{"id":627481,"date":"2024-07-12T11:30:29","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T08:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/todays-ethical-dilemmas-are-being-decided-by-tech-bros-how-can-they-keep-their-compass-straight\/"},"modified":"2024-07-12T11:30:29","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T08:30:29","slug":"todays-ethical-dilemmas-are-being-decided-by-tech-bros-how-can-they-keep-their-compass-straight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/todays-ethical-dilemmas-are-being-decided-by-tech-bros-how-can-they-keep-their-compass-straight\/","title":{"rendered":"#Today\u2019s ethical dilemmas are being decided by tech bros. How can they keep their compass straight?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a400a4378f87\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a400a4378f87\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/todays-ethical-dilemmas-are-being-decided-by-tech-bros-how-can-they-keep-their-compass-straight\/#Have_a_decentralized_leadership\" >Have a decentralized leadership<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/todays-ethical-dilemmas-are-being-decided-by-tech-bros-how-can-they-keep-their-compass-straight\/#Be_future_facing\" >Be future facing<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/todays-ethical-dilemmas-are-being-decided-by-tech-bros-how-can-they-keep-their-compass-straight\/#Work_on_yourself\" >Work on yourself<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image?fit=796%2C417&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2024%2F07%2FTechEthics-e1720771879629.jpg&amp;signature=368842b1683782ea210fe9720ac1968c\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n                            <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tech bros are for the first time poised to become pivotal players in highly sensitive sectors: national security, space exploration, and more. Most recently, NATO\u2019s \u20ac1B Innovation Fund announced <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">investments<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in eight startups and VC firms with a focus on emerging military and defense technologies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the startup ecosystem has become more sophisticated, it is now starting to disrupt these tightly controlled sectors, which were until recently the domain of governments and legacy institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take these examples: Space is quickly becoming the <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/nukes-space-what-have-russia-united-states-said-2024-02-21\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">next battleground for geopolitics<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 and private companies are now <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2024\/04\/18\/techcrunch-minute-nasa-needs-your-help-to-bring-rocks-back-from-mars\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dominating<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> cosmic exploration. Military conflicts are being <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/leaders\/2024\/02\/08\/killer-drones-pioneered-in-ukraine-are-the-weapons-of-the-future\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">defined<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by cutting-edge technologies that bring down costs and increase manufacturing capabilities. New industries, such as consumer-grade <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/09\/08\/world\/europe\/elon-musk-starlink-ukraine.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">satellite internet<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, have both civilian and military use cases \u2014 and can completely transform the course of a war.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/trust-me-im-geoengineer-the-next-web\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Geoengineering<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will probably try and reverse human-caused environmental degradation (<\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/02\/climate\/sun-shade-climate-geoengineering.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">solar shields<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are just one example). AI\u2019s evolution will play out in unforeseeable ways as it starts being put to use in autonomous weapons and <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2024\/02\/04\/asia\/deepfake-cfo-scam-hong-kong-intl-hnk\/index.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social engineering<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These spaces are evolving so rapidly that startups are going to become <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2024\/03\/02\/vc-trae-stephens-says-he-has-a-bunker-and-much-more-in-talk-about-founders-fund-and-anduril\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">critical players<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in giving nations the upper hand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But can we really trust founders with no legal, ethical, or political training to launch satellites into space and send drones into conflict areas? We have an obligation to make sure this generation of entrepreneurs assumes the responsibility that comes with their newfound power, and are prepared for the ethical questions that will have an impact far beyond their company.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So how do founders figure out the lines in the sand in a sector they themselves are carving out? When government expediency \u2014 and sometimes lethargy \u2014 mean the rules are still unwritten? It\u2019s as much a personal ethical question as it is a societal and political one. Hopefully this can serve as a starting place.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Have_a_decentralized_leadership\"><\/span><strong>Have a decentralized leadership<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Startups can\u2019t rely on the morality of the founder alone to stay on the right course. SBF was an <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/annals-of-inquiry\/sam-bankman-fried-effective-altruism-and-the-question-of-complicity\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">effective altruist<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, but clearly if you amass too much power, self aggrandizement can corrupt your decision making.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the company comes up against ethical questions, the answers should never come from one person. Pick competent, experienced people to share your control and decision making powers with.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On a structural level, construct the company in a way that power will always be distributed \u2014 even amid changing internal and external conditions (a new administration takes power, or the CEO gets fired).