Patrick Lin

 

 

Professor

Contact Information 

• Office: Bldg. 47, Rm. 37C
• Phone: 805-756-2042
• Email: palin@calpoly.edu
• Web Page: https://ethics.calpoly.edu

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Education

• Ph.D., M.A., University of California, Santa Barbara
• B.A., University of California, Berkeley

Appointments

• Director, Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group at Cal Poly
• Affiliate Scholar, Stanford Law School, Center for Internet and Society
• Fulbright Specialist, University of Iceland, Centre for Arctic Policy Studies (2018)
• Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Australia (2010-2016)
• Visiting Associate Professor, Stanford University, School of Engineering (2013-2014)
• Interim Executive Director, International Association of Computing and Philosophy (2011-2012)
• Ethics Fellow, US Naval Academy, VADM Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership (2009-2010)
• Post-Doctoral Associate, Dartmouth College (2006-2009)

Other Affiliations (current and previous)

• Principal, US National Space Council, Users' Advisory Group
• Member, Microsoft Research Ethics Review Program and IRB
• Steering Committee Member, IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society (TTS)
• Fellow, For All Moonkind, Institute on Space Law and Ethics
• Member, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), AI Advisory Group
• Member, Center for the Study of Space Crime, Piracy, and Governance, Advisory Board
• Fellow, Aurelia Institute, Space Policy
• Member, Center for a New American Security, Task Force on AI and National Security
• Member, Karel Čapek Center for Values in Science and Technology
• Member, Center for Environmental and Technology Ethics—Prague
• Member, World Economic Forum, Global Future Council on AI and Robotics
• Standing Committee Member, 100 Year Study on Artificial Intelligence, Stanford HAI
• Member, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) expert group on autonomous weapons
• Research Director, Consortium for Emerging Technologies, Military Operations, and National Security (CETMONS)
• Member, Emerging Technologies of National Security and Intelligence (ETNSI) initiative, University of Notre Dame, Reilly Center

Professional Interests

• Applied and theoretical ethics
• Social and political philosophy
• Other areas, especially as they relate to science and technology

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Publications (selected)

Access to full text: Google Scholar and Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group website.

