I have put together a handy list for everyone out there interested in discovering the intersection of technology, ethics and societal impact. Mind that this is quite an eclectic selection, including books, papers, debates and panels covering a wide range of topics, from AI’s explainability and interpretability to data privacy, automated decision-making or the philosophy behind emerging technology frameworks.

We’re spoilt for choice when it comes to educating ourselves. While that’s generally a blessing, I have traditionally struggled to find the necessary time not even to get into the hands-on action, but to find and select where to start.

The Ethics of Information Technologies. At over 200 GBP (about 275 USD), this book isn’t cheap, although totally worth keeping handy to consult here and there. This is a compendium of papers that have influenced the debate on privacy, trust, cybersecurity, digitalisation, bias, human oversight and other key conversations on computer ethics. Spanning thirty years, it includes papers and scientific articles, so the style is pretty academic.  Edited by Keith W. Miller is Orthwein Endowed Professor for Lifelong Learning in the Sciences, University of Missouri-St. Louis, USA and Mariarosaria Taddeo, a Researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, UK.

Harmonious Technology, A Confuncian Ethics of Technology. Edited by Pak-Hang Wong and  Tom Xiaowei Wang, this book helps people raised and educated in Weestern countries to understand and explore the philosophical ethical reflection and approach to technology from a non-Western point of view. The book’s thesis is that given global nature of technology, there is an urgent need for multiculturalism in philosophy and ethics of technology that include non-Western perspectives in our thinking about technology.

Heartificial Intelligence, written by John C. Havens, one of the driving forces behind the IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems. It offers pragmatic solutions drawing on economics, emerging technologies, and positive psychology and provides a first values-driven approach to algorithmic living. Pretty appealing for beginners and for those days when one isn’t in the mood for paper reading. Each chapter opens with a fictional vignette, helping readers imagine how they would respond to various Artificial Intelligence scenarios while demonstrating the need to codify their values, as the algorithms dominating society today are already doing.

Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy. Written by a former Wall Street’s quant, this one focuses on how mathematical models pervade modern life. More and more high-stakes decisions are made either by algorithms or helped by machines. Mathematical models hold the promise of fairer, less biased decisions, driven by data. However, this increasing machine’s weighing calls for heightened scrutiny of how those decisions are made, what data are used, how those automated decisions can be made systematically and keep improving.

Moral Machines: Teaching Robots Right from Wrong by Wendell Wallace. Accessible for all levels, it comes full with academic research presented in plain English and supported by multiple real-live cases and examples. It touches upon mathematics, psychology, political science, philosophy…

Future Ethics sums decades’ worth of Cennydd Bowles’ research and consulting experience. It draws from modern ethical theory to propose frameworks and best practices for designers, product managers, and software engineers. Bowles reviews some of today’s tech industry’s biggest challenges: Unintended results, algorithmic bias, data protection, and privacy, online trust, etc.