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Separate the roles of chairman and the CEO. Set up a multidisciplinary board of directors and a separate advisory board. Avoid the temptation to <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/11\/21\/openai-governance-board-founders-beware\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">set up a \u201cfriendly\u201d board<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; source members from a range of sectors if possible \u2014 tech, regulatory, societal, and academic. Members shouldn\u2019t have a shared background, POV or interest group \u2014 some should be third parties with no stake in the company at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vet all members, especially focusing on times they\u2019ve had to decide on ethical questions. Choosing an odd number of people for the boards will hopefully lead to more fair debate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, this structure has to accommodate a startup\u2019s need to be agile and quick. You can keep your boards relatively tight, as long as you select for the quality of the people on it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On another note, one <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/11\/21\/openai-governance-board-founders-beware\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lesson that we learned from OpenAI<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is that making the company a non-profit can create friction between financial needs and company values. Whether or not you adopt this business model, be honest and transparent about the mission of the company <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> its need to generate returns, and ensure your investors\u2019 vision for the company is the same as yours.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Be_future_facing\"><\/span><strong>Be future facing<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are just focused on the \u201cnot failing\u201d part of running a business, on making it to next quarter and next year, you\u2019re not going to be thinking far enough ahead to actually put guardrails in place for the future. Regulations for AI were never developed because society wasn\u2019t optimistic enough to see it coming.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You, on the other hand, should always be planning five to 10 years ahead \u2014 ideally envisioning the most advanced scenario for your <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a>. That will get you foreseeing potential dilemmas in how your tech can be used, or misused; the kinds of customers and investors you could attract, and who you may have to say \u201cno\u201d to; and any long-term societal impact.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Structurally, you should have a future-facing charter that broaches ethical and philosophical questions, so that board members have some guidelines within which to establish accountability and make critical company decisions. Consider defining terms of use for your product early on, preempting potential abuses of the product by future users.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Work_on_yourself\"><\/span><strong>Work on yourself<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On a personal level, founders should seek to be truly interdisciplinary. Being informed on a broad spectrum of political, <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a>, and philosophical topics will give you a firmer foundation to foresee the impact of your decisions on the world, choose the right advisors for the company, and know what questions to ask when exploring the boundaries you want to operate within.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be clear with yourself and your entire team about the values you hold dear and will not compromise on, whichever direction the company may take. As your product takes shape, write down a set of values or ethical guidelines, including \u201cred lines,\u201d that will get you to your end goal without doing harm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your framework will be more robust and accepted by your company as a whole if you involve your team in the discussion. If setting these ethical boundaries is challenging for you, it\u2019s all the more important to surround yourself with expert advisors, trusted friends, and mentors who can guide your thinking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are not hypothetical boundaries, and you need to truly commit to what the end result may look like, even if it\u2019s painful business wise. I\u2019ve met several founders who\u2019ve established a groundbreaking product, but have walked away from huge markets because they were not willing to work with a certain client or under a certain administration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, you may be <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roached by military contractors who are likely to use your technology for aggressive purposes. Or you may be operating in a country where the politics turns against your values.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Long term, walking away from these red lines will often be the wisest business decision too. Not compromising your values demonstrates the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> commitment of the founder, and the resilience of the company to continue operating without having to bend itself to every revenue opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make sure the path you\u2019re setting yourself on is ethically acceptable to you and the people whose opinions you respect \u2014 and that no matter how circumstances play out, you are well prepared, well informed, and well accompanied enough to make a decision you can stand by.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/semyondukach\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/semyondukach\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1720795088451000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2YXtvVl3hCXjKdd-mzqEku\">Semyon Dukach<\/a>\u00a0is Founding Partner of\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/onewayvc.com\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/onewayvc.com\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1720795088451000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0YDXmVnUojxfzmoJBVISHU\">One Way Ventures<\/a>, a VC firm funding exceptional immigrant founders. A Ukrainian-American, he came to the US as a child refugee in 1979. He is the former Managing Director of Techstars (Boston), and an angel investor in over 100 companies.<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/ethical-dilemmas-tech-founders-compass-straight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tech bros are for the first time poised to become pivotal players in highly sensitive sectors: national security, space exploration, and more. Most recently, NATO\u2019s \u20ac1B Innovation Fund announced investments in eight startups and VC firms with a focus on emerging military and defense technologies.\u00a0 As the startup ecosystem has become more sophisticated, it is&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":627482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw-blurple?filter_last=1&fit=1280%2C640&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2024%2F07%2FTechEthics-e1720771879629.jpg&signature=c3b74950c4038db121dc02be974283e8","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-627481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}