Register and Join Us on May 2nd!
Irina Raicu is the director of the Internet Ethics program (@IEthics) at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Views are her own.
On May 2nd, four faculty and staff members of Santa Clara University (including the director of the Markkula Center’s bioethics program, Dorothee Caminiti) will discuss key promises and concerns associated with developments in the field of neuroscience—focusing in particular on the ethical analysis required by the development and deployment of AI-driven brain implants. The panel will be moderated by Brian Green, who directs the center’s technology ethics program.
Registration for the noon webinar is free but required.
Below are a few recent articles that provide some context for the conversation—with the caveat that new developments (including related laws being passed) are shifting that context all the time.
“’Wild West’ of Neuroscience Drives New Laws on Brain Privacy”:
https://www.context.news/ai/brain-privacy-at-stake-as-wild-west-neuroscience-drives-new-laws
“Who, If Not the FDA, Should Regulate Implantable Brain-Computer Interface Devices?”
“The Tricky Ethics of Brain Implants and Informed Consent”:
https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/08/25/1078413/ethics-brain-implants-informed-consent/
“Developer Perspectives on the Ethics of AI-Driven Neural Implants: A qualitative study”:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-58535-4
A related case study, with key questions for those developing such tools:
https://scu.edu/ethics-in-technology-practice/case-studies/bcidbs-mood-modulator/
The second article in the list above argues that, given “BCI’s presenting the possibility of extensive and widespread human change, the current FDA safe-and-effective model of regulation is not robust enough to do justice to the multifaceted issues posed by these devices.” The analysis of those issues, and innovation in ways to approach their governance, both need to keep pace with the technical developments in the field.
Register now and join us on May 2 for a conversation about that challenge!
Photo by the National Center for Advancing Translational Studies