Compassion in Governing: An Ethical Perspective
Governing, as defined by Oxford Languages, is having authority to conduct the policy, actions, and affairs of a state, organization, or people. But how one goes about governing is another matter. In this Spotlight, Markkula Center staff and scholars analyze the role of compassion in the approaches used by people in power.
AI Ethics Literacy
A growing need, a growing list of issues, and a growing collection of resources from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.
A list of AI ethics issues and relevant materials (articles and video recordings) from the Center’s website.
Before you Prompt
A creative and ethical inquiry into what it means to be a designer, or any kind of creator, in an AI-saturated world.
By Zara Shroff ’25, a 2024-25 Hackworth Fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.
AI and the Environment: Sustaining the Common Good
On November 1, 2024 the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and Next10 cohosted a daylong conference on AI and sustainability.
Ethics in the Age of Disruptive Technologies: An Operational Roadmap
By José Roger Flahaux, Brian Patrick Green, and Ann Skeet
"Ethics in the Age of Disruptive Technologies: An Operational Roadmap,” or, more briefly, the “ITEC Handbook,” offers organizations a strategic plan to enhance ethical management practices, empowering them to navigate the complex landscape of disruptive technologies such as AI, machine learning, encryption, tracking, and others while upholding strong ethical standards.
On the ethics of integrating AI (amid claims of widespread adoption)
Congressional district boundaries don't just organize votes; they determine whose voices matter and whose are diminished.
How might students systematically record the use of sourcing and attribution present in everyday news stories? Use this standalone guide to annotating sourcing. It comes with all the crucial definitions and media ethics context you'll need, examples, instructions, and template spreadsheet.
Throughout history, new technologies have disrupted society in different ways–some positively and some negatively–from steam-powered engines and electricity, to the Internet, and now again with artificial intelligence (AI); generative AI in particular in this instance. The creation of art, journalism, education, and the very truth itself have all been tested by the use of ChatGPT and other generative AIs. Markkula Center staff and scholars unpack some of the many related ethical dilemmas in this Ethics Spotlight.
The gun debate has again reached a fever pitch in the shadow of several horrific mass shootings. Ethics Center staff and faculty interrogate the moral and ethical issues associated with gun use and regulation.
The world has been experiencing worsening wildfire conditions for decades, and in California the situation is particularly bad. The Ethics Center staff and other scholars address some of the key ethical issues surrounding these disasters.
As generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot become more common in classrooms, experts at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics are raising important ethical questions about how these technologies are reshaping education.
Santa Clara University has named Davina Hurt as the director of the Government Ethics Program.
We bid a fond farewell to the Ethics Center's Class of 2025 and award this year's Markkula Prize for outstanding commitment to ethics.
The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics welcomed back Professor Shannon Vallor, author of The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim our Humanity in an Age of Machine Learning, for a compelling presentation on AI and humanity, including how we can overcome our own mistakes and biases.
Teaching Note: Interview of Theranos Whistleblower, Tyler Shultz
This teaching module for business ethics, leadership and management courses includes two videos, homework assignments, and class discussion, all designed to spark conversation about ethical issues associated with whistleblowers and corporate governance.
Evaluating Culture for Ethics
Our Culture Self-Assessment Practice recommends approaches to evaluating culture for ethics within companies and other types of organizations. The materials are primarily for members of an organization’s leadership team, including human resources and legal, but designed to engage a cross-section of leaders from various disciplines.
Ann Skeet, senior director, leadership ethics, quoted by National Catholic Reporter.
Executive Director, Don Heider, quoted by WIRED.
Davina Hurt, director, government ethics, quoted by PennLive.
Brian Green, director, technology ethics, quoted by The Pilot.