Early Ethical Assessment: An Application to the Sustainability of Swine Body Scanners

Paul B Thompson,Madonna Benjamin,Blake L Ginsburg,Laurie Thorp,Tabitha Maria Zivku

doi:10.3390/su132414003

Paul B Thompson, Madonna Benjamin + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su132414003

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Dec 18, 2021
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Michigan State University, New York University

Abstract

An early ethics assessment method was used to evaluate sustainability goals and early findings from an automated body scanning technology for swine production. The project had twin goals of discovering potential pitfalls in the technology and exploring the applicability of the method, derived from the Ethical Matrix, as a tool to aid researchers in product design at very early stages in the research and development (R&D) process. This paper reports results on the second objective. Results of the evaluation workshop were coded and qualitatively analyzed. These results are reported and compared; the exercise is compared to the findings of other researchers using more traditional methods for ethical assessment on similar technologies, as well as standard social science methods for ascertaining economic sustainability and social acceptability of technological innovations. We conclude that the method has promise, especially for its applicability at very early stages in R&D, but that it does not substitute for analyses that occur at a much later stage in product or procedural development.

Highlights

The connections among innovation, oversight of technology and sustainability are complex, especially in the domain of agriculture
Exhaustion of soil and water resources combines with the impact of climate change to undercut existing agricultural practices in many regions of the world
The convergence of artificial intelligence, big data, robotics and biotechnology is poised to introduce a stream of technical innovations designed to meet these challenges in the food sector [2]

Summary

Introduction

The connections among innovation, oversight of technology and sustainability are complex, especially in the domain of agriculture. In order to sustain a global population, food producers will be forced to make changes in their technical approach because their current methods are expected to become increasingly unreliable [1]. The convergence of artificial intelligence, big data, robotics and biotechnology is poised to introduce a stream of technical innovations designed to meet these challenges in the food sector [2]. These developments are fueled by an infusion of venture capital in innovative and disruptive technologies for food production [3]

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Conclusion