---
title: "Ethics of technology"
chunk: 4/16
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_of_technology"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:22:11.653934+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

=== Technological consciousness ===
Technological consciousness is the relationship between humans and technology. Technology is seen as an integral component of human consciousness and development. Technology, consciousness and society are intertwined in a relational process of creation that is key to human evolution. Technology is rooted in the human mind, and is made manifest in the world in the form of new understandings and artifacts. The process of technological consciousness frames the inquiry into ethical responsibility concerning technology by grounding technology in human life.
The structure of technological consciousness is relational but also situational, organizational, aspectual and integrative. Technological consciousness situates new understandings by creating a context of time and space. As well, technological consciousness organizes disjointed sequences of experience under a sense of unity that allows for a continuity of experience. The aspectual component of technological consciousness recognizes that individuals can only be conscious of aspects of an experience, not the whole thing. For this reason, technology manifests itself in processes that can be shared with others. The integrative characteristics of technological consciousness are assimilation, substitution and conversation. Assimilation allows for unfamiliar experiences to be integrated with familiar ones. Substitution is a metaphorical process allowing for complex experiences to be codified and shared with others — for example, language. Conversation is the sense of an observer within an individual's consciousness, providing stability and a standpoint from which to interact with the process.

=== Misunderstandings of consciousness and technology ===
According to Rocci Luppicini, the common misunderstandings about consciousness and technology are listed as follows. The first misunderstanding is that consciousness is only in the head when according to Luppicini, consciousness is not only in the head meaning that "[c]onsciousness is responsible for the creation of new conscious relations wherever imagined, be it in the head, on the street or in the past." The second misunderstanding is technology is not a part of consciousness. Technology is a part of consciousness as "the conceptualization of technology has gone through drastic changes." The third misunderstanding is that technology controls society and consciousness, by which Luppicini means "that technology is rooted in consciousness as an integral part of mental life for everyone. This understanding will most likely alter how both patients and psychologists deal with the trials and tribunes of living with technology." The last misunderstanding is society controls technology and consciousness. "…(other) accounts fail to acknowledge the complex relational nature of technology as an operation within mind and society. This realization shifts the focus on technology to its origins within the human mind as explained through the theory of technological consciousness."

Consciousness (C) is only a part of the head: C is responsible for the creation of new conscious relations
Technology (T) is not part of C: Humans cannot be separated from technology
T controls society and C: Technology cannot control the mind
Society controls T and C: Society fails to take in account the consideration of society shaping what technology gets developed?

== Types of technology ethics ==
Technology ethics are principles that can be used to govern technology including factors like risk management and individual rights. They are basically used to understand and resolve moral issues that have to do with the development and application of technology of different types.
There are many types of technology ethics:

Access rights: access to empowering technology as a right
Accountability: decisions made for who is responsible when considering success or harm in technological advancements
Digital rights: protecting intellectual property rights and privacy rights
Environment: how to produce technology that could harm the environment
Existential risk: technologies that represent a threat to the global quality of life pertaining to extinction
Freedom: technology that is used to control a society raising questions related to freedom and independence
Health and safety: health and safety risks that are increased and imposed by technologies
Human Enhancement: human genetic engineering and human-machine integration
Human judgement: when can decisions be judged by automation and when do they acquire a reasonable human?
Over-automation: when does automation decrease quality of life and start affecting society?
Precaution principle: Who decides that developing this new technology is safe for the world?
Privacy: protection of privacy rights
Security: Is due diligence required to ensure information security?
Self replicating technology: should self replicating be the norm?
Technology transparency: clearly explaining how a technology works and what its intentions are
Terms of service: ethics related to legal agreements

=== Ethical challenges ===
Ethical challenges arise in many different situations: