Keynote in English - US at Longhorn PHP 2026
Track Name:
Main Ballroom
View Video: https://longhornphp.com/live?recording=the-commit-you-cant-take-back-conscience-in-a-career-that-builds-the-future
View Slides: https://speakerdeck.com/ericmann/the-commit-you-cant-take-back-conscience-in-a-career-that-builds-the-future
Short URL: https://joind.in/talk/d2fc8
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Every engineer eventually faces a commit they're not sure they should make. I've faced a few—and walked away from work I couldn't reconcile, including offensive AI targeting in defense and pivotal moments building cryptographic and financial infrastructure where the right call cost something real. This keynote isn't a lecture on morality. It's a candid account from twenty years in the rooms where these decisions get made: defense contracts, DARPA programs, crypto and distributed finance, and now AI. We'll talk about dual-use technology—the same embedding pipeline that powers search can power surveillance—and the quiet, compounding pressure to just ship. We'll talk about what it actually costs to say "no," why "I just built the tool" stopped being a defense years ago, and how to build a career where your conscience and your craft don't have to be enemies. You write the future for a living. This is a conversation about doing it on purpose.
Comments
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Thank you. This is thought provoking. And it's the decision point that is a powerful practice. Let's make magic. Let's build that world we want to see. Thank you again, Eric.
Great talk Eric. Good examples, the stories were entertaining and made great arguments,. Thought provoking. Good work!
A really thought-provoking talk about what happens once we put code out into the world. In a world so dominated by AI, it's important to have these discussions about ethics and accountability.
I'd love to see some real photography rather than AI-generated images, though.
Every developer should hear this talk. Valuable personal stories and context, and gripping to listen to. Absolutely crushed it.
Wow, what an interesting talk! I learned a lot in this, and Eric's delivery was flawless. This gave me a lot to think about and there are lessons to be learned no matter your role in the development and delivery of software. It was giving me flashbacks to "Real Genius" with the moral dilemmas we face and where we draw the line for our own personal responsibility. Really appreciated this talk a lot.