Generally speaking, I am a Technology Ethics researcher, addressing questions from fields such as ICT Ethics, Machine Ethics, Computer Ethics, AI Ethics, Robot Ethics, Information Ethics, Data Ethics and some more, with the aim to provide critical analysis and normative guidance, to problems and issues with today’s and tomorrow’s technologies.
More specifically, I am working with an ethical approach I have developed — Vector Utilitarianism — which I use to assess and analyze technologies (and other entities) from a fully naturalistic, hard determinist, prescriptivist and consequentialist point of view. This approach is informed by science (especially moral psychology) and expands the circle of ethical consideration beyond criteria of species, material composition and “human-like” types of consciousness.
You may find out more about Vector Utilitarianism in my PhD dissertation here: scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/theses/vector-utilitarianism
Writing
- Wilhelm E. J. Klein (forthcoming), Exceptionalism in the Ethics of Humans, Animals and Technology, Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society Volume 15, Issue 2.
- Wilhelm E. J. Klein, Vivian W. Lin (2018), “Sex Robots” Revisited – A Reply to the Call for a Ban, ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society archive Volume 47 Issue 4, Page 107-121 (doi: 10.1145/3243141.3243153)
- Wilhelm E. J. Klein (2017), Robots & Free Software, In A World with Robots, Springer, Page 63-76 (doi: 978-3-319-46667-5_5)
- Wilhelm E. J. Klein (2016), Problems With Moral Intuitions Regarding Technologies – And How To Address Them, IEEE Potentials Volume 35, Issue 5, Page 40-42 (doi: 10.1109/MPOT.2016.2569742)
- Wilhelm E. J. Klein (2016), Can We Trust For-Profit Corporations to
Protect Our Privacy? IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, Volume 35, Issue 3, Page 17-20 (doi: 10.1109/MTS.2016.2592780) - Wilhelm E. J. Klein (2016), Pocket Psychopaths – An Anthropomorphic Intentional Stance to Facilitate Moral Intuitions about (Consumer) Technology, EEE XPlore, 2015 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS) (doi: 10.1109/ISTAS.2015.7439428)
- Wilhelm E. J. Klein (2015), Robots Make Ethics Honest – and Vice Versa, ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society Volume 45, Issue 3. (doi: 10.1145/2874239.2874276)
- Michelle Poon, Wilhelm E. J. Klein (2017), Identity Crisis in the Pearl River Delta, Digital Culture & Society (DCS): Volume 3, Issue 1. (doi: 10.14361/dcs-2017-0111)
Peer-Reviewed Conferences:
- Wilhelm E. J. Klein (May, 2016) Riding the Absent Technophant – About the Ethical Obligations that Flow from Technologists’ Expertise-Enabled Moral Intuitions, Forum on Philosophy, Engineering & Technology, Nuremberg.
- Wilhelm E. J. Klein (Nov. 2015) AI & Preference Utilitarianism, Social Implications of Artificial Intelligence Conference, Seoul.
Invited Talks & Workshops
- AI Alignment & Self-Driving Cars, Luwig-Erhard-Berufsschule
Schweinfurt, Germany (Jul. 2018) - Language Barriers & Globalisation, Luwig-Erhard-Berufsschule
Schweinfurt, Germany (Jul. 2016) - Uranium Marble Ring Oscillator Workshop, DimSum Labs, Hong
Kong (2014 / 2015) - Brain-Hacking: Haptic Compass Belt, DimSum Labs, Hong Kong (Jun. 2015)
- Introduction to Drones, DimSum Labs, Hong Kong (Jul. 2015)
- The Ethics of Social Networks, Luwig-Erhard-Berufsschule
Schweinfurt, Germany (Jul. 2014)