As I have been preparing for National Novel Writing Month (now only six days away), I had a question that consistently popped up as I prepared my story: “How does ethics affect technology?”
I had taken psychology classes in college where we discussed morals and ethics, but not through the lens of technology. We didn’t debate the ethics behind self-driving cars or proper levels of encryption for computer programs. The ethics we discussed were framed often around laws and non-technology life such as contracts and business operations. However, that doesn’t cover the full scope of this changing world.
Technology is rapidly changing life as we know it and leading to some incredible, yet potentially scary outcomes. Like social credit systems and growing national surveillance, ethical questions around these topics are more mainstream than even five years ago.
It makes sense that debating the moral and ethical stances of these topics will be a long, winding road for common day people and governments for years to come, but, what if, science fiction had the answers?
For my story, I wanted to learn more about the ethics surrounding A.I. technology. During my search, I stumbled upon an article from Journal of Future Studies entitled, “Science Fiction As Moral Allegory.“ Written by Timothy Dolan, the article dove into science fiction in terms of the broad history of the genre, it’s impact on society, and it’s use for building a better future through moral questions the stories can raise. I highly recommend reading the article if this interests you.
One quote that jumped out at me from a writer perspective was:
“Good science fiction is never about building utopias as much as about warning of the dystopias seeded in their attempt.”
The idea that good science should not be evaluated for potential dangers it could cause in the future is a real risk we run into everyday. For example, self-driving cars are great, but what if I can’t control the car, or worse, the car ends up controlling me and sends me into the river? Is it moral and ethical to allow technology to operate itself when the lives of others both or outside the vehicle could be negatively impacted? It’s a good question to ask. It doesn’t mean that self-driving cars are evil or bad, but with every technological advancement, risks need to be weighed.
I believe this same approach should be applied to science fiction stories. By not looking at and explaining the possible issues with a science fiction world of your creation, it can lose depth in the story and make it more difficult to build a compelling story.
It’s in asking these questions that brings out great stories and helps us all challenge our own ideas and beliefs.
To learn about the morals and ethics in technology, science fiction may be the best place to start. Science fiction tackles these topics in ways many of us fail to think about. That is why I’m researching topics like these for my next story more closely than I had before and I implore you to do the same for your next science fiction story.
What are your thoughts? Do you think ethics and morals matter in science fiction? Should escapism without moral thought be done in science fiction? Do you think all stories contain some moral or ethical lesson?
Let me know in the comments below.
Until next time, write, read, repeat.
-J.J.