Professional Computer Ethics: 'I didn't do it' is not good enough

摘要

A friend once posed the question "How good is good enough? in an article addressing professional computer ethics issues. I have frequently argued for various answers to this question by emphasizing the responsibility of software practitioners to those who are impacted by what we do. "How good is good enough?"; the answer to this abstract question becomes concrete when it is asked in specific contexts. The answer actually has two aspects; doing a quality job to make something work and limiting the possible failures of the product. One facet is commonly emphasized in our classes and the other is frequently understated or ignored. Let me illustrate the problem with two examples.