• "Outer Space Cyberattacks: Generating Novel Scenarios to Avoid Surprise", funded by the US National Science Foundation (June 2024).
• "Does Just War Theory Extend to the Space Frontier? ", Military Space Ethics (Howgate Publishing, 2022).
• "Arctic 2.0: How AI Can Help Develop a Frontier", Ethics & International Affairs (Summer 2019).
• "The Moral Gray Space of AI Decisions", Harvard Kennedy School (Dec 2018).
• "Robot Ethics 2.0: From Autonomous Cars to Artificial Intelligence", co-edited with Ryan Jenkins and Keith Abney (Oxford University Press, Sept 2017).
• "Ethics of Hacking Back: 6 Arguments from Armed Conflict to Zombies", funded by the US National Science Foundation (Sept 2016).
• “Why Ethics Matters For Autonomous Cars”, Autonomous Driving (Springer, 2015).
• “Super Soldiers,” (parts 1 and 2), Global Issues and Ethical Concerns in Human Enhancement Technologies, co-authored with Keith Abney and Maxwell Mehlman (IGI Global, 2014).
• “Military Neuroenhancement and Risk Assessment,” Neuroscience and Neurotechnology in National Security and Defense: Practical Considerations, Ethical Concerns, co-authored with Keith Abney and Maxwell Mehlman (Taylor & Francis Group, 2014).
• “Is Warfare the Right Frame for the Cyber Debate,” The Ethics of Information Warfare, co-authored with Fritz Allhoff and Keith Abney (Springer, 2014).
• “Ethics, War, and Robots,” Ethics and Emerging Technologies, co-authored with Keith Abney and George Bekey (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2013).
• “Enhanced Warfighters: A Policy Framework,” Military Medical Ethics for the 21st Century, co-authored with Maxwell Mehlman and Keith Abney (Ashgate, 2013).
• “War 2.0: Cyberweapons and Ethics,” Communications of the ACM, March 2012, vol. 55, no. 3: 24-26, co-authored with Fritz Allhoff and Neil Rowe.
• Enhanced Warfighters: Risk, Ethics, and Policy, co-authored with Maxwell Mehlman and Keith Abney, funded by The Greenwall Foundation (January 2013).
• Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Robotics, co-edited with George Bekey and Keith Abney (MIT Press, January 2012).
• “Robot Ethics: Mapping the Issues for a Mechanized World," Artificial Intelligence, April 2011, vol. 175, no. 5-6: 942-949.
• “Ethical Blowback from Emerging Technologies,” Journal of Military Ethics, December 2010, vol. 9, no. 4: 313-331.
• What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It Matter?: From Science to Ethics, co-authored with Fritz Allhoff and Daniel Moore (Wiley-Blackwell, March 2010).
• Ethics of Human Enhancement: 25 Questions & Answers, co-authored with Fritz Allhoff, James Moor, and John Weckert, funded by US National Science Foundation (August 2009).
• Autonomous Military Robotics: Risk, Ethics, and Design, co-authored with Keith Abney and George Bekey, funded by US Department of Defense/Office of Naval Research (December 2008).
• “Untangling the Debate: The Ethics of Human Enhancement,” NanoEthics: Ethics for Technologies that Converge at the Nanoscale, December 2008, no. 3: 251-264.
• Nanotechnology & Society: Current and Emerging Ethical Issues, edited by Patrick Lin and Fritz Allhoff (Springer, April 2008).
• Nanoethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Nanotechnology, edited by Patrick Lin, Fritz Allhoff, James Moor and John Weckert (Wiley, August 2007).
• “Nanotechnology Bound: Evaluating the Case for More Regulation,” NanoEthics: Ethics for Technologies that Converge at the Nanoscale, August 2007, no. 2: 105-122.
• “Space Ethics: Look Before Taking Another Leap for Mankind,” Astropolitics, Winter 2006, vol. 4, no. 3: 281-294.
• “What's So Special About Nanotechnology and Nanoethics?” International Journal of Applied Philosophy, Fall 2006, vol. 20, no. 2: 179-190, co-authored with Fritz Allhoff.
• “Nanotech in Global Security & Economics: Shifting Political and Economic Winds, or a Firestorm of Change?” (2006), Genetic Engineering News, vol. 26, issue 9: 6, co-authored with Brian Wang.

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Presentations and Meetings Organized (selected)

