This is the third episode in the Algocracy and Transhumanism project podcast. In this episode I talk to Sven Nyholm who is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Eindhoven University of Technology. Sven has a background in Kantian philosophy and currently does a lot of work on the ethics of technology. We have a wide ranging conversation, circling around three main themes: (i) how technology changes what we value (using the specific example of love enhancement technologies); (ii) how technology might affect the true self (using the example of deep brain stimulation technologies) and (iii) how to design ethical decision-making algorithms (using the example of self-driving cars).
The work discussed in this podcast on deep brain stimulation and the design of ethical algorithms is being undertaken by Sven in collaboration with two co-authors: Elizabeth O’Neill (in the case of DBS) and Jilles Smids (in the case of self-driving cars). Unfortunately we neglected to mention this during our conversation. I have provided links to their work above and below.
Anyway, you can download the podcast here, listen below or subscribe on Stitcher or iTunes.
Show Notes
0:00 – 1:30 – Introduction to Sven
1:30 – 7:30 – The idea of love enhancement
7:30 – 10:30 – Objections to love enhancement
10:30 – 12:30 – The medicalisation objection to love enhancement
12:30 – 21:10 – Medicalisation as an evaluative category mistake
21:10 – 24:00 – Can you favour love enhancement and still value love in the right way?
24:00 – 28:10 – Evaluative category mistakes in other debates about technology
28:10 – 30:50 – The use of deep brain stimulation (DBS) technology
30:50 – 35:20 – Reported effects of DBS on personal identity
35:20 – 41:20 – Narrative Identity vs True Self in debates about DBS
41:20 – 46:25 – Is the true self an expression of values? Can DBS help in its expression?
46:25 – 50:30 – Use of DBS to treat patients with Anorexia Nervosa
50:30 – 55:20 – Ethical algorithms in the design of self-driving cars
55:20 – 1:02:40 – Is the trolley problem a useful starting point?
1:02:40 – 1:06:30 – The importance of legal and moral responsibility in the design of ethical algorithms
1:06:30 – 1:09:00 – The important of uncertainty and risk in the design of ethical algorithms
1:09:00 – end – Should moral uncertainty be factored into the design?
Links
- ‘The Medicalization of Love‘ by Earp, Savulescu and Sandberg
- ‘The Medicalization of Love: Response to Critics‘ by Earp, Savulescu and Sandberg
- Elizabeth O’Neill’s homepage (Sven’s co-author on DBS and the true self)
- ‘Deep Brain Stimulation, Continuity Over Time and the True Self‘ by Nyholm and O’Neill
- ‘The Ethics of Deep Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa’ by Maslen, Pugh and Savulescu
- Jilles Smids (Sven’s Co-author on ethical algorithms for self-driving cars)
- ‘Driverless cars are colliding with the creep trolley problem‘ by Joel Achenbach, Washington Post
- ‘Why self-driving cars must be programmed to kill‘ MIT Technology Review
