“In a world of AI, software engineers need to think more than ever about the security consequences of their products. Responsible Software Engineering is an eye-opening tour through the issues and strategies to make software safer.”
—Bruce Schneier, author of A Hacker’s Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society’s Rules, and How to Bend them Back
Today’s software applications need more than a friendly interface and correct algorithms. They also need to be responsible: to be beneficial for society and not cause harm. In an era of AI chatbots, deep fake images and videos, social media bubbles, expanding privacy regulations, and a rapidly warming planet, it’s more important than ever to practice responsible software engineering so your products earn your users’ trust—and deserve it.
Responsible Software Engineering gathers the wisdom of over 100 Google employees to help you anticipate the effects of your software on the world and its inhabitants. It features expert advice and practical case studies so you can build better applications that are more ready for real-world situations:
- Treating people more fairly, regardless of their beliefs, culture, skin tone, and other attributes
- Operating more safely, to reduce the risk of physical, psychological, or financial harm
- Better protecting people’s privacy, particularly when collecting personal information
- Incorporating wisdom from the social sciences, law, ethics, and other fields that many engineers may be unfamiliar with
- Reducing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), to address the risks of climate change
Join Daniel J. Barrett, a former Googler and long-time software engineer, to dive into these issues and more, including real-world case studies. You’ll receive expert advice on how to anticipate the effects of your application on the world and its inhabitants, so you can have more confidence that your products “do the right thing.”
Chapters
- Responsible Software Engineering: A Quick Introduction
- Creating AI Systems That Work Well for Everyone
- Incorporating Societal Context
- Anticipating and Planning for Downstream Consequences
- Securing and Respecting Users’ Privacy
- Measuring and Reducing Your Code’s Carbon Footprint
- Building a Culture of Responsible Software Engineering