Teaching Ethics, (Islamic) Values and Technology: Musings on Course Design and Experience

Ethics is an important branch of philosophy that helps guide humans in living the good life. Although ethics, morals, and values traditionally had pivotal roles in the mission of universities, modern universities tend to almost exclusively emphasize vocational and technical knowledge rather than the humanities and no longer aim at character building. This shift has had many negative consequences including the commission of horrible crimes in the relentless pursuit of material wealth and power by graduates of elite universities. The advent of new technologies such as artificial intelligence greatly empowers human beings, who now require more than ever greater ethical awareness. In this paper, we will share our experience in designing and conducting a course titled Ethics, Values, and Technology at a technology university in Pakistan. The unique feature of this course was the incorporation of discussions on Islamic ethical frameworks along with secular ethical frameworks for dealing with modern technological challenges. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first course of its kind and we believe and hope that our design and experience can benefit others who are interested in offering such a course.