“Figuring out the basket of existing and new rights that apply in the digital space and in respect of digital technologies; genuine interdisciplinarity and collaboration across domains; the evaluation of power and power dynamics; the acceptable tradeoff between harms and “innovation” (and the meaning of innovation).”

“The specific topics are numerous, and which are “most pressing” is debatable; the key at this point is ensuring that the responsible tech efforts themselves are meaningful and focus on results—not just lip service.”

“Responsible Innovation: aligning product development with societal goals and respecting ethical boundaries; Ethical Use: making responsible decisions about third-party use; what is the responsibility of companies to decide and where do lawmakers need to step in?”

“The most pressing topic for Responsible Tech is how to establish accountability.”

“What “responsible” or “good” mean in practical application. For me, all technology must be created in ways that probably increase long term, holistic (meaning available to all globally) human wellbeing in symbiosis with environmental flourishing.”

“Understanding how the technology we create impacts all of society, especially the most vulnerable is critical to ensure we are improving the world rather than harming it. The people creating AI in particular do not represent the broader population that has been negatively impacted by it (e.g., poor, immigrants, people of color). They lack the lived experiences of these groups and as a result, can’t anticipate how their technology could be harmful or have different results than for populations similar to themselves.”

“Impact on mental health, distortion of shared reality & ability to make sense of the world, and that our innate biases are baked into so much of the tech ecosystem.”

“Equity and inclusion in technology are the most pressing and important topics related to responsible technology. There is still a largely homogenous group making key decisions about technology and its impact on society.”

“The tech industry has made tremendous strides in the past few years in prioritizing harms related to cybersecurity, privacy ,hate speech and harassment. Tech companies now need to make similarly concerted efforts for issues such as mental health and well-being, polarization, environmental sustainability, racial justice, fairness and equity.”

“Technology plays a central role within our critical economic, social, and political institutions. There has been significant work over the last few years to develop ethical principles to guide the development of responsible tech. But, moving from principles to practices is not always straightforward. We must now put considerable effort into operationalizing ethical principles into sound practices.”

“We need to focus on the areas that emerging technologies often forget. Who doesn’t have physical access to the internet? Who is not represented in the datasets that train AI systems? Who has been historically disenfranchised and excluded from the conversations around AI? Responsible Tech asks these questions before a new device is developed, and frequently checks in during the creation and testing processes to ensure that it is not contributing to or amplifying existing biases. Being responsible and inclusive is difficult but it is vital; it could avert the limitations of discrimination and racism.”

“We must imbue the future of technology with justice, equity, and empathy at its core.”

“At the core of Responsible Tech is for me the dichotomy between tech and values, between technological innovation and the fundamental elements of our democracy.”

“Many of the greatest hurdles come from too many principles and not enough practical rules that can be implemented easily.”

“I think that the most important topic in Responsible Tech is justice - racial justice, social justice, economic justice, ecological justice.”

“Lack of diversity and representation of marginalized communities in tech.”