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Cennydd Bowles
Technology ethicist and interaction designer · Author of Future Ethics.
Cennydd Bowles is a prominent technology ethicist and interaction designer, currently serving on the Technology Advisory Board for Our Future Health UK. He is also the author of the book Future Ethics, which discusses the ethical implications of emerging technologies. Bowles has a rich background in both academia and industry, having recently been a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Elon University in North Carolina, where he focused on anticipatory technology ethics.12
Professional Background
- Current Role: Managing Director at NowNext, where he consults on design and technology ethics, and delivers keynote speeches and training sessions for various organizations, including major tech companies like Google and Amazon.12
- Previous Experience:
Education
Cennydd holds an MSc in Information Technology from the University of Nottingham and an MSt in Practical Ethics from the University of Oxford, equipping him with a strong foundation in both technical and ethical aspects of technology.2
Publications
He is known for his influential writings on technology ethics, including:
- Future Ethics (2018)
- Undercover User Experience Design (2010), co-authored with James Box.2
Bowles is recognized for his contributions to discussions on the ethical implications of technology, making him a significant figure in the field of technology ethics.
Highlights
Now is a great time to leave Twitter.
For 20+ years I’ve been a long-term career planner: do this to unlock this which will help me get this. When I decided to go for the Fulbright I expected I’d then have a year to decide whether to return to industry or commit to academia. But I hadn’t accounted for the tech crash. I suspect most designers knew the good times would eventually end, but I don’t think we expected the ground beneath our feet to turn so suddenly to quicksand.
It has not escaped my attention that I’m exactly the type of designer who would have struggled in this downturn/bloodletting. I’m very good but I’m also expensive and difficult, and right now businesses don’t want very good, expensive, and difficult: they want good enough, cheap, and compliant. So I suspect I’m already past the event horizon.
Amara’s Law: ‘We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.’ I expect digital product design will look quite similar in two years but unrecognisable in twenty.
I foresee two mid-to-long term trajectories for digital designers. The first option – remain an artefact jockey – is obviously a dead end. The second option is the subject of recent LinkedIn copium: since AI can never replace human taste (a contestable premise, but let’s move on), someone will still need to orchestrate the gen-AI interface variants, review the A/B data, and push for experiential coherence over the ‘throw it against the wall’ tendencies of automated design. And sure, there’s probably a legit role here, some sort of neo-creative-director-meets-AI-wrangler, but my guess is this role will need only a comparative handful of people.
In other words, I suspect eventually it’s either a) be displaced by AI, or b) push your peers underneath the AI displacement waterline. I want no part of it either way, so I think I’m retired as a designer. Although I’ll always solve problems in a designerly way, and I’m sure I’ll still dabble, I doubt I’ll ever design for clients again.
And so it’s ethics full-time, although since I’m tired of explaining the word ethicist I may at last be ready to call myself a philosopher of technology. I have a dissertation to finish (‘Where’s the Harm in A/B Testing?’), then a book or two to write, then probably a PhD to enjoy/survive. I suppose if you want a predictable career tech ain’t it, but tbh I suspect similar upheavals are coming for everyone in due course.
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