A tech company develops facial recognition technology capable of identifying people in public spaces with high accuracy. The company is technically able to deploy it widely for commercial purposes. Before doing so, it convenes an ethics panel to consider societal impact, privacy concerns, and misuse risks. This process aligns with which key question ethical data use requires organizations to ask?单项选择题
A
Is this something we can do?
B
Is this something that will be profitable?
C
Is this something we should do?
D
Is this something covered by our acceptable use policy?

Question

A tech company develops facial recognition technology capable of identifying people in public spaces with high accuracy. The company is technically able to deploy it widely for commercial purposes. Before doing so, it convenes an ethics panel to consider societal impact, privacy concerns, and misuse risks. This process aligns with which key question ethical data use requires organizations to ask?单项选择题

A

Is this something we can do?

B

Is this something that will be profitable?

C

Is this something we should do?

D

Is this something covered by our acceptable use policy?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Ethical deliberation centers on whether an action ought to be taken, not merely on technical ability or commercial gain; therefore the panel’s process aligns with asking “Is this something we should do?”

1) Relevant knowledge points and concepts
- Distinction between capability, legality, profitability, policy compliance, and ethics: “can we?” (technical feasibility), “is it legal/allowed?” (policy and law), “will it be profitable?” (business case), and “should we?” (ethical and societal judgment).
- Ethical data use requires assessing privacy harms, potential misuse, disproportionate impacts, consent, accountability, and societal consequences.
- An ethics panel is a governance mechanism designed to evaluate moral implications and public interest, not technical feasibility or profit.

2) Step-by-step reasoning
- Step 1: The company already has the technical ability to deploy the system (“can we?” is satisfied).
- Step 2: Convening an ethics panel indicates concern beyond capability — the firm wants to weigh societal impacts, privacy, misuse risks and norms.
- Step 3: These concerns are normative and forward-looking, asking whether deployment should proceed given potential harms and values.
- Step 4: Therefore the key question being invoked is the moral one: “Is this something we should do?”

3) Calculations
- Not applicable; this is a conceptual, not numerical, decision.

4) Why the correct answer is correct
- “Is this something we should do?” directly captures deliberation about societal impact, privacy, and misuse — the topics the ethics panel is explicitly addressing. Ethics panels are convened to answer precisely that normative question.

5) Why other options are incorrect
- “Is this something we can do?” addresses feasibility; the company already has capability, so the panel is not focused on this.
- “Is this something that will be profitable?” is a business question about revenue, not ethics.
- “Is this something covered by our acceptable use policy?” is a compliance question; it may be relevant but does not capture the broader ethical deliberation about societal impact and misuse.