignment problems might arise if these codes are vague, unenforced, or in conflict with institutional incentives?"
STOP+THINK
The article lists key concerns in AI ethics, such as bias, transparency, and accountability. Which of these concern alignment failures, and which concern the limits of our ability to assess alignment?
Some AI ethicists argue for human-in-the-loop oversight, while others emphasize formal constraints or values built into systems. What are the trade-offs between these approaches as alignment strategies?
PRE-CLASS
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CLASS
Two Thespians?
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CLASS
You work in a nonprofit organization that advocates for environmental issues. A mid-level manager, Elena, has been promoting and giving high-visibility assignments to her personal friends within the team. The promotions don’t appear to be based on merit or performance. While this isn’t illegal, it’s creating resentment, weakening trust, and making other qualified staff feel sidelined.
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What’s going on is that Elena seems to be favoring her friends for promotions and key projects, regardless of performance. The ethical issue is fairness — people who work hard and contribute meaningfully aren’t being recognized. It’s not illegal, but it undermines integrity, respect, and trust within the team. In the bigger context, we’re a nonprofit that asks for fairness and justice in society; if we don’t uphold those values internally, we risk damaging morale, losing talent, and even weakening our credibility with donors and the communities we serve.
Context
I got your email. But help me see what the problem is. What's going on here that has you worried?
So the stakes are bigger than just Elena’s team dynamic. We’re talking about fairness to individual employees, but also the reputation and effectiveness of the entire nonprofit, and the trust of donors and communities.
Exactly. That’s why I think it’s important to surface this carefully. It’s not just a personal conflict — it’s a systemic issue with ripple effects.
Our donors and partners. They expect us to run with integrity and professionalism. If they notice high turnover or underperforming teams, they’ll lose confidence. And ultimately, the communities we serve — who rely on us to advocate effectively — suffer if our strongest people aren’t given a fair chance to lead.
Well, first the organization itself. If talented people leave because they don’t see fair advancement, our ability to deliver on environmental campaigns is weakened. That’s a direct risk to our mission.
I’m worried that this favoritism isn’t just about morale — it’s about how it affects all the people tied to our work. Even staff who aren’t in Elena’s circle are starting to disengage.
Right. So internally, the staff are obvious stakeholders. But who else do you think is affected?
True. And external stakeholders?
Stakeholders
I see a few paths forward. One option is to do nothing and hope things even out, but if we ignore it, I think morale will continue to erode and we risk losing strong performers. Another option is to raise the issue directly with Elena — that might prompt her to reconsider, but it could also damage my relationship with her and make me look like I’m challenging authority. A third path would be to bring the concern to leadership or HR, framing it around fairness and organizational effectiveness. That might push for a more transparent promotion process, but it could also create defensiveness or mistrust if people feel blindsided.
Actions and Consequences
Good breakdown. Let’s think through stakeholders. Doing nothing probably benefits Elena and her favored team members in the short term, but it hurts everyone else — especially the overlooked staff. Raising it with Elena directly could give her a chance to adjust without escalation, but if she reacts badly, you could be seen as undermining her. Going to HR or leadership has the potential to protect fairness organization-wide and restore trust, but it risks escalating the conflict if it’s not handled delicately. The organization’s long-term reputation and talent retention are really at stake here.
What Was That?
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What topics or issues did the two characters talk about?
agents/actors choices
context
stakeholders
ethical principles
courses of action predictions consequences
concrete course of action
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Our requirement is that you write a script for a conversation between you and a work superior or mentor about an ethically challenging situation that arises in your workplace.
The framework of the scenario will be supplied and you will be responsible for filling out the details. The conversation does not have to follow a particular sequence but it is expected to cover some specific issues and reach a conclusion in the form of a short memo from you about the action you recommend.
In the conversation we should hear you thinking clearly about the ethical issue in the situation. Tell us what is going on, what ethical issues are raised, how they fit into the context (what else is going on? what's the bigger picture here? what does one need to be aware of to think clearly about this?).
Who are the agents/actors in this situation? What behavioral choices do they face?
