ASPETTI ETICI DELLA RICERCA E DELL’INNOVAZIONE TECNOLOGICA: IL CASO DELL’INFORMATICA | MONDI VIRTUALI, RETI SOCIALI, SISTEMI AUTONOMI “INTELLIGENTI”

Advances in research and technological innovations in Informatics are revolutionizing our society. We already live in a cyber-physical world: interaction and collaboration among humans occurs seamlessly both in physical and in virtual spaces and virtual agents automate tasks at all levels, including those that traditionally relied on human intelligence. Access to data and information is available to everybody, anywhere and at any time, eliminating barriers but also generating potential distorted usage. Whatever humans do is inevitably mediated by technology, which potentially invades the private sphere of individuals. Changes are happening so fast and their effects are so spectacular that their ethical implications are often understood too late or underestimated. This contribution briefly introduces the disruptive changes produced by advances in Informatics and their severe ethical implications. It argues that an interdisciplinary effort is needed to focus on ethical issues while research and innovation are developed rather than as an after-the-fact reflection.