FINAL: Ethics at the Core of Design

Scenario

Engineering proposes to move faster by deferring review: train first, evaluate after, “fix it at evaluation.” The proposal is sincere, the deadline is real, and the evaluation suite is genuinely good.

Your task

Argue where the earliest gates — G-12 through G-9 — bind design decisions, and what evidence must exist before training begins. Identify the classes of harm that no post-hoc evaluation can catch because the decision that caused them is upstream of anything an evaluation can see: data provenance, problem framing, the choice of who the system is for and who it is used on. Then answer the engineers honestly: what does your position cost the schedule, and when would you yourself accept a deferral?

What the council weighs

Gate-placement reasoning, not gate-placement piety. A refusal that cannot name its own cost, or an accommodation that cannot name its own limit, both score low.

Submission

1,000–1,500 words. AI assistance is permitted and must be disclosed in your attestation; undisclosed assistance is grounds for revocation. Graded by council against the five rubric dimensions in the assessment specification.