The EthicalOS: Anticipating Future Risks of Technology

The ethical OS is a tool created by Omidyar Network to help technology companies predict and mitigate the unintended consequences of their products. It consists of three main tools: scenarios, risk scanning, and alternative ways of future-proofing. The scenarios tool asks questions about potential risks and impacts of the technology being developed. The risk scanning tool focuses on eight risk zones, including truth, disinformation, and propaganda, addiction in the dopamine economy, economic and asset inequalities, machine ethics and algorithmic bias, the surveillance state, data control and monetization, implicit trust in user understanding, and hateful and criminal actors. The alternative ways of future-proofing tool suggests ideas such as a Hippocratic Oath for data workers and licensure for technologists. The ethical OS can be used by current companies to assess and mitigate risks, and its application is supported by the need for ethical infrastructure and culture within organizations.