• "AI Kitchens and Robot Cooks: Ethical and Social Impacts", workshop organized at Pontifical Academy for Life, Vatican, 6-7 May 2025.
• "AI Kitchens and Robot Cooks: Ethical and Social Impacts", workshop organized at Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, 23-24 May 2024.
• "Space Bitskrieg: Why Orbital Conflicts Will Be More Like Hackers, Not Star Wars", International Space Development Conference, Los Angeles, 23 May 2024.
• "Why Outer Space is the Next Frontier for Cybersecurity", RSA Conference, San Francisco, 8 May 2024.
• "Property Rights in Outer Space: A Philosophical Analysis", For All Moonkind, Institute of Space Law and Ethics, 29 April 2024.
• "What Does AI Ethics Look Like in Outer Space?", Beyond the Cradle Conference, Ethics of AI + Space Exploration workshop, MIT Media Lab / Aurelia Institute, 4 April 2024.
• "What AI and Cybersecurity Have to Do with Outer Space Ethics", Univ. of Southern California, Information Sciences Institute, 19 January 2024.
• "How Technology Unlocks Frontiers and Ethical Conflicts: The Case of Outer Space", TU Munich Think Tank, Munich School of Politics and Public Policy, 30 November 2023.
• "Outer Space Security: Ethical Conflicts Hidden in Legal and Policy Gaps", Institute of State and Law, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 10 November 2023.
• "The State of Space Security and Future Risks", Geneva Centre for Security Policy, 9 November 2023.
• "How to Think About Technology Ethics: A New Method to the Madness”, Centre for International Governance Innovation, 26 September 2023.
• "AI Kitchens and Robot Cooks: Ethical and Social Impacts", workshop organized at Cal Poly, SLO, 13-14 July 2023.
• "Outer Space Ethics: Surveying the Landscape", Vandenberg Space Force Base, 23 May 2023.
• "Outer Space Cybersecurity—Novel Scenarios: Technical and Policy Challenges", workshop organized at the Hoover Institution, Stanford, 30-31 March 2023.
• "Human-Machine Teams: Best of Both Worlds, or a Half-Measure?", US Army War College, 19 July 2022.
• "Introduction to Data Ethics: Beyond Privacy and Security", Wearable Supportive Personalized Self-Regulation workshops, DARPA ISAT, 8 March 2022.
• "What Does It Mean to Trust AI? Some Conceptual Issues", AI Futures Symposium, Univ. of Southern California, 12 Jan 2021.
• "What Makes Something Ethical? Understanding the AI Ethics Workflow", Machine Learning Impact Initiative, Northwestern University, 10 Nov 2020.
• "AI and Omniscience: Uncovering a Root Issue in AI Ethics", Global Forum on AI for Humanity, Institute of France, Paris, 28 October 2019.
• "AI Ethics for Policymakers: Issues in Defense and Security", Cyber and AI Bootcamp for Congressional Staffers, Hoover Institution, Stanford, 28 August 2019.
• "Algorithmic Bias in Autonomous Vehicles: What Is It Exactly?", Autonomous Vehicle Ethics: Beyond the Trolley Problem conference, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, 27 June 2019.
• "AI in Defense and Security: Ethics and First Principles", Autonomous Security Systems conference, University of Zurich, 3 May 2019.
• Panel: AI Ethics, DARPA AI Colloquium, 6 March 2019.
• "Ethics of Space Exploration: To Boldy Go…But Also Thoughtfully", MIT Media Lab, Space Exploration Initiative, 5 Oct 2018.
• "Discrimination 2.0: How to Think About Bias in Ethical Programming", MIT Media Lab, Scalable Cooperation, 4 Oct 2018.
• "Ethical and Social Implications of Connected and Automated Vehicles", half-day ethics session, Automated Vehicles Symposium, San Francisco, 9-12 July 2018.
• "AI Decisions, Risk, and Ethics", keynote at AAAI/ACM's AI, Ethics and Society conference, New Orleans, 3 February 2018.
• "World Economic Forum's annual meeting of the Global Future Councils", Dubai, UAE, 11-12 November 2017 (presenter, panelist, and participant).
• "Autonomous Systems and Ethics", keynote at the National Academy of Engineering's annual conference, Washington DC, 8 October 2017.
• "Ethics of Cyberwarfare and Artificial Intelligence", workshop organized at the University of Iceland, 1-3 August 2017.
• "International Association for Computing and Philosophy 2017 Conference", Stanford University, 26-29 June 2017.
• "Beneficial AI 2017", Future of Life Institute, Asilomar, California, 3-8 January 2017 (participant only).
• "Conference: Developing a Normative Framework for Cyberwarfare", US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, 17-18 October 2016.
• "Ethics of Connected and Autonomous Systems", European Intelligence and Security Informatics Conference, Uppsala, Sweden, 19 August 2016.
• "Ethical and Social Implications of Automated Vehicles", half-day ethics session, Automated Vehicles Symposium, San Francisco, 1 July 2016.
• "Robot Cars, Risk and Ethics: Lessons for Artificial Intelligence", RSA Security Conference, San Francisco, 1 March 2016.
• "Ethics of Autonomous Systems: Avoiding Landmines on a Future Product Roadmap", Apple HQ, Cupertino, 7 December 2015.
• "Convergent Technologies, Divergent Responses? Autonomous Weapons, Cyber, and AI", workshop organized at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), Geneva, Switzerland, 9-10 November 2015.
