Link to the Show / Show NotesRISK AND RESPONSIBILITYWhat are the responsibilities of the technologist? Is it acceptable to develop weapons of mass destruction, foods that are unhealthy, transport systems that lead to decadent lifestyles, or communication systems that make it easy to distribute pornography?Who decides? Is it up to the individual technologist or for companies, or governments to decide? My personal view is that it is for companies to develop ethical policies together with their employees, just as it is for universities with their staff and students.Funding by the cigarette industry has triggered the Wellcome Trust to impose controls on research funding, even though there are no illegalities involved. How does one decide what is acceptable risk? Why are people afraid to fly but happy to drive a car despite its much higher risk of injury or death? Why do we accept a greater likelihood of accident at home than we do at work?What are the areas where we are likely to see the most significant advances in the next ten or twenty years, bearing in mind that technologists are famous for over-estimating what will happen in the next five years, while underestimating what will happen in twenty years? The Internet was an excellent example of the latter, as was the personal computer.Who will be the winners in the race to develop future technologies? How long will the hierarchy of nations remain the same with the USA predominating, followed by Japan, Europe, Singapore, Taiwan, Australasia, with the third world far behind? When will China and India begin to compete in development as well as the manufacture of high technology products?It is the technologist that is determining how we live. What should the UK do to remain in the race?
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