The Future of Professional Ethics in Computing

Stahl, Bernd Carsten; Winter, Susan

Abstract

A commitment to the public good is at the core of all professions. This is reflected in the principles and practices of the ACM and prominently displayed in the ACM code of ethics and professional conduct. In this opinion piece, which marks the transition of the ethics column of the CACM from Susan Winter to Bernd Stahl, we review key ethical questions linked to computing that have been covered in the past and that may be relevant in future. We want to encourage ACM members and other readers to become engaged and express their hopes, fears and expectations concerning current and expected ethical questions. Drawing on their professional expertise when reflecting on ethical questions and contributing to the public debate is an important way in which computing professionals can contribute to the public good.

Citation

Stahl, B. C., & Winter, S. (2025). The Future of Professional Ethics in Computing. Communications of the ACM, 68(8), 26-28. https://doi.org/10.1145/3722550

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 2, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Jul 9, 2025
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jul 10, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 15, 2025
• Journal: Communications of the ACM
• Print ISSN: 0001-0782
• Electronic ISSN: 1557-7317
• Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 68
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 26-28
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3722550
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/51346392
• Publisher URL: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3722550