Abstract
With the world in economic crisis the headlong drive for efficiency and effectiveness together with resulting profit is the watchword. Such pressure might have resulted in real gains but has also led to unscrupulous or reckless actions. The tempering of such drive with ethical consideration is often neglected until there is a detrimental event causing public outcry which in turn places pressure on the actors to account for the reasons the event had occurred. This cause and effect map is commonplace. The Volkswagen emissions scandal and Tesla Motors public beta testing of the Autopilot software in their cars illustrate the drive for efficiency and effectiveness without proper ethical consideration. This paper focuses on the role of software engineers in such situations. An ethical analysis of the two cases is presented using the Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice. The findings, together with previously published analyses, are used to draw general conclusions and recommendations about the efficacy of the software engineering profession.
Highlights
Each day society becomes more and more technologically dependant
Volkswagen engineers working under Dorenkamp and Hadler designed and implemented a software to recognize whether a vehicle was undergoing standard U.S emissions testing on a dynamometer or it was being driven on the road under normal driving conditions
The question which needs to be answered is to the public beta testing regime of Tesla comply with the System Safety Policy (p20) which requires companies to, “follow a robust design and validation process based on a systems-engineering approach with the goal of designing autonomous vehicle systems free of unreasonable safety risks
Summary
Each day society becomes more and more technologically dependant. Some argue that as a consequence society becomes more and more vulnerable to catastrophe. The focus of the paper aligns with the following statement within the preamble to the Code, “These Principles should influence software engineers to consider broadly who is affected by their work; to examine if they and their colleagues are treating other human beings with due respect; to consider how the public, if reasonably well informed, would view their decisions; to analyze how the least empowered will be affected by their decisions; and to consider whether their acts would be judged worthy of the ideal professional working as a software engineer In all these judgments concern for the health, safety and welfare of the public is primary; that is, the ‘Public Interest’ is central to this Code.”. The paper concludes by identifying general issues which underpin guidance for future software engineering practice
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