Addressing Intelligent Systems and Ethical Design in the IEEE Code of Ethics

This chapter examines the process undertaken by IEEE to modify its Code of Ethics in response to a changing global technology landscape in the early twenty-first century. The changes, which were incorporated into the Code by the unanimous vote of the IEEE Board of Directors (BoD) in November 2017, include modifications to the wording of the “paramountcy clause” as well as inclusion in the Code the concepts of “ethical design,” “sustainable development,” “societal implications of technology,” and “intelligent systems.” The process was led by volunteers (including the authors) and involved an Ad Hoc Committee on Ethics Programs, consideration at two meetings of the BoD, and solicitation of IEEE members for responses to a draft proposal. The chapter attributes these changes to the intersection of three events: growing interest within the broader community around ethics and artificial intelligence; the creation of bodies within the IEEE to consider ethical issues; and a longstanding concern within the IEEE, particularly through the work of the Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT), for an effective code to meet the responsibility of technologists. The chapter describes this process and context, with the aim of increasing understanding of the Code revisions on the part of engineering practitioners and researchers as well as scholars of engineering ethics.