Targum spotlight: Rutgers Ethitech tackles ethics in computer science industry

Rutgers Ethitech is a club that focuses on the discussion of ethics, particularly in the computer science field, according to the organization’s getINVOLVED page.

Camryn Harrell, a School of Arts and Sciences senior and the outreach officer for Ethitech, said the club started during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic when University classes were remote.

The club has approximately 15 members in attendance per meeting and is still looking to grow. While most of its members are students majoring in computer science, Ethitech welcomes all interested undergraduates to join, she said.

The organization's meetings are typically held on Friday evenings at the Student Center on Busch campus, she said.

"For students going into the industry, if you have that good foundational background, we’re more likely to just make good decisions once we get into the (technology) industry," Harrell said.

Kal Pandit, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore and president of Ethitech, said the club consists of four committees: advocacy, community, education and media, which helps increase participation by club members and provide an opportunity for leadership positions.

Specifically, the advocacy committee works with different University professors and organizations to spread the beliefs that Ethitech members share. The community committee organizes events, the education committee leads discussions about current events such as ChatGPT and the media committee creates content for the clubs’ social media pages, he said.

This past fall semester, Ethitech hosted an Intro to Climate Tech workshop in collaboration with the Rutgers Students for Environmental Awareness club, according to an Instagram post. The workshop was held at the Alexander Library on the College Avenue campus where attendees created infographics following a lecture.

Although Ethitech broadly discusses ethics at its meetings, the organization is actively working toward making an impact at the University, Pandit said.

"A lot of the change that we do is centered within the (computer science) community and the (technology) community at large," he said. "We are working toward concrete change mostly toward working with organizations at Rutgers to foster an appreciation for ethics in (technology) as well as looking at causes mostly within Rutgers where we can contribute."

For instance, Pandit said the club collaborated with the Rutgers University Endowment Justice Collective last semester to better understand the ethical practices behind the University’s investments and support appropriate changes.

Additionally, Ethitech members also supported the efforts of individuals in the Department of Computer Science in creating an ethics course at the University, he said. Though the planning process for a similar course had already started, Ethitech members met with the department chair and advisors to guide possible intriguing topics discussed in regard to data ethics.

Pandit said he joined the club during the spring semester of his first year at Rutgers because he was interested in the topics addressed and appreciated the clubs’ environment.

Harrell said she joined Ethitech as a first-year student, too, because she had already known the founder and is also planning to go into the field of computer science.

She soon realized the importance of ethical practices when it comes to technology and thought Ethitech would be an opportunity to become more educated on the subject, she said.

"We use technology in our everyday lives," Harrell said. "It’s just important that we’re using it ethically and just being aware of the impacts that it can have on our environment, on ourselves and on our mental health."

She said she is constantly learning something new due to being in Ethitech and believes this knowledge will be an asset as she enters the industry post-graduation.

But regardless of a student’s intended major, Pandit said he had many hopes for incoming Ethitech members, such as learning about the complexities of technology and the potential dangers that can come with this.

"What I hope for members to gain is an appreciation and exposure to the topics that surround ethics in (technology)," Pandit said. "The (technology) we’re making … someone’s going to end up using it, someone’s going to end up being affected by it … We can’t always make it better, but at the same time, what we want to accomplish is an appreciation for what can go wrong and preventing that the best that we can."