You should communicate an awareness of the full range of stakeholders this situation implicates and what their needs and interests are.
You should describe possible courses of action and make informed predictions about the consequences for different stakeholders.
You should lay out the ethical principles that could guide our recommendations.
Finally, you should write a short memo for your supervisor that recommends a concrete course of action and offers a concise, persuasive, professional and stakeholder sensitive rationale for the recommendation.
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Tell us what is going on, what ethical issues are raised, how they fit into the context (what else is going on? what's the bigger picture here? what does one need to be aware of to think clearly about this?).
Who are the agents/actors in this situation? What behavioral choices do they face?
You should communicate an awareness of the full range of stakeholders this situation implicates and what their needs and interests are.
You should describe possible courses of action and make informed predictions about the consequences for different stakeholders.
You should lay out the ethical principles that could guide our recommendations.
Recommends a concrete course of action and offers a concise, persuasive, professional and stakeholder sensitive rationale for the recommendation.
CONTEXT
AGENTS + CHOICES
STAKEHOLDERS
ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
ACTIONS + CONSEQUENCES
RECOMMENDATIONS
You may ask yourself
What is the context? What's going on here?
Who are the agents/actors in this situation? What behavioral choices do they face?
Who are all the stakeholders? What are their needs and interests?
What are our possible courses of action? What consequences do we predict for different stakeholders?
What ethical principles could guide our recommendations.
What do we put in the memo for our supervisor about recommending a concrete course of action and offers a concise, persuasive, professional and stakeholder sensitive rationale for the recommendation.
TWO MORE VOLUNTEERS
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So, you wanted to talk about something?
As you know, our team is preparing to launch a new productivity app. During testing, I've discovered that the app collects users' clipboard data—even when the app is running in the background—and uploads it to the company server.
This data could include sensitive information, such as passwords or personal messages.
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The feature was added to enable a cross-device sync function, but users were not explicitly informed.
Why does this happen?
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What's your take on this?
We’re in a competitive market where privacy concerns are increasingly important. Our company has previously marketed itself as a “privacy-conscious” alternative to larger tech firms. Failing to meet that standard now could feel like a betrayal to users. The engineering team may not have been aware of the ethical implications when they implemented this feature. It solved a problem we had at the time.
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So, let's think through this. Who are the stakeholders here?
Well, users, for one. But then there's the product team - they're under pressure. And legal and leadership have a reason to be concerned too.
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Users expect transparency and control over their personal data.
The product team might go bananas if we about delays and diminished features.
Legal/compliance staff may worry about GDPR or other privacy violations.
The company leadership likely wants to maintain a good reputation and avoid liability.
Walk me through what they care about, as you see it.
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That sounds right. What are our options here?
We could (1) disable the clipboard sync until we’ve added clear consent and disclosure, (2) redesign the feature so it only works with explicit user activation, or (3) keep it as is, but that risks violating privacy expectations and regulations.
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So, how are you thinking about this? I mean, what are the ethics, not the practical implications.
Well, the principles at stake include respect for user autonomy (through informed consent), privacy, and professional responsibility. The feature, as currently implemented, violates user trust and potentially breaches data protection laws or standards.
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In the short term, disabling the feature may delay the app launch or reduce a popular function. However, continuing with the current design risks user backlash, reputational damage, and legal exposure. Long-term trust with users is more valuable than the short-term benefit of seamless sync.
OK, now the pragmatics. What's the impact and consequences of our options here?
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And you recommend what?
I recommend disabling the clipboard data collection feature until we implement proper user consent and disclosure.
YOUR TURN
CONTEXT
AGENTS + CHOICES
STAKEHOLDERS
ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
ACTIONS + CONSEQUENCES
RECOMMENDATIONS
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CLASS
REVIEW
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PRE-CLASS
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Context: what's going on here? what makes this an ethics case?
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Resources
Downes, S. 2017. "An Ethics Primer" (blog post)
Wikipedia editors. "Ethics"
Wikipedia editors. "Professional Ethics"
Wikipedia editors. "Ethics of artificial intelligence"
HMIA 2025 Thinking Ethically
By Dan Ryan
