NBC Left Field and Euronews take a look at inventors who were faced with the negative consequences of their inventions, and how society today addresses new technologies ethically.
It’s a tough thing to consider if the bad outweighs the good of an invention. NBC's Left Field and Euronews take a look at inventors, such as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, who were faced with unforeseen consequences and remorse over their creations.
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Inventing is good for the world: higher economic development is associated directly with higher levels of innovation. But how often does society stop to think about the negative consequences of an invention?
More often than not, actually.
According to Alexandra Midal, professor of space and communication at HEAD Geneve, it wasn’t until the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that people began to question the goodness of inventions and new technologies.
Now, more and more, we consider ethics when creating technologies. And, with the rise of social media, it’s become increasingly simpler for everyday individuals to be the watchdogs of those technologies. Between user complaints and feedback forms, lawsuits are at the tips of any user’s fingers, so companies must be extra careful.
Watch the player above for a full breakdown of how inventor's remorse works.
—This story was produced by NBC Left Field in partnership with Euronews.