WeAreDevelopers Logo WeAreDevelopers
Sign in
For You LIVE
World Congress 2025 • Aug 20, 2025 • Session details

Kill Switch or Moral Compass: Who Programs AI’s Conscience?

Torsten Stiller

Amazon's biased CV screener proved the danger of unchecked algorithms. Learn to proactively engineer a moral compass into your AI workflows so the kill switch gathers dust.

Pause
Mute Enter Fullscreen
#1 about 3 min

The hidden dangers of automated algorithms

How an e-commerce recommendation engine inadvertently flattened product diversity by lacking a moral compass.

#2 about 3 min

The limits of technical rules in robotics

Why hardcoded directives alone fail to resolve complex moral conflicts in artificial systems.

#3 about 2 min

The developer role in programming artificial conscience

How daily design choices and data selection embed specific values and biases into machine learning models.

#4 about 7 min

Real-world tech failures from missing ethical guardrails

Case studies of major tech failures involving flawed algorithms, amplified bias, and autonomous accidents.

#5 about 7 min

Core principles for building responsible systems

Strategies to ensure fairness, transparency, accountability, and proactive safety measures in technical applications.

#6 about 4 min

Actionable playbook for ethical software development workflows

Practical methods for integrating ethical considerations into standard workflows using adversary testing and empathy exercises.

#7 about 3 min

Regulatory pressures and the EU AI Act

How upcoming legislation is transforming ethical design from a theoretical ideal into a strict compliance mandate.

#8 about 3 min

Balancing technical fail-safes with proactive moral compasses

Why developers must architect systems that inherently respect human agency rather than relying solely on emergency disengagements.

Matching moments

5:18 min

Addressing psychological safety and ethical risks of AI adoption

Vera Slavnić Vera Slavnić · Europe 2026 Virtual

1:34 min

Introduction to responsible artificial intelligence and societal impact

Toju Duke · World Congress 2022

4:25 min

Assessing AI ethics adoption in the private sector

Björn Bringmann Björn Bringmann +3 · World Congress 2024

6:10 min

Aligning artificial intelligence safeguards with corporate realities

Răzvan Ion · LIVE

3:08 min

Implementing responsible artificial intelligence frameworks to mitigate model bias

Alexander Wallner Alexander Wallner +3 · World Congress 2024

1:58 min

Prioritizing human impact and professional responsibility in AI engineering

More from World Congress 2025

GenAI Security: Navigating the Unseen Iceberg thumbnail
24:33
11 months ago

GenAI Security: Navigating the Unseen Iceberg

Maish Saidel-Keesing

Behind the Code: How Women Are Powering the Future of AI thumbnail
30:28
about 1 year ago

Behind the Code: How Women Are Powering the Future of AI

Alexandra Wudel, Laura Moritz, Madalina Florean

The AI Hype Filter: What’s Real, What’s Investable, What’s Noise? thumbnail
28:12
about 1 year ago

The AI Hype Filter: What’s Real, What’s Investable, What’s Noise?

Justus Lumpe, Konstantin Vinogradov, Nils Eiteneyer, Stephan Wirris

AI in Leadership: How Technology is Reshaping Executive Roles thumbnail
28:19
about 1 year ago

AI in Leadership: How Technology is Reshaping Executive Roles

Bernd Datler, Jasmin Kaiser, Jeff Hausmann, Sonja Alvarez

The AI-Ready Stack: Rethinking the Engineering Org of the Future thumbnail
28:09
about 1 year ago

The AI-Ready Stack: Rethinking the Engineering Org of the Future

Alex Laubscher, Jan Oberhauser, Keno Dreßel, Mirko Novakovic

AI Sovereignty: What Does It Take? thumbnail
29:13
about 1 year ago

AI Sovereignty: What Does It Take?

Boris Hecker, Clemens Wasner, Robin Hermann, Sonja Alvarez

Upcoming sessions on this topic

Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 24, 2026 · 12:15–12:45

Stage 4

It's Not About the Models

Bob Wambach

Vice President, Market and Customer Insights for Dynatrace

Bob Wambach
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 25, 2026 · 16:10–16:40

Stage 5

Developer Liability in the AI Agent Era: Building Responsibly

Alla Barbalat

Freelancer Trade Show Spokesmodel and Tech Event Host

Alla Barbalat
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 24, 2026 · 15:30–16:00

Mainstage

Our Brains in the AI Era

Cassidy Williams

Senior Director of Developer Advocacy, GitHub

Cassidy Williams
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 24, 2026 · 16:50–17:20

Stage 6

Who Tests the AI? Building Trustworthy AI Systems at Enterprise Scale

Him Raj Singh

Manager, Software Engineer at PayPal

Him Raj Singh
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 25, 2026 · 14:10–14:40

Stage 1

The Broken Rung: How AI is Rebuilding Software Development from the Ground Up

Tomislav Tipurić

Chief Technology Officer, Nephos

Tomislav Tipurić
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 24, 2026 · 16:10–16:40

Outdoor Stage

When Humans Stop Writing Code: Rethinking Languages, Compilers, and Responsibility

Simon Auer

Organizer of flutter vienna meetup and CEO of marqably

Simon Auer

Related videos

Trust by Design: Creating Responsible AI-Powered Services thumbnail
25:51
World Congress 2025 • about 1 year ago

Trust by Design: Creating Responsible AI-Powered Services

Christoph Bräunlein, Dr. Marc Fuchs, Eva Stepkes, Niklas Harzheim

Introduction to Responsible AI: Balancing Value and Risk thumbnail
31:21
Europe 2026 Virtual • 2 months ago

Introduction to Responsible AI: Balancing Value and Risk

Seppe Housen

From Monolith Tinkering to Modern Software Development thumbnail
41:06
World Congress 2023 • almost 3 years ago

From Monolith Tinkering to Modern Software Development

Lars Gentsch

The shadows that follow the AI generative models thumbnail
28:30
World Congress 2023 • about 3 years ago

The shadows that follow the AI generative models

Cheuk Ho

Rethinking Recruiting: What you didn’t know about Responsible AI thumbnail
28:07
World Congress 2024 • about 2 years ago

Rethinking Recruiting: What you didn’t know about Responsible AI

Jaap Kersten, Vincent Slot

A walkthrough on Responsible AI Frameworks and Case Studies thumbnail
28:05
World Congress 2022 • about 4 years ago

A walkthrough on Responsible AI Frameworks and Case Studies

Toju Duke

Related articles

From learning to earning

Jobs that call for the skills explored in this talk.