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By: Sarah Verbinnen

Shannon Vallor has pioneered many conversations about the ethics of technology and machine learning around the world. She received her Ph.D. from Boston College in 20011 and is now inspiring many people, from students to experts, with her ideas on integrating ethics into   engineering and computer science education and industry.[2] As the Regis and Dianne McKenna Professor of Philosophy at Santa Clara University and AI Ethicist at Google, Vallor studies and discusses “the impact of emerging technologies – particularly those involving automation and artificial intelligence”.[2] Her recent book, Technology and the Virtues: A Philosophical Guide to a Future Worth Wanting, as well as her several journal publications explore how “human character is being transformed by rapid advances in artificial intelligence, robots, new social media, surveillance, and biomedical technologies.”[2]

Vallor’s book, in particular, has received extraordinary recognition and ignited great discussion.[3] She analyzes how humanity is “increasingly clouded by uncertainty, instability, complexity, and risk” and how virtue ethics may provide the moral structure society needs moving forward.[2] She applies traditional philosophical virtues from both secular and religious perspectives, such as Aristotelian, Confucian, and Buddhist views, to the ever-changing and inescapable global technology of the 21st century.[2] Against the use of utilitarian and Kantian ethics, Vallor argues that the revival of virtue ethics and its adaptation to modern issues will offer humanity its best chance at self-cultivation and rational understanding.[4] The basis of her research revolves around the quality of life for technology users and its culturally diverse, widespread impact. In a brief YouTube video from Santa