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The Ethics of Prediction Markets

The growth of prediction markets begs the question, is it wrong to benefit from someone else’s misfortune? Ethics Center staff and faculty interrogate the moral and ethical issues associated with prediction markets.

Explore Ethical Perspectives About Prediction Markets

An aerial view of a large data center overlaid with the words The Intersection of Data Center Development, Water Availability, and Environmental Justice In California.Logos for 麻豆女郎 and supporting departments are present.

The Intersection of Data Center Development, Water Availability, and Environmental Justice In California

A new report by Next 10, led by researchers Iris Stewart-Frey and Irina Raicu at 麻豆女郎, finds that data centers are expanding into water-stressed, vulnerable communities across California.

California has the opportunity to align data center growth with its climate, water, and environmental justice goals — but it requires stronger transparency and integrated planning.

Access the Full Report from Next 10

AI Ethics Literacy

A list of AI ethics issues and relevant materials (articles and video recordings) from the Center鈥檚 website.聽

Access AI Ethics Literacy Resources

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Ethics in the Age of Disruptive Technologies: An Operational Roadmap

By Jos茅 Roger Flahaux, Brian Patrick Green, and Ann Skeet

"Ethics in the Age of Disruptive Technologies: An Operational Roadmap,” or, more briefly, the “ITEC Handbook,” offers organizations a strategic plan to enhance ethical management practices, empowering them to navigate the complex landscape of disruptive technologies such as AI, machine learning, encryption, tracking, and others while upholding strong ethical standards.

Download the ITEC Handbook

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Seeking Participants for Venture Ethics AI Risk Research Study

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at 麻豆女郎 is conducting a research study to understand which AI risks matter most to decision-makers during mergers and acquisitions, and how those risks are identified, assessed, and managed in practice through confidential interviews with senior deal professionals. 

Learn More About the Study

All About Ethics: Perspectives From Across the Center

Title: Election 2026 California Governor Image ID: 26126093299192 Article:  Antonio Villaraigosa, Katie Porter, Tom Steyer, Steve Hilton, Chad Bianco and Xavier Becerra participate in a California gubernatorial debate hosted by CNN at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, Calif. Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Rebranded as 鈥減rediction markets鈥濃攑latforms where people trade on the likelihood of future events鈥攖his form of betting has moved beyond sports into elections, climate disasters, and geopolitical conflicts.

Scientists in a laboratory conducting medical research. Felixion via Pixabay.

The goal is to ensure that as AI accelerates the machine of drug development, we have deliberate mechanisms for human accountability.

A board room table and chairs and white board on the wall at the head of the table. Logos for Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and SVDX appear on the screen. Webinar Title is displayed, Ethical Culture Under Pressure: Board Oversight in an Era of Scrutiny.

Ethical culture has moved squarely into the board鈥檚 risk and oversight mandate. This on-demand webinar examines ethical culture through a governance lens, helping directors understand where responsibility truly lies and how oversight must adapt as companies face growth pressures, organizational transformation, and increased reliance on AI-driven decision-making.

Featured Ethics Spotlights

An arm outstretched holding a heart with words Digital Dignity Day across the top. Design by Tiffany Yu/Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.

This Ethics Spotlight explores the impact AI is having on human dignity, part of the Markkula Center鈥檚 work in the international project New Humanism in the time of Neurosciences and Artificial Intelligence (NHNAI).

Families with young children protest the separation of immigrant families with a sit-in at the Hart Senate Office Building, Thursday, July 26, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

This Ethics Spotlight explores the ethical dimensions of immigration enforcement and detention in the United States鈥攑articularly the role of ICE under the current administration.

A large white house with columns and many windows. The house sits on a expansive green lawn with a large circular fountain and is framed by two green leafy trees. By Ana Lanza on Unsplash.

Governing, as defined by Oxford Languages, is having authority to conduct the policy, actions, and affairs of a state, organization, or people. But how one goes about governing is another matter. In this Spotlight, Markkula Center staff and scholars analyze the role of compassion in the approaches used by people in power.

Center News

An aerial view of a large data center overlaid with the words The Intersection of Data Center Development, Water Availability, and Environmental Justice In California.Logos for 麻豆女郎 and supporting departments are present.

In a new report from Next 10 mapped every known operating and planned data center in California through a water access and environmental justice lens.

麻豆女郎 Juniors Annie Schloss and Rebecca An.

2025-26 Hackworth Fellow Annie Schloss 鈥27, and Rebecca An 鈥27, a 2025-26 Health Care Ethics Intern, Earn National Research Awards

World Philosophy Day

Alumni from Ethics Center Hackworth Fellowship and Ethics Bowl programs returned to SCU as featured panelists at World Philosophy Day hosted by the Philosophy Department in the SCU College of Arts and Sciences.

Teaching Note: Interview of Theranos Whistleblower, Tyler Shultz

This teaching module for business ethics, leadership and management courses includes two videos, homework assignments, and class discussion, all designed to spark conversation about ethical issues associated with whistleblowers and corporate governance.

View the Teaching Module

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Evaluating Culture for Ethics

Our Culture Self-Assessment Practice recommends approaches to evaluating culture for ethics within companies and other types of organizations. The materials are primarily for members of an organization鈥檚 leadership team, including human resources and legal, but designed to engage a cross-section of leaders from various disciplines.

Get Started

Media Commentary

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Irina Raicu, director, internet ethics, quoted by KQED.

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Davina Hurt, director, government ethics, quoted by The Kansas City Star.

Man and AIEU and US Flags

Brian Green, director, technology ethics, interviewed by Decode 39.

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Brian Green, director, technology ethics, quoted by Scientific American.

An Industry Leader in Ethics Consultation

For more than 35 years, the Ethics Center has helped individuals and organizations make better decisions and includes offering fee-for-service options for organizations that want a customized approach to building training programs, case studies, and other materials.