This page contains an abstracted version of an invited talk I gave at Graphics Interface '97, held in Kelowna, British Columbia. I wanted to remind my colleagues that scientists and technologists can have an influence on the culture through the work we do, and that we should acknowledge that responsibility and act appropriately. Because we can. Nuclear technology was only scaled back after horrible disasters and near-misses. Every change brings hope and trouble, rewards and punishments.
Computers are no different.
Technologies Agendas Technology is not neutral. A war arrow is intended to kill, regardless of the moral interpretation of what killing is done. These subjective implications of technologies are important to understand, because they're the ones we can't change once the technology is in place. Its goal is to neither help nor harm, but simply to do its job. Our applications make the moral purpose.