This entire thread is such a strong case for why all undergrad CS programs should have a core requirement of at least one ethics course.
Every business school and MBA program has ethics course requirements. Does it really make a difference? Maybe it does, and things would be even worse than they are otherwise. But I'm not sure.
Especially if it has concrete historical examples of technology intended for good and how it was later used for evil, rather than something more generally-philosophical.
You really think taking an ethics COURSE will do anything?
How are you supposed to 'learn' ethics?
Never understood the point of those. My university had over 4 for the cyber students and over half the grads went on to work for the MIC contributing to blowing up brown children in the middle east anyway.
Clearly, our problem must have been that they didn't have 5 mandatory time-waster ethics courses. That surely would have solved the matter. Add in a few extra "racism is bad" and "don't be a meanie" courses to round out the collection, just for good measure.
At least I had 6 humanities courses telling me why communism is good
Edit: To make this comment have a little substance, what I'm getting at is, universities are already way too biased and one-sided on humanities issues to be teaching ethics. Students notice it too. I've gotten As on some insanely bad papers just cause I knew what they wanted to hear.
Don't ethics courses make people less ethical because they teach people how to come up with ethical justifications for straightforwardly bad things?