• "Autonomous Vehicles and Ethics", workshop organized at Stanford University, Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (CARS), 14-15 September 2015.
• “The Right to Life and the Martens Clause”, United Nations, Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) expert meeting on lethal autonomous weapons systems, Geneva, Switzerland, 16 April 2015.
• “Ethics of Autonomous Military Systems”, Stanford University, Computer Science Department, 14 November 2014.
• “Technology and Journalism: Ethical Challenges in the 21st Century,” California Polytechnic State University, Journalism Ethics Symposium, San Luis Obispo, 10 October 2014.
• “Disruptive Technologies and Ethics: Why Google Should Care About Broader Social Implications,” Google, Mountain View, CA, 13 May 2014.
• “Ethics and Autonomous Cars,” Nissan Research Center, 27 February 2014; Bosch Research and Technology Center, 28 April 2014; Tesla Motors, 29 April 2014.
• “Autonomous Cars: Why Ethics Matters, and How to Think About It,” Daimler and Benz Foundation’s ‘Villa Ladenburg’ Project, Monterey, California, 21 February 2014.
• “The Future of the Automobile: A Crash Course in Ethics,” Stanford University, Mechanical Engineering Department, 3 February 2014.
• “Why the Drone Wars Matter for Automated Cars: Ethics Lessons from Recent History,” Stanford Law School and School of Engineering, 12 December 2013.
• “Military AI and Ethics,” Stanford University, Computer Science Department, 14 November 2013.
• “Ethics of Autonomous Cars: A Roadmap of Philosophical, Legal, and Social Issues,” Stanford University, School of Engineering, Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (CARS), 6 November 2013 .
• “Military Enhancements: Do They Violate International Humanitarian Law?” Stanford Law School, Center for Law and the Biosciences, 22 January 2013.
• “Cyber-Conflict: Issues in Ethics and Policy,” Chautauqua Council, New York, 30 July 2012.
• “War Robots: Issues in Ethics and Policy," UCLA Hammer Forum, 24 July 2012.
• “Military Enhancements,” Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics workshop on emerging technologies and ethics of war, Canberra (Australia), 14 June 2012.
• “Robot Ethics: Mapping the Field,” Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Canberra (Australia), 13 June 2012.
• “Robots, Ethics, and National Intelligence,” In-Q-Tel (CIA) Technology Focus Day, Arlington, VA, 9 November 2011.
• “Emerging Military Technologies and Society: A Survey of Challenges,” National Academies/DARPA workshop on military technologies, UC Irvine, 31 August 2011.
• “Military Human Enhancements: On the Frontlines of Science and Society,” Brocher-Hastings Summer Academy, Brocher Foundation (Switzerland), 7 July 2011.
• “Informational Warfare: Exposing the Fuzzy Logic in International Law,” UNESCO-sponsored workshop on informational warfare, University of Hertfordshire (UK), 1 July 2011.
• “Soldier 2.0: How Engineering a Better Warfighter Disrupts Society,” Society for Philosophy and Technology, University of North Texas, 28 May 2011.
• “Philosophical Collaboration: A Case Study in Technology Ethics (or: How to Herd Cats),” American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division meeting, 22 April 2011.
• “Military Blowback: Ethics, Emerging Technologies, and Society,” US Air Force Academy, McDermott Lecture, 14 March 2011.
• “Military 2.0: Ethical Issues in Robotics and Human Enhancement,” Harvard University, Humanity+ Summit 2010, 13 June 2010.
• “Enhanced Warfighters: Ethical and Social Implications,” US Naval Academy, Vice Admiral Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership's 2010 McCain conference, 22 April 2010.
• “Against Gene Patenting: Debunking the Argument Based on Incentives,” Leadership San Luis Obispo seminar series, 14 August 2009.
• “War Robots: What are the Risks and Ethical Issues?” Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) 2009 conference, 7 March 2009.
• “Nanotechnology and the Environment,” Univ. of Delaware/Delaware Biotechnology Institute, Environmental Nanoparticles: Science, Ethics, and Policy conference, 11 Nov 2008.
• “Superman vs. Frankenstein's Monster: The Debate on Human Enhancement Technologies,” International Congress of Nanotechnology, San Francisco, 6 Nov 2007.
• “The Rise of Nanoethics: Emerging Issues in Nanotechnology and Society,” Yale University, Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, 10 Oct 2007.
• “Introduction to Nanoethics,” University of California at Davis, Responsible Conduct of Research program, 4 May 2007.
• “Nanotechnology and Energy: How It Can Help and the Challenges It Faces,” The San Francisco Exploratorium's nanotechnology podcast series “Small Talk”, 16 April 2007.
• “Understanding the Debate: A Critical Look at Reasons For and Against More Regulation in Nanotechnology,” California Environmental Protection Agency's (Cal/EPA) nanotechnology symposium, 8 March 2007.
• “Finding Reasons: A Critical Look at Recent Pro-Enhancement Arguments,” Human Enhancement Technologies and Human Rights, Stanford University, 27 May 2006.
• “Space Ethics: Look Before Taking Another Leap for Mankind,” International Space Development Conference, Los Angeles, 5 May 2006.

