Ethics in Electrical Engineering

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Ethics in Electrical Engineering

• Professor Rich Kozick
• Electrical Engineering Department
• December, 2000

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IEEE Code of Ethics (1990)

• We, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of
  the importance of our technologies in affecting
  the quality of life throughout the world, and in
  accepting a personal obligation to our
  profession, its members and the communities we
  serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest
  ethical and professional conduct and agree

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IEEE Code of Ethics

• 1. to accept responsibility in making
  engineering decisions consistent with the safety,
  health and welfare of the public, and to disclose
  promptly factors that might endanger the public
  or the environment

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IEEE Code of Ethics

• 2. to avoid real or perceived conflicts of
  interest whenever possible, and to disclose them
  to affected parties when they do exist
• 3. to be honest and realistic in stating claims
  or estimates based on available data
• 4. to reject bribery in all its forms

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IEEE Code of Ethics

• 5. to improve the understanding of technology,
  its appropriate application, and potential
  consequences
• 6. to maintain and improve our technical
  competence and to undertake technological tasks
  for others only if qualified by training or
  experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent
  limitations

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IEEE Code of Ethics

• 7. to seek, accept, and offer honest criticism
  of technical work, to acknowledge and correct
  errors, and to credit properly the contributions
  of others
• 8. to treat fairly all persons regardless of
  such factors as race, religion, gender,
  disability, age, or national origin

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IEEE Code of Ethics

• 9. to avoid injuring others, their property,
  reputation, or employment by false or malicious
  action
• 10. to assist colleagues and co-workers in their
  professional development and to support them in
  following this code of ethics.

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Steps in Ethical Analysis

• What are the relevant facts?
• What are the moral issues?
• Who are the people affected?
• What are the possible alternatives?
• What are the expected outcomes?
• What are the practical constraints?
• All things considered, what actions can be
  morally justified?

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Flaw in Intel Pentium Chip

• Late 1994 media reports flaw in Pentium
• Inaccuracies in divide for certain inputs
  degree depends on inputs and instructions.
• Worst case fourth decimal digit 0.000X
• Bit error in 1 out of every 360 billion randomly
  fed divides
• Discovered by a university researchererrors
  easily reproducible
• Widely reported by media

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Intels Response

• They acknowledged the defect, claimed
• insignificant,
• vast majority of users would never notice it.
• Pentium replaced for free only for users with
  demonstrated need for unflawed chip.
• Users not satisfied negative publicity!
• Intel then replaced for anyone that asked.

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The Rest of the Story

• Intel was aware of the flaw long before the media
  coverage no plan to inform users.
• Flaws are common in complex ICs!
• This flaw was already corrected in next version
  (but not yet in production)
• Intel continued to sell the flawed Pentiums, even
  after the media coverageplanned to sell until
  supplies exhausted.

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Questions

• Is there an ethical issue? Or, merely public
  relations issues?
• Should all defects be revealed to users?
• Would a warning solve the dilemmaThis product
  may contain unexpected flaws and might not
  operate correctly under all conditions.
• What to do when it is impossible to remove all
  defects in a product? (EE CS!)

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Canons from IEEE Code of Ethics

• 1. ... making engineering decisions consistent
  with the safety, health and welfare of the public
  
• 3. to be honest and realistic in stating claims
  or estimates based on available data
• 7. to seek, accept, and offer honest criticism
  of technical work, to acknowledge and correct
  errors,

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Questions

• Was Intels approach consistent with the Code of
  Ethics?
• Initially, no plan to notify users of the known
  flaw with division
• Replace Pentium upon request from users
• Continue to sell Pentiums that were known to be
  flawed