I think this creates an interesting discussion on the part of the designers and programmers. Did they understand that what they were building was going to increase opioid dependence? Did they ask about it?
And, the most interesting question of all: If they found out that was the case did they try to justify building it to themselves in some way?
Full disclaimer: I have built software that I had ethical reservations about myself. I am in no way a saint, I don't claim to know what I would've done in the same situation but I think it's for the benefit of software development to acknowledge that we do make ethical decisions when we build things and that the solution to something as complicated and diverse as ethics is not to just ignore it.
And, the most interesting question of all: If they found out that was the case did they try to justify building it to themselves in some way?
Full disclaimer: I have built software that I had ethical reservations about myself. I am in no way a saint, I don't claim to know what I would've done in the same situation but I think it's for the benefit of software development to acknowledge that we do make ethical decisions when we build things and that the solution to something as complicated and diverse as ethics is not to just ignore it.