Learn in the textbookCorporate Ethics and Codes of Organizational Conduct
DefinitionELSI is a way of looking together at the ethical, legal and social issues that come with researching, developing and using new science and technology.
ExplanationIt stands for Ethical, Legal and Social Issues (or Implications, in English-speaking countries), and it became widely known when the Human Genome Project, launched in 1990, set aside part of its research budget to study these issues. Today it is used in fields such as AI and genome editing, where laws and social rules have not caught up with the technology. It stresses examining these questions early in research and development rather than dealing with problems after a technology has spread.
AnalogyIt is like checking a new kind of vehicle before letting it onto city streets: not just how well it performs, but whether it could hurt people, whether it is legal and whether it will disrupt daily life in town.
Memory hookIn Japanese it is read エルシー, like the name Elsie.