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Media Articles (selected)

• "Why Space Cybersecurity Needs More Imagination",Via Satellite, 30 October 2024.
• "Robots Are Coming to the Kitchen—What That Could Mean for Society and Culture",The Conversation, 29 August 2024.
• "To Guard Against Cyberattacks in Space, Researchers Ask ‘What If?’", The Conversation, 3 July 2024.
• "10 Takeaways From Cal Poly’s Space Cyberattacks Report", Via Satellite, 25 June 2024.
• "Cryonics: Medicine, Or The Modern Mummy?", Forbes, 8 July 2019.
• "Would 'Deviant' Sex Robots Violate Asimov's Law of Robotics?", Forbes, 15 Oct 2018.
• "Artificial Islands, Robo-Ships, Sleepless Soldiers. Is This the Future of the Arctic?", World Economic Forum, 12 July 2018.
• "Who’s at Fault in Uber’s Fatal Collision?", IEEE Spectrum, 22 March 2018.
• "Why Cyberattacks Could Be War Crimes", World Economic Forum, 17 July 2017.
• "Autonomous Navigation: How To Drive Neighborhoods Crazy", Forbes, 12 July 2017.
• "Augmented Reality: It's Fun And Games Until You Make Your Neighborhood Mad", Forbes, 12 July 2017.
• "Here's How Tesla Solves A Self-Driving Crash Dilemma", Forbes, 5 April 2017.
• "Robot Cars And Fake Ethical Dilemmas", Forbes, 3 April 2017.
• "Is It Wrong for Victims of Cyber-Crime to Hack Back?", World Economic Forum, 26 September 2016
• "Hacking Back Is Ethical in the Cyber Frontier", Council on Foreign Relations, 26 September 2016
• "Should the Police Have Robot Suicide-Bombers?", IEEE Spectrum, 11 July 2016.
• "Tesla Autopilot Crash: Why We Should Worry About a Single Death", IEEE Spectrum, 11 July 2016.
• "Is Tesla Responsible for the Deadly Crash on Auto-Pilot? Maybe.", Forbes, 1 July 2016.
• "No, Self-Driving Cars Won't Kill the Insurance Industry", Forbes, 25 April 2016.
• "The Ethical Dilemma of Self-Driving Cars", TED-Ed (animated shorts), 8 December 2015.
• "We’re Building Superhuman Robots. Will They Be Heroes, or Villains?", Washington Post, 2 November 2015.
• “Why Can't Google Cars Avoid Rear-End Accidents?”, Forbes, 19 July 2015.
• “Should Washington Allow Companies to Strike Back Against Hackers?”, The Wall Street Journal, 10 May 2015.
• “Do Killer Robots Violate Human Rights?”, The Atlantic, 20 April 2015.
• “Introduction to Astronaut Bioethics,” Slate, October 6, 2014.
• “Cyberwarfare Ethics, or How Facebook Could Accidentally Make Its Engineers Into Targets,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, August 26, 2014.
• “Don't Fear the Robot Car Bomb,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, August 18, 2014.
• “Here’s a Terrible Idea: Robot Cars With Adjustable Ethics Settings,” Wired, August 18, 2014.
• “What Google Cars Can Learn From Killer Robots,” Forbes, July 28, 2014.
• “The Robot Car of Tomorrow May Just Be Programmed to Hit You?” Wired, May 6, 2014.
• “Inside Google's Mysterious Ethics Board,” Forbes, February 3, 2014.
• “What If Your Autonomous Car Keeps Routing You Past Krispy Kreme?” The Atlantic, January 22, 2014.
• “Just the Right Amount of Cyber Fear,” The Atlantic, January 6, 2014.
• “The Ethics of Autonomous Cars,” The Atlantic, October 8, 2013.
• “The Ethics of Saving Lives With Autonomous Cars Are Far Murkier Than You Think,” Wired, July 30, 2013.
• “Pain Rays and Robot Swarms: The Radical New War Games the DOD Plays,” The Atlantic, April 15, 2013.
• “Could Human Enhancement Turn Soldiers Into Weapons That Violate International Law? Yes,” The Atlantic, January 4, 2013.
• “Is It Possible to Wage a Just Cyberwarfare?” The Atlantic, June 5, 2012.
• “Stand-Your-Cyberground Law: A Novel Approach for Digital Security,” The Atlantic, April 30, 2012.
• “More Than Human? The Ethics of Biologically Enhancing Soldiers,” The Atlantic, February 16, 2012.
• “The Big Robot Questions,” Slate, February 16, 2012.
• “Drone-Ethics Briefing: What a Leading Robot Expert Told the CIA,” The Atlantic, December 15, 2011.
• “Therapy and Enhancement: Is There a Moral Difference?” Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, September 2010.
• “The Ethical War Machine," Forbes, June 22, 2009.

