Brave new era in technology needs new ethics - FT.com

Pablo Picasso once declared: "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." The Spanish artist's joke may have been true of the 20th century, when computers were for the most part souped-up calculating machines performing clearly prescribed functions. But the expansion of computing power in the early 21st century means that computers are now posing some of the most testing questions of our times. And it is not clear who is responsible for providing the answers.