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Grant Funding (selected)

• US Department of Defense, Chief Digital and AI Office (2024-2026): military AI risk assessment
• National Science Foundation (2022-2026): AI kitchens and robot cooks
• National Science Foundation (2022-2024): outer space cybersecurity
• National Science Foundation (2019-2022): AI and predictive policing
• Sony Research Award (2019-2020): AI and robot ethics
• Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (2018-2019): AI in the emerging Arctic
• US Department of State, Fulbright Specialist Award (2018): future Arctic conflicts
• Stanford Engineering (2016-2019): autonomous vehicles
• National Science Foundation (2015-2017): autonomous vehicles
• National Science Foundation (2013-2017): cyberwarfare
• The Greenwall Foundation (2011-2013): military human enhancement
• Office of Naval Research (2008-2009): autonomous military robotics
• Office of Naval Research (2007-2008): autonomous military robotics
• National Science Foundation (2006-2009): nanotechnology and human enhancement

Service (selected)

• Advisor on technology ethics to major governmental, policy, and industry organizations
• Associate editor or board member of several respected journals in technology ethics and law
• Referee for several major publishers and funding agencies
• Chair or member of several Cal Poly university, college, and department committees, incl. Science Technology & Society program
• Ethics chair or member of several planning committees for conferences and workshops, incl. International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR)

Awards (selected)

• Cal Poly/Academic Senate, Distinguished Scholarship Award (2017)
• American Philosophical Association’s Public Philosophy Op-Ed Award (2015)
• Cal Poly/College of Liberal Arts, Outstanding Scholarship Award (2009)

Courses Taught (selected)

• PHIL 334: Philosophy of Law
• PHIL 323: Ethics, Science, and Technology
• PHIL 322: Philosophy of Technology
• PHIL 231: Philosophical Classics - Ethics & Political Philosophy
• PHIL 101: Introduction to Philosophy
• Other courses under development, esp. in technology ethics